Serverless Craic Ep75 How to Build a Problem Prevention Culture (AWS Well-Architected Explained)
Send us a textHow to Build a Problem Prevention Culture (AWS Well-Architected Explained)Stop firefighting — start preventing problems.In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore how engineering teams can create a problem prevention culture using the AWS Well-Architected Framework.They unpack lessons from Chapter 17 of The Value Flywheel Effect, showing how high-performing cloud teams use SCORP reviews (Security, Cost, Operational Resilience, Performance) to operationalise engineering excellence.Learn how to:✅ Shift from reactive to proactive problem solving✅ Build dashboards that actually drive team learning✅ Scale architecture reviews across hundreds of teams✅ Foster psychological safety and positive peer pressure✅ Future-proof your organisation for the AI-driven cloud era⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Intro and setup00:40 – What is a problem prevention culture?02:20 – Recognising unseen engineering work04:30 – Balancing delivery and engineering excellence05:40 – Defining “good architecture”07:00 – The AWS Well-Architected Framework08:40 – From theory to practice: SCORP sessions10:30 – Scaling Well-Architected reviews13:50 – Using dashboards for insight and improvement15:00 – Building trust and psychological safety17:00 – Peer learning and positive pressure19:00 – Continuous improvement in real teams21:00 – Measuring long-term maturity22:30 – Looking forward to AI-driven cloud operations25:00 – Outro and what’s next🔗 Resources📘 The Value Flywheel Effect → https://theserverlessedge.com/the-value-flywheel-effect🧭 AWS Well-Architected Framework → https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected🧩 SCORP Process & Templates → https://theserverlessedge.com/scorp-process-cycle🎙️ Serverless Craic Podcast → https://theserverlessedge.com/podcast💡 Follow The Serverless Edge on LinkedIn and YouTubeServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep74 AWS Community Summit & Cloud Day 2025 | Serverless, AI & Bedrock AgentCore
Send us a textIn this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly share key takeaways from two major events — AWS Community Summit Manchester 2025 and AWS Cloud Day Dublin 2025.From psychological safety in engineering teams to serverless adoption patterns, event-driven architecture, and the rise of AI agents with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, the discussion highlights what’s shaping cloud-native development today.If you’re a software engineer, cloud architect, or tech leader interested in modernisation, AI in the enterprise, serverless-first strategies, and community-led learning, this episode is for you.⏱ Chapters00:00 – Intro & catching up00:55 – AWS Community Summit Manchester highlights02:10 – Psychological safety in engineering teams05:30 – AI hype, misuses & team impact07:10 – Women in Tech track & allyship08:30 – Event-driven architecture & domain-driven design10:45 – Modernisation talks & API boundaries12:00 – The reality of AI adoption in enterprises14:55 – Serverless adoption patterns & challenges15:53 – AWS Cloud Day Dublin highlights17:45 – AI agents and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore19:14 – Challenges of agentic user experiences20:15 – Securing and testing AI systems (OWASP LLM Top 10)21:00 – Well-Architected Framework (SCORP) talk21:39 – Power of community learning22:22 – Wrap up & next episode preview🔗 Resources & MentionsThe Serverless Edge Website: https://theserverlessedge.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-serverless-edge/The Serverless Edge GitHub – SCORP: https://github.com/ServerlessEdge/SCORPAmazon Bedrock & AgentCore: https://aws.amazon.com/bedrock/Event Catalogue: https://eventcatalog.dev/Serverless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep73 Liberty Mutual’s Cloud Journey to Serverless
Send us a textIn this episode Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly revisit their time at Liberty Mutual, exploring how one of the world’s largest insurers transformed from legacy systems and SOA to cloud-native architectures and serverless-first strategies.Discover how Wardley Mapping, empowered engineering teams, and a strong cultural foundation enabled Liberty Mutual to modernise at scale and deliver business value faster.We cover:Moving from mainframes and monoliths to microservices and serverlessBuilding agile, product-led teams that own security, testing, and operationsUsing Wardley Mapping to make strategic technology betsLessons on cloud adoption, change management, and leadership in a Fortune 100 enterprise👉 If you’re a CTO, software architect, or engineering leader, this case study is packed with insights on modernisation and enterprise cloud transformation.⏱️ Chapter Markers0:00 – Introduction0:34 – Liberty Mutual in Belfast: tackling hard problems2:21 – Strategic mindset of a mutual insurance company3:49 – Early SOA systems and first encounters with cloud4:49 – Microservices before it was mainstream6:14 – Enter serverless: below the line vs above the line8:38 – Technology manifesto and cultural change10:25 – Learning from world-class infrastructure engineers13:53 – Wardley Mapping and spotting key enablers16:08 – CDK, BDD, and shifting left18:20 – Security, threat modelling, and shifting responsibilities19:58 – Product thinking and “next best action”21:31 – Working with auditors and external stakeholders22:18 – Upskilling, conferences, and internal evangelism24:08 – Business impact and scaling during COVID25:39 – Change management: it takes a village26:45 – External evangelism and organisational support27:22 – Next episode teaser: Problem Prevention Culture📚 Resources & Links🌐 The Serverless Edge https://theserverlessedge.com – Thought leadership on modern cloud🎧 Podcast on Spotify🎥 More episodes on YouTube📖 The Value Flywheel Effect – by David Anderson, Mark McCann & Michael O’Reilly https://thevalueflywheeleffect.comServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep72 Map Your Tech Stack | Evolutionary Architecture & The Value Flywheel Effect
Send us a textIn this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore Chapter 15 of The Value Flywheel Effect — Map Your Solution. They discuss how Wardley Mapping and tech stack mapping create situational awareness, reduce friction between teams, and guide better architectural decisions.If you’re a software engineer, architect, or tech leader aiming to evolve your systems with serverless and cloud-native thinking, this conversation shows practical techniques to uncover bottlenecks, reduce technical debt, and align teams on strategic improvements.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Intro: jumping from summer to winter01:00 – Mapping your solution: why it matters02:20 – Tech stack mapping in practice03:50 – Situational awareness and collaboration05:50 – Funding priorities and bottlenecks07:20 – Cloud services, serverless options, and evolution paths09:30 – Custom build vs buy vs adopt cloud-native11:00 – Organisational insights from mapping12:00 – Duplication and domain-driven design issues13:00 – Team Topologies and independent service heuristic14:20 – Total cost of ownership and well-architected lens15:50 – Target architecture and business impact16:50 – Using mapping for strategy and incentives17:40 – Context switching and leadership effectiveness18:10 – Takeaways: evolutionary architecture🔗 Resources📖 The Value Flywheel Effect Book – https://thevalueflywheeleffect.com🎥 Wardley Mapping 101 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP9Rl26Xeag🎧 Podcast: Wardley Mapping is a Game-Changer – https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cUQgQFBeIkOBWUe35rDRUServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
Send us a textIn this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly dive deep into The Value Flywheel Effect (Chapter 14) — discussing frictionless developer experience, sense checking, feedback culture, AI in software engineering, DevOps, platform engineering, and marginal gain.We explore how AI and LLMs are shaping engineering practices, the importance of psychological safety, continuous improvement, and why code is always a liability. If you’re interested in serverless, DevOps, or building resilient modern software teams, this conversation is packed with insights.Chapters00:00 – Introduction & Belfast heatwave 🌞00:18 – Revisiting *The Value Flywheel Effect* (Chapter 14)01:11 – Sense checking & psychological safety in teams02:37 – Leadership, listening, and feedback loops04:12 – RFCs, well-architected reviews & threat modelling05:14 – Trusting AI feedback vs human feedback07:59 – Documenting engineering standards for AI09:33 – Human in the loop & cadence of reviews11:42 – Traceability, accountability & marginal gains13:56 – Scaling teams & expanding the “full stack”14:29 – Infrastructure as code, DevOps origins & AI parallels17:13 – Deployment pipelines & frictionless production18:01 – Platform engineering & hardened building blocks19:40 – Code as liability & avoiding bloat20:20 – Well-architected standards & AI context21:32 – Shifting security left & automated governance22:33 – Isolation, zero trust & resilience23:18 – Platforms as standards & consolidation25:23 – Less code, better docs, and evolving patterns27:06 – Avoiding command & control in engineering culture28:22 – Empowerment, enabling environments & AI’s role28:50 – Developer experience & future of AI in softwareServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
Welcome to Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge with Dave Anderson, Mark McCann and Mike O'Reilly. We want to share our tools and techniques so that you can use them to communicate your Technical Strategy with your C-Suite and business owners. We want to help you to build a serverless first organisation. We will show you how to use Wardley Mapping to gain situational awareness of where your cloud applications and business are. And then how to develop your technical capability in away that builds engineering standards to set your organisation up for sustainable success.Sounds like the tools and techniques that you need - then hit the subscribe!-ABOUT- Dave, Mark and Mike are senior technical architects/leaders passionate about driving technical strategy. They have led transformation journeys, technical excellence, cloud adoption and tech strategies in many industries.Active in various technologies including ML/AI, Public Cloud (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), Engineering, Product, Cyber and UX.
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