Case Study
Rebuilding Siemens AWS accounts from a working prototype
Siemens EDA
Electronic Design Automation — a Siemens Digital Industries Software business
Role
AWS Solutions Architect (Contract) — Hands-on Infrastructure and Application Engineering
Period
November 2023 – September 2025
Duration
22 months
Reporting Line
Consulting engagement; hands-on daily delivery
Industry
Enterprise software and electronic design automation
The Problem
The program needed AWS development, test, QA, and production accounts that could be rebuilt consistently across regions. The working cloud setup first had to be proven in a prototype account.
The application work also needed practical prototypes for a Next.js frontend and Java/Spring Boot backend services that would run on ECS Fargate, supported by repeatable delivery and security controls.
Why It Mattered
The work called for direct infrastructure and application implementation. Ken built the Terraform foundation and prototypes himself; interviewing and technical guidance were supporting contributions.
What Ken Did
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Turned the prototype account into Terraform from scratch. Built a prototype AWS account, reverse-engineered its working configuration, and wrote the Terraform needed to recreate the environment as code.
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Rebuilt the account environments consistently. Used the Terraform to provision development, test, QA, and production accounts, including multi-region infrastructure and repeatable configuration.
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Built frontend and backend application prototypes. Wrote Next.js frontend prototypes and Java/Spring Boot backend services designed to run on ECS Fargate.
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Implemented integrations and delivery automation. Built service integrations using API Gateway, EventBridge, SQS, and Lambda, with CI/CD through CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy.
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Added quality, security, and operational controls. Added Cypress test gates and SonarQube, Tenable, and Aqua checks, along with secure IAM patterns and production observability.
What Changed
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Infrastructure could be recreated consistently across development, test, QA, and production accounts.
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Multi-region configuration was captured and deployed as Terraform rather than depending on manual setup.
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Application prototypes established concrete implementation paths for the Next.js and Java/Spring Boot services.
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CI/CD, test gates, and security checks supported the teams’ ongoing delivery work.
What Continued Afterward
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Terraform for repeatable multi-region AWS environments across development, test, QA, and production
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Next.js and Java/Spring Boot prototypes targeting ECS Fargate
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Service integrations and CI/CD pipelines for application delivery
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Automated test, security, IAM, and observability controls
Tools Behind the Work
Need cloud environments your teams can rebuild with confidence?
Bring the business problem or contract requirement. We can discuss what needs to change, what the work requires, and whether my experience fits.