Surviving Cloud Chaos
We were thrilled to kick off our recent Ditch The Drama virtual event with none other than Jeff Barr—AWS Chief Evangelist and legendary voice behind thousands of AWS blog posts. Jeff’s been making sense of cloud computing since before many teams even had a cloud strategy, and his keynote Surviving Cloud Chaos delivered exactly what IT teams need right now: clarity, wisdom, and a path forward through the whirlwind of innovation.
The Cloud Is Moving Fast—Really Fast
Jeff opened with a simple truth: The cloud is evolving at breakneck speed. For IT teams, that pace can be overwhelming. The constant influx of new services, updates, and best practices can feel like drinking from a firehose.
But Jeff’s message wasn’t doom and gloom—it was pragmatic optimism. His advice? Lean into automation—but do it in a human-centric way.
The Real Pain Point: Keeping Up
IT teams want to embrace new tech—but the pace of change is outpacing their ability to absorb, adapt, and plan. By the time teams catch up to a new tool or framework, it’s already been updated or replaced. That leads to stress, hesitation, and even burnout. As Jeff put it: “Teams are afraid to take a day off because they’ll come back behind.”
What’s the Fix? Obsess Over the Customer
One of Jeff’s biggest takeaways: IT should be laser-focused on end users. Today’s customers are tech-savvy and expect polished, seamless experiences—just like the consumer apps they use daily. But corporate IT doesn’t always have the same resources or agility to deliver that kind of UX.
To bridge that gap, Jeff urges teams to focus on iteration. Build the MVP. Then iterate. Keep solving, keep refining.
And don’t forget to measure impact. Is the app being used? Is it delivering business value? If not, it’s time to rethink or retire.
Jeff’s Favorite Power Tool: Infrastructure as Code
If you’re not using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Jeff says you’re leaving value on the table. Tools like AWS CloudFormation and Terraform let you treat your infrastructure like reusable blueprints—deployable, replicable, and easy to roll back.
IaC reduces human error, speeds up provisioning, and helps new team members get up to speed faster. It’s one of the most underused yet powerful tools in the cloud toolkit.
The Skills of Tomorrow: Understanding and Empathy
The rise of GenAI is changing how we build, test, and manage technology—but it doesn’t mean humans are out of the picture. In fact, quite the opposite.
Jeff emphasized a new superpower for IT teams: understanding. Reading and reviewing code, architecture diagrams, and AI-generated outputs are now must-have skills. We’re shifting from “makers” to “approvers and collaborators.”
Human-centric skills—like empathy, communication, and listening—are becoming just as critical as technical know-how. Understanding customers, translating needs into prompts or tasks, and collaborating with AI tools will define the next generation of IT professionals.
Final Advice: Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Jeff closed with a clear call to action: Don’t wait for leadership to bring ideas to IT. Instead, show them what’s possible. Be the internal change agent.
If your IT team already knows how to build with GenAI, don’t wait for an executive to read about it in a magazine—bring ideas forward. Create solutions that solve business problems today.
Preventing Burnout: Give Teams Space to Learn
To keep IT teams healthy and future-ready, Jeff stressed one final point: organizations must give people time to learn.
Learning new tools means letting go of outdated processes. Are you still maintaining apps no one uses? Still generating reports that no one reads? Let them go. Free up time for experimentation and innovation.
Watch Jeff Barr’s full keynote here.
You won’t want to miss the insights from one of the best minds in cloud today.
Ditch the Drama isn’t just a catchy event name—it’s a mission. Hosted by N2W, the newly rebranded leader in cloud backup and disaster recovery, this virtual event was built to help IT teams cut through the chaos. If you’re part of a cloud ops team, you know the stress: late-night alerts, compliance headaches, ransomware risks, and endless questions about costs from the finance team. We get it—and we’re here to help.
With our refreshed brand and renewed focus on simplicity and resilience, N2W is doubling down on making life easier for cloud IT teams. Less stress, more automation, and peace of mind that your data—and your weekends—are safe.
See the new N2WS in action—try it free today.
