Michael McCarthy

Principal .NET Architect | Distributed Systems & Cloud Modernization | Azure & AWS Expert
Royal Oak, MI 48067 • LinkedIn • GitHub • michaelgmccarthy.com

Professional Summary

Distributed Systems Architect with 25+ years of experience designing and modernizing enterprise-scale .NET systems across Azure and AWS. Expert in microservices, event-driven architecture, and cloud migrations. Known for building resilient, scalable platforms, mentoring engineering teams, and driving modernization initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Core Competencies

Architecture & Design: Distributed Systems • Event-Driven Architecture • Microservices • DDD • CQRS • Serverless
Cloud Platforms: Azure (Functions, Event Grid, Cosmos DB, Service Bus, APIM) • AWS (Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, DynamoDB)
Modernization: Legacy to Cloud • Idempotency & Outbox Patterns • Transactional Consistency • System Decomposition
Leadership: Technical Strategy • Mentorship • Cross-Functional Collaboration • Architecture Governance
DevOps & Tooling: IaC (Bicep, ARM, CloudFormation) • GitLab, Azure DevOps, Octopus Deploy • Docker • CI/CD
Languages & Runtimes: C#, .NET 6–8
Frameworks & Hosting Models: ASP.NET Core, Azure Functions, Containerized & Serverless Architectures
Integration & API Styles: REST, gRPC, GraphQL, Event-Driven Messaging
Data Platforms: SQL Server, Cosmos DB, MongoDB, DynamoDB

Professional Experience

Accruent – Application Architect

Nov 2024 – Present
Leading the modernization of 20-year-old legacy applications to a serverless, event-driven cloud architecture in Azure.

  • Designed and implemented the enterprise’s first pub/sub platform using Azure Event Grid, defining topology, topic conventions, and message-versioning strategies.
  • Trained engineering staff on idempotency, transactional outbox/inbox, and Cosmos DB partitioning for reliable distributed processing.
  • Partnered with product owners to refine epics and stories into cloud-native deliverables optimized for Azure Functions.

Key Impact: Established foundational eventing infrastructure and modernized multiple legacy products, accelerating the enterprise’s migration to cloud-native services.

Phreesia – Solutions Architect

Jun 2021 – Aug 2024
Architect of the Patient Communications Platform, enabling enterprise-wide SMS, email, and voice messaging for patient care, billing, and authentication.

  • Scaled communications throughput to 150M+ messages per quarter across SMS, email, and voice channels.
  • Introduced branded voice calls, improving patient call answer rates by 20%.
  • Developed consent-to-text billing module, raising patient engagement 30% vs. email.
  • Implemented multi-language support (19 languages), achieving 99% localization coverage.
  • Migrated core platform from on-prem NServiceBus to AWS Lambda, SNS/SQS, and DynamoDB using transitional architecture patterns.
  • Designed lossless cut-over and bridging strategies for hybrid on-prem/cloud messaging.

Tech: .NET 8, AWS API Gateway, Lambda, SNS/SQS, DynamoDB, EventBridge, CloudWatch, NServiceBus

Hitachi Solutions America – Solutions Architect

Oct 2020 – Jun 2021
Delivered Azure cloud modernization projects for Fortune 500 clients.

  • Couponing Platform Modernization: Migrated national grocery chain’s POS system from AWS + Oracle to Azure SQL/MI, provisioning 400+ IaC resources per environment using PowerShell + Bicep.
  • Steel Manufacturer Assessment: Authored a Cloud Modernization Assessment detailing architecture, risks, and cost, enabling informed “buy vs. build” decision.
  • Open Enrollment Platform: Contributed to high-throughput open enrollment platform using Azure Functions and Cosmos DB.

Tech: Azure SQL/MI, Functions, Service Bus, Cosmos DB, Bicep, ARM, PowerShell

Afterman Software – Senior Software Architect

Dec 2019 – Oct 2020
Led multiple distributed-system projects for clients across fintech and healthcare.

  • Designed and built a multi-tenant SaaS message-monitoring platform for NServiceBus, supporting transient error recovery and multi-cloud hosting (AWS + Azure).
  • Delivered gRPC-based POC for secure transfer of medical imaging data (DICOM).
  • Supported a greenfield banking system (first built in the US in 25+ years) using DDD and NServiceBus to achieve 10–15k TPS through relaxed consistency patterns.

Tech: .NET Core 3.1, NServiceBus, Docker, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL, Auth0, Polly, MediatR, Finbuckle Multitenant

ALMAC Group – Solutions Architect, ProdIT

Jun 2017 – Dec 2019
Led architecture and governance for 65 developers customizing clinical-trial software.

  • Established Architecture Pattern Library documenting trade-offs and customization patterns.
  • Built analytical tools using TFS API to expose metrics on code customization trends and risks.
  • Mentored client-facing teams on architectural principles, reducing unsupported customizations and improving delivery consistency.

Tech: C#, NServiceBus 7.x, MVC 5, Entity Framework, Quartz.NET, Roslyn, TFS API

Certifications & Training

  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (2024)
  • AWS Architecture, Events & Workflows, Serverless, .NET on Lambda (2024)
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (2024)
  • Udi Dahan’s Advanced Distributed Systems Design (SOA + DDD, 2019)
  • O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference, New York (2018)
  • NServiceBusCon Attendee & Speaker Support (2015–2016)

Open Source & Publications

  • Author: FakeItEasy Succinctly (Syncfusion eBook series)
  • Contributor: Implementing Domain-Driven Design (Vaughn Vernon, Addison-Wesley)
  • Open Source: Humanitarian Toolbox – allReady (CQRS refactor via MediatR)
  • Blog: michaelgmccarthy.com

Education

West Chester University
West Chester, PA