Capstone · essay and Azure setup
Two deliverables before the next session: a 1–3 page essay applying the Nordstrom and LinkedIn cases to your own company, and an Azure free-tier account ready to use in class.
Comprehend continuous improvement and technical debt through real-world examples, and assess how those approaches could impact your own company.
Step 1 · Review the case studies
Nordstrom · continuous improvement
Read or listen to the Nordstrom case study. Note the challenges they faced, the methodologies they adopted, and the outcomes they achieved.
download Download · MP3 · ~49 MBLinkedIn · paying down technical debt
Read the LinkedIn case study (Operation InVersion, 2011). Identify what led them to accrue technical debt, the strategies they used to address it, and the results.
download Download · PDF · ~550 KBStep 2 · Write the essay (1–3 pages)
- // nordstrom — summarize the continuous-improvement initiatives, the steps taken, and the benefits realized.
- // linkedin — describe the technical-debt journey: challenges, strategies adopted, results.
- // your company — reflect on how the lessons from both cases could be applied. What are the potential benefits of a continuous-improvement mindset? Why is addressing technical debt proactively important for you?
- — Write in English.
- — No cover page.
- — 1–3 pages total, both cases plus your reflection.
- — Submit by email to pereira.giron@gmail.com with subject [CLOUDINTEGRATIONS]Case Study 2.
Before next class, create your Azure account using the student free tier — $100 in credit, no credit card hold required if you use the student offer.
- Go to azure.microsoft.com/free/students.
- Sign in with your USAC email (or any Microsoft account). The verification step uses your university email to confirm student status.
- Accept the agreement and complete the activation. The $100 in credit lands within ~5 minutes.
- Confirm in the portal — sidebar shows your subscription as Azure for Students.
- — If you already used the consumer free trial, the student offer is separate — still apply.
- — Delete anything you spin up at the end of each lab. Free credit is real money once exhausted.
- — Enable the cost-management alert at $90 of $100 used.
// next class: we use this account for hands-on integration patterns (resource groups, app service, vnet, storage).