About the Book
Deliver Resilient, Scalable, and Fault-Tolerant Cloud Services with AI, Lean, and Reliability Engineering
The success of your business hinges on the resilience of your cloud infrastructure. System failures and downtime can devastate your bottom line, erode customer trust, and undermine your competitive edge.
Reliability Engineering in the Cloud: Strategies and Practices for Resilient Cloud-Based Systems is your essential guide to creating robust, fault-tolerant cloud systems that deliver seamless performance, no matter the challenge. Packed with actionable strategies and expert insights, this book empowers you to design, build, and maintain cloud infrastructure that supports your business goals.
Whether you're a software engineer, DevOps professional, or business/engineering leader, this book equips you with the tools and knowledge to create highly available, fault-tolerant cloud systems that consistently exceed user expectations. Start your journey to cloud resilience today and transform your systems into a competitive advantage.
Learn How To
Craft a cloud reliability engineering strategy with a holistic, customer-first approach
Build an effective incident management framework to minimize downtime
Leverage AI and machine learning for predictive analytics, automated recovery, and proactive issue resolution
Measure ROI, boost customer satisfaction, and align reliability with business success
Foster a culture of continuous improvement using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in a lean environment
Gain inspiration from real-world case studies and insights from industry pioneers
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
Table of Contents:
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxiii
About the Authors xxv
Chapter 1: Reliability Engineering in the Cloud: How to Design, Build, Operate, and Stress-Test Highly Reliable Systems 1
Cloud 1
Resilience 2
Reliability 2
Engineering 3
Engineering Excellence 4
How to Design and Build Resilient and Reliable Applications 7
Leveraging Lean Principles 12
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence 13
Leveraging Value Stream Mapping 14
Culture and Values 15
Operational Excellence 15
Summary 15
Q&A 16
Chapter 2: Resilient, Available, and Scalable Systems: Ensuring That Applications Can Handle Failure in a Controlled Manner 21
Key Concepts 21
Design Principles 33
Chaos Engineering 34
Validating Resilience 35
Summary 39
Q&A 40
Chapter 3: Incident Response for Fast Recovery: How to Handle Incidents and How to Automate This Process to Improve Time to Detect and Time to Recovery 49
Incident Response 49
Fast Recovery 55
Incident Handling 65
Summary 67
Q&A 67
Chapter 4: Operational Excellence and Change Management: How to Establish Efficient Processes and Maintain Best-in-Class CRE Practices 75
Key Performance Indicators 76
Root Cause Analysis 76
Incident Reviews 78
Change Management 83
Case Study 86
Architecture and Reliability Assessments 89
Summary 91
Q&A 91
Chapter 5: Leveraging Observability, Monitoring, Reliability Metrics, and GenAI: How to Gain Insights, Set Effective Monitoring, Set Service Level Objectives, and Establish Thresholds 95
Reliability Engineering Capabilities 95
Ten-Step Process for Creating Effective Monitoring 99
Maturity Levels 101
Monitoring and Alerting Tools 102
Case Study: AI’s Impact on CRE 106
Summary 108
Q&A 109
Chapter 6: CRE via Objectives and Key Results (OKRs): How to Build a Culture of Continuous Reliability Improvements Using the OKR Framework 111
Continuous Improvement in Lean 111
Application of Lean to CRE 115
Application of OKRs to CRE 117
Summary 122
Q&A 122
Chapter 7: CRE Tooling: Tools That Support Automatic Failovers, Automatic Rollbacks, Automatic Deployments, Chaos Engineering, Incident Response, Configuration Management, Immutable Infrastructure, and Disaster Recovery 127
Distributing Load and Volume with Auto-Scaling and Load Balancing 128
Enabling Automatic Failovers for High Availability 133
Facilitating Controlled Deployments with Rollback Strategies 136
Providing Chaos Engineering Capabilities for Resilience Testing 139
Assisting in Incident Response with Automation 140
Ensuring Proper Configuration Management 142
Leveraging Immutable Infrastructure as a Service 144
Practicing Disaster Recovery Frequently 147
Case Study 149
Summary 151
Q&A 151
Chapter 8: Cutting-Edge Technologies: How to Use the Power of AI, ML, LLMs, and GenAI Models to Revolutionize Your CRE Practices 155
Understanding AI, ML, LLMs, and GenAI 155
Benefits of Integrating These Technologies into CRE Practices 156
Implementation Considerations 165
Summary 169
Q&A 169
Chapter 9: CRE Value Stream: How to Build Your CRE Strategy Based on Holistic End-to-End Analysis of Your Systems and Customers 175
What Is a Value Stream? 175
CRE as a Value Stream 176
Case Studies 180
Summary 182
Q&A 182
Chapter 10: Culture: How to Build a Psychologically Safe Environment and Culture of Innovation with the CRE Framework 191
Psychological Safety 191
Employee Empowerment 192
Leadership and Ownership 192
Collaboration and Cross-Functional Teams 194
Customer Obsession 194
CRE Culture 195
Summary 196
Q&A 197
Chapter 11: The Business Case for CRE: How to Measure ROI, Ensure Customer Satisfaction, and Promote Business Success 201
Benefits of CRE 201
Aligning CRE with Strategic Objectives 204
Evolution of CRE Practices 206
Case Studies 208
Summary 209
Q&A 210
Chapter 12: Conclusion 217
Appendix A: Incident Response Checklist Template 219
Appendix B: Correction of Error (COE) Document Structure 223
Appendix C: CRE Change Management Checklist 225
Glossary 227
References 231
Index 235
About the Author :
Mariya Breyter is a technology executive, professor, and author of the business bestseller Agile Product and Project Management. With deep expertise in lean and agile methodologies, product management leadership, and enterprise transformation, she has led multi-billion-dollar organizations through innovative cloud strategies, digital transformation, and AI-powered solutions that drive operational excellence, boost efficiency, and elevate customer experience.
Carlos Rojas is a technology executive with global experience, a former AWS engineering leader, seasoned expert in resilience and reliability engineering, and AI advisor. His insights stem from decades of software delivery experience across finance, telecom, government, and healthcare IT, transforming teams into industry engineering leaders.
Review :
"As someone deeply invested in achieving operational excellence in the cloud, I found this book to be an absolute game-changer. It's a treasure trove of insights for engineering leaders and software teams eager to boost the reliability of their cloud-based systems. The authors write in a clear, engaging style that makes complex concepts easy to grasp. I was particularly impressed by how they illustrate the role of AI in helping organizations anticipate failures, automate responses, and enhance performance. In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, I genuinely believe this resource is essential for anyone looking to stay ahead of the curve."
--Valeria Sadovykh, Technology Strategist, Microsoft
"Reliability Engineering in the Cloud is a must-read for anyone aiming to build resilient, scalable, and high-performing cloud systems. With actionable insights, real-world case studies, and strategies leveraging cutting-edge technologies, this book offers a comprehensive guide to ensuring system reliability, optimizing operations and fostering a culture of continuous improvement."
--Abhishek Agarwal, author of Product Mastery
"Dr. Breyter delivers yet another brilliant work, showcasing her position as a thought leader in enterprise transformation and technical product strategy. Her extensive hands-on experience across diverse industries, mastery of agile methodologies, and commitment to exploring cutting-edge technologies all shine through in this practical book. A must-read for any professional focused on improving service reliability and business results."
--Moshe Rasis, management consultant, executive coach, and faculty at New York University
"This is an essential guide for building resilient, scalable, and fault-tolerant systems. Covering everything from architecture design and incident response to leveraging gen AI and OKRs, it provides actionable strategies for modern cloud environments. With a focus on automation, observability, and continuous improvement, this book equips teams to master cloud reliability engineering. A must-read for anyone aiming to deliver reliable, high-performing cloud solutions."
--Naveen Ks, Agile coach
"Whether you're a tech leader or a new engineer, this book provides practical guidance on designing resilient architectures and effective incident response using AI, ML, and gen AI to align with OKRs. Mariya Breyter and Carlos Rojas offer an indispensable resource for achieving operational excellence in the AI-cloud era."
--Piyush Sheth, senior lead (Product Enablement, Delivery) at Wells Fargo Helping Enterprises in their Customer-Centric Product Standup, Enabling Innovation, Delivery Journey
"Reliability Engineering in the Cloud by Mariya Breyter and Carlos Rojas masterfully integrates AI-driven analytics and Lean methodologies into cloud reliability engineering. This guide bridges theoretical concepts with practical applications, making it essential for those looking to optimize cloud environments. It's an indispensable resource for leaders and engineers aiming to enhance operational excellence and innovation within their organizations. A must-read for mastering cloud reliability."
--Srinivasaraju Vysyaraju, senior cybersecurity manager
"Reliability Engineering in the Cloud is an indispensable guide for technology leaders managing large-scale, distributed cloud systems. Breyter and Rojas deliver actionable insights on AI-driven observability, fault-tolerant architectures, chaos engineering, and operational automation, providing a comprehensive framework to ensure high availability, scalability, and resilience across mission-critical cloud environments."
--Ameesh Paleja, executive vice president, Platform Technology, Capital One
"Knowing that strategies fail without proper execution, I highly recommend this book. It equips engineering leaders to establish lean cloud reliability practices. It offers practical frameworks, crucial training, and leadership development techniques that empower cross-functional teams to drive operational excellence and continuous improvement across complex AI-supported cloud environments."
--Sara Pendergast, president, Advantage by Design, LLC
"An essential guide for enterprise leaders and engineers on how to build reliable and resilient systems to ensure long-term business success in the digital era."
--Daria Kirilenko, former senior director, Information Risk Research at Gartner
"This book is a must-read for anyone building or leading cloud-based systems. Carlos Rojas, a successful technology executive, provides a comprehensive guide to Cloud Reliability Engineering, offering practical strategies, real-world examples, and cutting-edge technologies to ensure resilient, scalable, and reliable applications. A valuable resource for technology leaders!"
--JC Gutierrez, managing director, Technology and Innovation, AWS
