Big cloud decisions deserve a second opinion from someone who's made them before.
CTOs and technical founders at SMBs make consequential cloud architecture decisions without a senior architect to consult. That's expensive in vendor lock-in, technical debt, and time lost to wrong turns. Strategic Cloud Advisory gives you experienced AWS-focused guidance, with coverage that scales by plan.
The decisions you're making alone that you shouldn't have to
Cloud architecture decisions made without expert input tend to create problems that compound over years. Here's what that looks like.
No one to sanity-check architecture decisions before they're built
Your team has a strong proposal for the new data pipeline architecture. It sounds reasonable. But is it the right call for where you're going in 18 months? Who's the sounding board?
The cloud roadmap has been on the to-do list for 6 months
You know you need to address the multi-region question, the RDS scaling plan, and the observability gap — but the day-to-day keeps pushing it off. It stays theoretical.
Your team is learning on the job for decisions that need experience
Senior engineers are talented but early in their cloud careers. They're making architecture calls that would benefit from someone who's seen the failure modes before.
What's included
Concrete deliverables — not vague "advisory" work.
Strategic advisory coverage
Advisory coverage that can include structured strategy calls, findings review, roadmap discussion, and plan-appropriate follow-up support on current priorities.
Cloud roadmap development
A written, prioritized cloud roadmap covering infrastructure evolution, key milestones, and the most important decisions to sequence next.
Architecture review and critique
Review of proposed architecture designs with written feedback — covering trade-offs, failure modes, cost implications, and alternatives to consider.
Vendor and tooling evaluation
Independent assessment of cloud tooling decisions: which database, which observability platform, which CDN, which deployment strategy — without vendor bias.
Cloud migration planning
When migration is actually in scope, a phased migration plan with sequencing, risk assessment, and rollback considerations.
How it works
A structured approach, not trial-and-error.
Infrastructure review
We start with a thorough review of your current architecture, roadmap, and the decisions you're currently navigating.
Establish the roadmap
We document the cloud roadmap: what needs to change, in what order, and why, with a clear rationale for each priority.
Monthly advisory rhythm
Regular advisory coverage on current priorities, with the depth of structured calls and follow-up support varying by plan.
Document and transfer
Every significant decision and recommendation is documented — so your team accumulates institutional knowledge, not dependence.
What you can expect
Specific, measurable results — not "improved efficiency."
Faster
Architecture decisions with confidence
Stop second-guessing major infrastructure choices. Make decisions with a senior expert who's seen the trade-offs play out in real systems.
Clear
Written cloud roadmap
A prioritized roadmap that keeps cloud infrastructure moving in the right direction, even when day-to-day demands compete for attention.
Included
In every MCO retainer tier
Strategic advisory is not an add-on. Every retainer includes it, with the depth of advisory coverage increasing as you move up the plans.
Who this is for
This service works best for companies in a specific situation. Here's how to know if it's right for you.
Related services
Most clients combine multiple services for complete cloud coverage.
Cloud Cost Intelligence
Strategic decisions have cost implications. Advisory and cost intelligence together keep your roadmap financially grounded.
Security & Governance
Security architecture is a strategic concern. Advisory ensures security decisions align with business and compliance goals.