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Cloud Architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure): Designing Cloud-Based Infrastructure That Scales

Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) is how SHAPE helps teams plan, design, and evolve cloud-based infrastructure that’s secure, resilient, and cost-aware. We translate product requirements into practical architecture decisions—networking, compute, data, identity, observability, and delivery pipelines—so you can ship faster without betting the business on brittle systems.

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Table of contents

What SHAPE’s cloud architecture service includes

SHAPE delivers cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) as an end-to-end engagement: we define target outcomes, choose the right cloud-native building blocks, and produce an actionable blueprint for designing cloud-based infrastructure that engineering can implement with confidence.

What you get in a typical engagement

   
When cloud-based infrastructure is designed intentionally, teams spend less time firefighting—and more time shipping.
 

Related services (internal links)

Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) connects tightly to application boundaries, APIs, and performance. SHAPE often pairs cloud work with:

What is cloud architecture?

Cloud architecture is the blueprint for how your systems run in the cloud: how users reach your product, how services communicate, where data lives, and how the system stays secure and reliable under change. In practice, cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the set of design decisions that make cloud-based infrastructure operate predictably—across normal traffic, peak events, incidents, and continuous releases.

Why cloud architecture matters (beyond “moving to the cloud”)

Cloud architecture vs. cloud migration

A migration is the act of moving workloads. Cloud architecture is the long-term system design: how you structure cloud-based infrastructure so it’s maintainable, secure, and scalable. Many teams migrate first and then need to re-architect—SHAPE helps you avoid that churn by starting with cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) decisions that support your roadmap.

   
that delivers the user experience and business outcomes you need—reliably.
 

Core components of cloud-based infrastructure

Most cloud platforms differ in names and interfaces, but the architecture building blocks are consistent. SHAPE’s cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) work focuses on assembling these components into a cohesive system for designing cloud-based infrastructure.

Networking: how traffic enters and moves

Networking defines security and performance boundaries. Common elements include:

Compute: where applications run

Compute choices shape scalability and operations. In cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure), compute typically includes:

Data services: how information is stored and retrieved

Identity and access management (IAM)

Identity is the control plane of cloud-based infrastructure. We design:

Operations: observability, backups, and incident readiness

Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) succeeds when the system can be operated confidently:

Cloud architecture patterns (IaaS, PaaS, serverless, hybrid)

There’s no single “correct” cloud setup. SHAPE selects patterns that match your workload, team maturity, and delivery goals—while keeping designing cloud-based infrastructure practical and maintainable.

IaaS (infrastructure-first) architecture

IaaS uses cloud-provided compute, storage, and networking, while your team manages OS-level concerns and runtime operations. This approach can be a strong fit when you need flexibility, legacy compatibility, or deep control.

PaaS (managed services) architecture

PaaS shifts more responsibility to managed services (managed databases, managed runtimes, managed queues). Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) often becomes more reliable and faster to run when you use managed components strategically.

Serverless and event-driven architecture

Serverless is a strong fit when work is event-driven (files uploaded, messages received, scheduled jobs) and you want elastic execution. It can reduce ops overhead while improving burst handling—especially for new products.

Hybrid and multi-cloud architecture

Sometimes you must run across environments (on-prem + cloud, or multiple clouds). SHAPE designs hybrid approaches with clear boundaries so cloud-based infrastructure remains understandable and secure.

   
pick the simplest cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) pattern that meets reliability, security, and delivery speed targets—then add complexity only when measured needs demand it.
 

Security, reliability, observability, and governance

Strong cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) is not just a diagram—it’s how the system behaves under stress, mistakes, and attacks. SHAPE emphasizes guardrails that keep cloud-based infrastructure secure and operable as teams and services scale.

Security: identity, segmentation, and least privilege

Reliability: resilience patterns that match your SLOs

Designing cloud-based infrastructure for reliability typically includes:

Observability: see issues before customers do

We design observability around what matters: user experience and business-critical workflows.

Governance and cost controls: avoid cloud sprawl

   
Cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) must include monitoring, access patterns, and governance—not just compute choices.
 

Use case explanations

1) You’re launching a new product and need a scalable foundation

Early cloud decisions can either accelerate your roadmap or create expensive rewrites. SHAPE designs cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) that starts lean but supports growth—designing cloud-based infrastructure with clear upgrade paths for scale, reliability, and compliance.

2) Your system is experiencing outages or instability as usage grows

Frequent incidents often point to missing resilience patterns, poor observability, or tight coupling between services. We stabilize cloud-based infrastructure with failure-mode analysis, improved monitoring, and architecture changes that reduce blast radius.

3) Costs are rising and no one knows why

Cost surprises usually come from unclear ownership, missing budgets, over-provisioning, and untracked data egress. Our cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) approach includes governance and cost strategy so spend matches value.

4) You’re modernizing from monolith to services (or containerizing)

Modernization is a systems project: networking, identity, deployment, and observability must evolve together. We design cloud-based infrastructure to support incremental extraction, stable APIs, and safe rollouts.

5) You need compliance-ready cloud architecture

When compliance is required, architecture must support access control, audit logs, encryption, and data handling rules by design. SHAPE helps teams implement cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure) that’s easier to explain, validate, and operate.

Step-by-step tutorial: design cloud-based infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure)

This practical playbook mirrors how SHAPE delivers cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure)—so designing cloud-based infrastructure becomes repeatable, not reactive.

   
If you can’t explain your cloud architecture in one page—network, compute, data, identity, observability—it’s likely too complex for your current stage.
 

Call to action: design cloud-based infrastructure with SHAPE

If you’re launching, scaling, modernizing, or trying to stabilize costs, SHAPE can help with cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure)—focused on designing cloud-based infrastructure that’s secure, reliable, and ready for continuous delivery.

Start a cloud architecture engagement

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