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ENGINEERING · CLOUD CONSULTING

Cloud consulting services for startups

Cloud consulting services help you plan, build, migrate or secure your cloud and keep its cost in line with your stage. Startups come to us for a first setup; established teams for a migration or a bill that grew too fast.

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Led by Thanos GkanasCo-Founder, engineering

The drawing shows a monthly cloud bill and, under it, the resources behind each line, from hidden data transfer to a staging environment left running all night.

We work on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, and we start from your product, your traffic and your runway, not from a reference diagram. You get cloud strategy consulting when you need a plan and hands-on cloud migration consulting when it is time to move, as part of our startup IT consulting practice.

01SOUND FAMILIAR?

Signs your cloud setup needs attention

  • SYMPTOM 01

    Our cloud bill grows faster than our users

    Usually means: Resources were sized for a launch spike and never revisited, and nobody owns the bill.

  • SYMPTOM 02

    We built everything by clicking around the console

    Usually means: There is no infrastructure as code, so nothing can be rebuilt, reviewed or rolled back with confidence.

  • SYMPTOM 03

    We need to move clouds but cannot afford downtime

    Usually means: The move needs a cut-over plan, data sync and a rollback path before anything changes.

  • SYMPTOM 04

    Nobody is sure who has access to production

    Usually means: Permissions grew one urgent request at a time, and the security review is overdue.

  • SYMPTOM 05

    One outage and we are down for hours

    Usually means: A single region, untested backups and no runbook, so recovery depends on whoever is awake.

Led by Thanos GkanasCo-Founder, engineering

Not sure whether the problem is the bill, the architecture or both? Tell us what you run, and we will say which one to fix first.

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02WHAT WE DO

What our cloud consulting services cover

Our cloud infrastructure consulting covers six areas. Each one can stand alone or run as part of one engagement, and every deliverable ends up in your repository and your docs, not in a slide deck.

  • Cloud strategy consulting

    We map what you run today, what the next stage of the product needs, and where cost, risk and speed trade off. You get a written plan with the decisions, the order to make them in and what each one costs to reverse.

  • Architecture review

    We review networking, compute, data stores, queues and the paths between them, and mark the single points of failure. Findings come ranked, with the fix and the effort for each one.

  • Cloud migration consulting services

    Moving from one provider to another, from a hosting platform to your own account, or off a single server. We plan the cut-over, sync the data, rehearse the move and keep a tested rollback path until the new setup has carried real traffic.

  • Infrastructure as code

    We move your environments into code your team can review, so a change is a pull request instead of a console click. Staging and production stop drifting apart, and a lost environment can be rebuilt.

  • Security and access review

    We check identity and access, secrets, network exposure, encryption, logging and backups against your provider's own security guidance. You get a ranked list and, if you want them, the fixes.

  • Cost control

    We find idle and oversized resources, pricing commitments you are not using and the architecture choices that drive the bill. Then we tag spend by team and feature, so the next surprise shows up early.

Illustration of wildcard permissions replaced by least-privilege grants

03IN BRIEF

When does a startup need cloud consulting?

A startup needs cloud consulting when infrastructure starts making product decisions for you. The usual signs are a bill that grows faster than usage, releases that wait for one person or an outage that takes hours to recover from. Another is a customer security questionnaire nobody can answer. Before those signs appear, a lean managed setup is usually enough, and outside help would be premature.

There are three common moments to bring someone in. The first is when the launch setup has to carry real load for the first time. The second is before a migration, when a mistake would cost data or customers. The third is before a funding round or an enterprise deal, when someone outside the company will look at how things run. In each case the first step is the same: a short review that says what is fine, what is risky and what to do first.

What a cloud migration plan should contain

A cloud migration plan should say what moves, in what order, how data stays consistent, how traffic switches and how you go back if something fails. Without those five answers a migration is a hope, not a plan, which is why good cloud migration consulting produces the plan before any server moves.

The plan starts with an inventory: services, data stores, scheduled jobs, secrets, DNS and every third-party integration that knows an address. Next comes the order, with the least risky and most reversible pieces first. Data gets its own section, covering sync, cut-over and the checks that prove both sides match. Traffic moves in steps behind a switch you can flip back. Finally, the plan names a rollback trigger for each step and keeps the old environment running until the new one has carried real traffic. We rehearse the whole sequence in staging before production sees it.

Cloud consulting or a full-time cloud engineer?

Hire a full-time cloud engineer when infrastructure work fills a week, every week. Until then, cloud consulting is usually the better fit. You get senior judgment for the decisions that are expensive to reverse, without a salary for the months when the setup simply runs.

A useful test is to list the infrastructure work of the next six months. If most of it is one-off, such as a migration, an infrastructure-as-code rollout or a security clean-up, a consulting engagement can deliver it and hand it over. If most of it is ongoing, such as on-call duty, daily tuning and support for a growing team of developers, you need someone on staff. Many startups do both in sequence. Consultants set up the foundations and write them down. The first permanent hire then inherits a system that is documented, tested and understood, instead of one that lives in a former contractor's head.

04STEP BY STEP

How a cloud engagement works

  1. 01

    Audit

    We read your cloud accounts, bills and deployment setup with read-only access, and talk to whoever runs production today. You get a written assessment: what is fine, what is risky and what it costs.

  2. 02

    Build

    We make the changes in priority order: infrastructure as code, access fixes, right-sizing or the migration itself. Every change goes through your review process, in your repository.

  3. 03

    Ship

    We hand over runbooks, architecture diagrams and a cost dashboard, and walk your team through each one, so you can run the setup without us.

05ENGAGEMENT OPTIONS

Ways to work with us on your cloud

  • Advisory sessions

    Working sessions on a decision you have to make: a provider, a migration or a bill.

    You get

    • A senior second opinion on your setup
    • A ranked list of risks and next steps
    • Notes your team can act on

    Typical shape

    Thanos with your founders or technical lead, working sessions as needed

    Quoted after a short call

    Ask for a quote

  • Hands-on cloud project

    We do the work: a migration, an infrastructure-as-code rollout or a cost and security clean-up.

    You get

    • The agreed changes, shipped in your repository
    • Runbooks and architecture diagrams
    • A cost dashboard and a handover session

    Typical shape

    A fixed-scope project

    Quoted after a short call

    Ask for a quote

  • Embedded cloud engineer

    A senior engineer inside your team, owning infrastructure while your developers ship features.

    You get

    • Day-to-day ownership of the cloud setup
    • Reviews of every infrastructure change
    • Documentation kept current for the handover

    Typical shape

    Part time or full time, reviewed monthly

    Quoted after a short call

    Ask for a quote

06WHO IT IS FOR

Who cloud consulting is for

  • Teams outgrowing their first setup

    Your launch stack worked, but cost, access and deploys now need a shape that can grow with you.

  • Teams planning a cloud migration

    You are moving providers, accounts or regions and want the move planned, rehearsed and reversible.

  • Founders facing a security or investor review

    Someone is about to ask how your infrastructure works, and you want honest answers ready.

Thanos Gkanas

07LED BY

Who looks after your cloud

Cloud consulting at BrainStormers is led by Thanos Gkanas, our Head of Engineering. He reviews your setup himself.

A cloud bill is an architecture decision written in dollars. I would rather fix the decision than chase discounts on it.

Thanos GkanasCO-FOUNDER · ENGINEERING
Thanos Gkanas
Co-Founder & Head of Engineering
Thanos's profileLinkedIn

08

Related services

Cloud work often runs next to cloud DevOps consulting for pipelines and releases, and next to generative AI integration services when model calls start to shape the bill. Before a funding round or an acquisition, see Technical due diligence services for investors and founders.

  • DevOps consulting

    CI/CD, infrastructure as code, monitoring and on-call that a small team can run, set up with your developers.

    Thanos

  • AI integration

    LLM features, AI agents, retrieval and evaluation built into your product, with cost and safety controls that hold up in production.

    Thanos

  • Technical due diligence

    Code, architecture, security, team and scale risk, reviewed for investors and founders before a round or an acquisition.

    Thanos

  • Product and engineering

    Building the product as well? Pair cloud work with product help through our SaaS product development services.

    Roger and Thanos

09INSIGHTS

Engineering guides from Thanos

Runtime and database end-of-life dates drive many migrations. The Software end-of-life tracker for startup stacks lists the dates to plan around.

  • AI CODE FIXINGGUIDE

    How to measure and reduce technical debt

    How to measure technical debt, the types that hurt startups most, and a step-by-step way to reduce technical debt while you keep shipping features.

    Thanos Gkanas

  • AI CODE FIXINGGUIDE

    Is vibe coding bad? What breaks when AI-written code reaches users

    Vibe coding is fast until real users arrive. What breaks when AI-written code ships, which apps are fine to build this way and the checks that catch problems early.

    Thanos Gkanas

  • STARTUP ENGINEERINGGUIDE

    The MVP development process, step by step

    The MVP development process in six steps, from the riskiest assumption to a launch decision, with MVP testing methods and minimum viable product examples.

    Thanos Gkanas

10FAQ

Cloud consulting questions

What do cloud consulting services include?

Cloud consulting services cover the planning, building and running of your cloud setup: architecture reviews, migration plans, infrastructure as code, security and access checks, and cost control. Each piece can be advice only or hands-on work, and everything we produce lives in your repository and your documentation, so your team keeps it.

Should a startup choose AWS, Google Cloud or Azure?

Choose the provider your team already knows, unless a customer, a data residency rule or a managed service you depend on points elsewhere. All three can run a startup well. Switching later costs far more than any early price difference, so decide on skills, support and the services your product needs.

How do you plan a cloud migration without downtime?

We run the old and new environments side by side, keep data in sync and move traffic in steps behind a switch we can flip back. Each step is rehearsed in staging first, and the old setup stays live until the new one has carried real traffic. Some moves need a short planned window, and we say so early.

How can we lower our cloud bill without slowing the product?

Start with what you pay for but do not use: idle environments, oversized instances and storage nobody reads. Then tag spend by feature, so cost becomes part of product decisions. Architecture changes, such as caching or moving batch work off peak hours, come last because they take engineering time away from features.

What does a cloud security review cover?

A cloud security review checks who can reach what: identity and access policies, secrets handling, network exposure, encryption, logging, backups and recovery. We compare your setup with the provider's own security guidance and rank each finding by how likely and how costly it is. Every item on the list comes with a fix.

Does a seed-stage startup need a cloud strategy?

Yes, but a short one. At seed stage a cloud strategy is one page. It says which provider and services you use, how you deploy, who has access and what you will revisit when traffic or headcount grows. It prevents expensive rework later without slowing the team down now.

Led by Thanos GkanasCo-Founder, engineering

Talk to Thanos about cloud consulting

20-minute intro call

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NEXT STEP

Tame your cloud

Book a 20-minute call and tell us what you run, where it hurts and what is coming next.

You’ll talk to Thanos

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