AWS Solutions Architect · San Antonio, TX
Michael Groff
Building serverless, scalable, cost-optimized platforms on AWS for SMB to enterprise; serverless-first, IaC everything, security by default.
Currently Sr. Solutions Architect @ AllCloud·12+ yrs cloud & hybrid infrastructure
About Me
I'm an AWS Sr. Solutions Architect at AllCloud, helping customers land on AWS the right way; serverless-first, IaC everything, security by default.
My background is ops (Rackspace Windows admin AWS Cloud Support Engineer), which shapes how I think about what gets deployed: it has to run at 2 a.m. on a Sunday without anyone waking up.
Off the clock
- Native Texan from Bandera, TX
- Married to a Texas public school teacher
- Father of two daughters
- Fur-father of three; two Huskies and one standard-issue cat
- Based in San Antonio, TX
- Avid tech enthusiast
Top 5 CliftonStrengths
Signature Themes PDFA need to collect and archive; information, ideas, artifacts, even relationships.
Work hard with great stamina; immense satisfaction from being busy and productive.
Prefer to go with the flow; take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
Continuous desire to learn and improve; the process excites more than the outcome.
Contagious enthusiasm; naturally upbeat, energizes others.
Gallup's CliftonStrengths assessment has been a good lens for how I collaborate and pick problems worth solving.
Skills & Stack
Things I use regularly enough to have opinions about. Recruiters can `⌘F` freely.
AWS
Primary cloud. Daily driver.
Infrastructure as Code
Everything deployable via pull request.
Languages
Write, review, and refactor comfortably.
Patterns & Practices
How I like to build.
Specializations
Industries and focus areas I've spent real time in.
CI/CD & GitOps
Pipelines that ship; declarative delivery into Kubernetes.
Monitoring & Observability
Knowing what production is doing right now.
Configuration Management
Server-side state, agent-driven.
Platforms & Tools
OS, virtualization, and adjacent tools I reach for often.
Depth varies; some are daily tools, others are things I've shipped to production and can speak to with real opinions. Happy to go deep on any of them.
Experience
- ▸Architected and delivered comprehensive AWS cloud solutions tailored to meet customer-specific requirements, ensuring scalability, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
- ▸Integrated AI and machine learning solutions into customer workflows, enabling predictive analytics, automation, and intelligent decision-making to optimize operations.
- ▸Implemented serverless architectures using AWS services such as Lambda, API Gateway, S3, CloudFront, WAF and DynamoDB to deliver highly scalable and cost-efficient solutions with minimal infrastructure overhead.
- ▸Adopted modern cloud-native design principles, leveraging event-driven architectures, microservices, and containerization to ensure agility, maintainability, and rapid deployment cycles.
- ▸Led technical workshops and strategic IT discussions, advising SMB to enterprise customers on cloud adoption, modernization strategies, and best practices for leveraging AWS services.
- ▸Designed and implemented innovative cloud migration strategies, employing blue/green deployments and CI/CD pipelines to ensure seamless transitions with minimal downtime.
- ▸Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop cloud architectures aligned with industry standards and compliance requirements, including advanced security and networking configurations.
- ▸Developed reusable infrastructure templates and patterns using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like AWS CloudFormation and Terraform to accelerate deployment and enhance consistency.
- ▸Educated and mentored customers on AWS best practices, fostering cloud-native skill development and empowering them to maximize ROI from cloud investments.
- ▸Championed the use of generative AI tools and technologies to streamline operations and introduce cutting-edge capabilities, resulting in measurable improvements in efficiency and innovation.
- ▸Provided pre-sales support and technical guidance, contributing to successful deal closures and fostering long-term customer relationships through trusted advisory services.
- ▸Monitored and optimized cloud environments, leveraging AWS services like CloudWatch, Trusted Advisor, and Cost Explorer as well as many third party cost platforms to ensure optimal performance and cost-effectiveness.
Visit my blog at michaelgroff.info for technology write-ups and tutorials.
Letters of recommendation and contact information for all previous employers available upon request.
Praise
From people I've worked with
“Michael is one of those rare AWS architects who can both draw the diagram and ship the CDK behind it. He made our cloud migration feel like a solved problem instead of a spreadsheet.”
“Calm under fire, writes docs people actually read, and is genuinely invested in the customer's success beyond the statement of work. Easy recommendation.”
More recommendations on my LinkedIn profile.
Education
Bachelor of Arts
School of Journalism & Mass Communication
A Journalism degree turned out to be training for writing design docs that people actually read.
Dean's List
Recognition across multiple semesters.
Intramural sports
Football and softball through school.
Bobcat Build
Student community service; Student Volunteer Connection.
The University Star
Student journalist for the university newspaper.
Certifications
AWS · Proctored
Full history · filter by vendor
Spans Dell/VMware partner enablement in 2017 through current AWS proctored exams. Click any dot or chip to verify on Credly.
About this site
WordPress → Next.js on AWS
The previous version of this site was a 2015-era WordPress install on The7 theme. This rewrite is its opposite: no server, no plugins, no database. Infrastructure is code. Deploys are a git push.
| Aspect | WordPress (old) | Next.js + AWS (new) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | BlueHost unlimited plan (shared across ~30 sites) | Pennies per month (this site alone; actual numbers pending a few weeks of traffic) |
| First-load time | 3 to 4 s | < 1 s |
| Security posture | Theme + plugin patch treadmill | Zero server; signed OAC; managed TLS |
| Update workflow | FTP or wp-admin clickops | git push; Actions handles the rest |
| Infra definition | None (clickops) | AWS CDK in TypeScript |
Design trade-offs
- ▸CloudFlare for DNS instead of Route 53; keeps this project single-account and lets me skip cross-account delegation. Trade-off: ACM validation needs a manual CNAME.
- ▸No WAF; saves ~$5/mo and a portfolio site doesn't warrant managed-rules cost.
- ▸OAC, not OAI; AWS's 2023+ recommended pattern for signed S3-origin access.
- ▸Static export, not SSR; zero servers and no per-request logic. Fits a resume, not a SaaS.