During my time as a Branch Chief in U.S. Navy Financial Policy and Systems, Mike led the strategy and implementation of a holistic Enterprise Architecture solution. The objective was to help improve audit transparency, and Mike did this by leading a team to design and implement a custom automated EA solution (using Software AG ARIS) needed to identify risks related to applications and processes, training and mentoring experienced folks in business, application, and data architecture — from strategy to architecture to modeling.

Mike and I worked together at KPMG with a goal of helping to improve a Salesforce transformation program, with a focus on improving agility through agile thinking using SAFe as the main framework. Mike led efforts to design and deliver an outcome-driven “Lean-Agile Center of Excellence”, with early efforts focused on delivering training to hundreds of people, including follow-up Agile Release Train (ART) launch advisory to various stakeholders. The thing that stood out most about Mike’s advisory was his ability to connect “classroom theory” with “real life” through examples and facilitation exercises. He has applied the same realistic mix of “agility” and “architecture”… two things that are rarely seen together and I especially like his latest whitepaper on the subject, “Cut the Digital Transformation Chaos with Modern Architecture: Scale Up and Shift Left!” Mike is someone I would trust to deliver results and can influence organizational change.

Michael helped us with Enterprise Architecture governance and application portfolio analysis. As part of a federated Boeing architecture framework, tool and governance improvement effort, he worked to “connect the dots” between various Boeing organizations and improve EA value — delivering framework implementation, training, and application of standards in the field.

Michael was pivotal in helping us establish an Enterprise Architecture standard at Outerwall Inc. He is very good at driving the value proposition of Enterprise Architecture within an organization, then customizing a repeatable and sustainable approach. While it is up to an organization to implement and manage an EA practice, Michael gives the organization all the tools necessary to be successful. I highly recommend Michael and would bring Michael into any organization looking to establish, or transform, an Enterprise Architecture strategy.

I have worked for Mike over several years on various EA-related projects, especially helping to modernize organizations’ application and cloud technology portfolios. We have worked on large projects together, such as an Architecture & Engineering (A&E) department re-organization for a fortune 100 IT organization, and — most recently — a state transportation agency’s application/cloud modernization roadmap journey. Mike has been a mentor and teacher to us at KPMG Global Services, most recently delivering a “SAFe for Architects” class. He even traveled to India twice over the years to train us in the latest EA methodology and tools, to help build out our team to deliver on client outcomes. I hope to work with Mike again in the future.