Steffen Heilmann - AWS Migration within 3 months

#1about 5 minutes

A data center failure prompted a rapid cloud migration

A critical database hardware failure due to insufficient RAM highlighted the risks of physical infrastructure and became the catalyst for moving to the cloud.

#2about 3 minutes

Applying an agile mindset to an infrastructure project

The migration was structured using agile principles, including a clear vision, a tight three-month deadline to create focus, and empowering a cross-functional team.

#3about 4 minutes

Deconstructing the complex legacy database migration

The core legacy database migration was de-risked by breaking it into smaller pieces, deleting obsolete tables, and using a risk-based, iterative approach.

#4about 5 minutes

Securing stakeholder buy-in with clear business benefits

Gaining support from product and finance stakeholders required framing the technical migration in terms of business value, such as faster releases and increased developer productivity.

#5about 4 minutes

Empowering the team and visualizing migration progress

The team was given the freedom to determine their own process, while a public burndown chart of servers and applications created transparency and motivated progress.

#6about 2 minutes

Executing the final high-stakes migration weekend

The final cutover was managed with clear communication channels, a reserve engineer for unforeseen issues, and deliberate over-provisioning of the new database to ensure a smooth launch.

#7about 3 minutes

Key learnings from the rapid cloud migration project

Success depended on having a single clear goal, maintaining transparency, slicing large tasks, showing developers direct value, and engaging business stakeholders early.

#8about 11 minutes

Q&A on migration strategy and stakeholder management

The discussion covers what could be improved, how to explain agile benefits to non-technical stakeholders, and the rationale for choosing AWS over other cloud providers.

6 days ago

Senior Java Developer