Cloud architecture
We assess your cloud setup against what it actually costs to operate — finding overengineered patterns, unmanaged drift, and decisions that will constrain growth before they do.
Service 02
Strategic platform consulting
Strategic platform consulting for organizations that need an executable cloud and engineering direction, not another abstract target-state deck.
Why this service
Most platform problems aren't a tooling choice. They're about who owns what and what the standards are.
Platform costs rise, release confidence falls, and architecture decisions drift across squads because there is no shared baseline. Teams pick tools independently, environments diverge, and nobody owns the day-two consequences. This service aligns engineering leadership, product teams, and platform operations around one practical roadmap with explicit ownership at every layer.
Focus areas
What this service covers.
Platform baselines
We define shared standards for environments, access, secrets, delivery, and observability — so teams build on a common foundation instead of reinventing it in parallel.
Migration strategy
We produce migration sequencing that accounts for live systems, team dependencies, and risk — not just a target-state diagram that nobody owns.
Detailed offerings
Service modules for architecture, platform, and execution.
Each module can run independently or as part of a larger modernization program.
Cloud and estate strategy
We evaluate your cloud footprint across architecture, spend profile, resilience posture, and team capability to identify what should be standardized, modernized, or retired.
- Current-state architecture and dependency mapping
- Workload placement strategy across managed services and Kubernetes
- Cost and reliability trade-off recommendations for leadership review
Platform operating model design
We define the platform decision model, ownership boundaries, and service catalog structure so product teams can move quickly without bypassing controls.
- Platform team charter and decision-rights matrix
- Golden paths for service onboarding, deployment, and observability
- Policy framework covering IAM, secrets, runtime standards, and auditability
Modernization and migration planning
We sequence modernization initiatives around business risk, migration complexity, and team readiness instead of running a big-bang transformation program.
- Application segmentation by migration complexity and blast radius
- Phased migration waves with risk controls and rollback criteria
- Executive steering metrics and milestone governance
Delivery and reliability engineering
We convert platform direction into release and runtime standards that improve deployment confidence, change lead time, and service stability.
- Release orchestration patterns for progressive delivery
- SLO and observability baselines by service tier
- Operational readiness standards for incident response and on-call
Security and governance integration
Security controls are embedded into the platform lifecycle so governance is applied consistently through automation, not manual approvals.
- Policy-as-code guardrails for infrastructure and CI/CD
- Identity, access, and secrets lifecycle standardization
- Compliance evidence strategy for regulated delivery environments
Capability uplift and enablement
We pair architecture and platform recommendations with practical enablement so engineering teams can adopt the model quickly and sustain it.
- Role-based enablement tracks for platform, app, and leadership teams
- Operating playbooks and architectural decision records
- Transition plan from advisory phase to execution ownership
Engagement models
Ways we deliver this service.
Choose a delivery format that matches urgency, scope, and internal capacity.
Advisory sprint
3 to 4 weeks focused on architecture diagnosis, leadership alignment, and decision framing for urgent platform choices.
Design and roadmap program
6 to 10 weeks to establish platform target state, modernization sequence, governance design, and execution plan.
Embedded transformation support
Multi-quarter engagement where we work alongside your teams to implement standards, guide migration waves, and stabilize operating rhythm.
What you receive
Concrete deliverables, not generic recommendations.
Every engagement ends with artifacts your teams can execute and maintain.
- Executive-ready platform strategy with decision log and sequencing rationale
- Reference architecture with environment model and service boundaries
- Platform baseline standards for identity, delivery, observability, and security
- Modernization wave plan with risks, dependencies, and milestones
- Operating model blueprint covering ownership, escalation, and governance forums
- 90-day execution roadmap with measurable outcomes and team responsibilities
Target outcomes
Business and engineering impact we optimize for.
35-50%
Reduction in duplicated platform effort
Standardized baselines reduce parallel toolchains and one-off deployment patterns across teams.
20-40%
Faster path from decision to delivery
Clear ownership and golden paths shorten handoffs between architecture, platform, and product engineering.
30%+
Improvement in release confidence
Consistent delivery controls and SLO-backed operations reduce failed releases and unplanned rollback frequency.
Common questions
How this engagement works in practice.
Is this only for large enterprises?
No. The engagement scales for growth-stage B2B platforms, regulated scale-ups, and enterprise product organizations. The model is adjusted to your team size and governance maturity.
Do you only provide recommendations?
No. We can stay through implementation to operationalize baselines, support migration waves, and embed new platform practices with your engineering teams.
Can this align with an existing cloud strategy?
Yes. We can evaluate and refine an existing strategy, close missing controls, and convert broad principles into enforceable engineering standards.
Other services
More ways Karman can help.
Ready to engage?
Start with the problem. We'll take it from there.
Platform reviews, architecture consulting, or a scoping conversation — we scope engagements quickly.