Cloud Architecture Design

The most expensive cloud mistakes are architectural — and they are made before any code is written or any server is provisioned. A VPC that can't be segmented later. An IAM structure that can't enforce least privilege. A database choice that doesn't support the query pattern the application actually needs.

We prevent these mistakes by treating cloud architecture as a distinct, documented phase that happens before implementation.

What Our Cloud Architecture Engagements Produce

Architecture Blueprint

A complete, documented design of the GCP environment: project structure, VPC topology, subnets, firewall rules, IAM roles and bindings, compute choices (GCE, GKE, Cloud Run, App Engine — with rationale), storage architecture, database selection, and integration patterns.

Security Architecture

A security design covering: network perimeter controls, IAM policy design with least-privilege enforcement, secrets management (Secret Manager), encryption at rest and in transit, audit logging configuration, and security boundary definitions between environments.

Cost Model

A pre-implementation cost estimate based on the proposed architecture, with right-sizing recommendations and cost optimization considerations built into the design — not retrofitted later.

Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

Every significant architectural decision is documented with context, options considered, the decision made, and the rationale. This becomes the institutional memory for the environment.

Terraform Blueprints

For clients who want to move directly from architecture to implementation, we produce Terraform module structures that codify the architecture design — ready for the implementation phase.