Design security in, not bolt it on.
Cloud and hybrid architecture reviews, segmentation, zero trust roadmaps, identity-first design — built into your environment without breaking what works.
How most SMB environments were actually built
Most small and mid-sized companies did not design their network; they grew it. An AWS account here, a SaaS tool there, a VPN that worked well enough in 2019. Nobody sat down and drew a security boundary because there was always something more urgent. The result is flat networks where a compromised laptop can reach the billing database, admin accounts with permissions from three job changes ago, and cloud environments where IAM policies were copy-pasted from Stack Overflow at 11 PM.
Retrofitting security onto that structure is expensive, disruptive, and incomplete. Attackers know this. The cost of fixing a flat network after a breach — forensics, recovery, customer notification, regulatory scrutiny — routinely exceeds what a proper design would have cost by a factor of ten or more. Designing it in from the start, or restructuring deliberately before an incident, is the better trade.
Signs you need this
- Your cloud environment was built by developers who needed speed, not security engineers who cared about blast radius
- You have a flat network with little or no segmentation between user workstations and servers
- Admin credentials are shared, broad, and not rotated on any reliable schedule
- You are moving to AWS, Azure, or GCP and want to get the architecture right before you are committed to a bad design
- A customer or auditor asked about your segmentation controls and you could not answer clearly
- Your DevOps pipeline has no security gates and you know it
What the engagement delivers
We produce a concrete set of artifacts: a current-state assessment, a target architecture, and a sequenced implementation plan your team can actually execute. The work is grounded in what you have today, not an idealized greenfield. Every recommendation comes with a rationale and a realistic sense of what it costs to implement.
Architecture review and target design
- Current-state architecture review: network topology, cloud accounts, identity flows, and data paths
- Target reference architecture with annotated diagrams, not just a slide deck
- Network segmentation plan with zone definitions, trust boundaries, and traffic policies
- Identity-first design: least-privilege, just-in-time access, and privileged account controls
Cloud and pipeline hardening
- Cloud control plane hardening for AWS, Azure, and GCP: account structure, IAM policies, logging, and alerting baselines
- Secure CI/CD pipeline patterns: secrets management, dependency scanning, artifact signing
- Zero trust roadmap scoped to your environment and budget, phased by risk reduction value
- Prioritized implementation plan with effort estimates so engineering can sequence the work
How the engagement runs
A standard architecture engagement runs 6 to 8 weeks. The first two weeks are discovery: we interview your technical leads, review existing documentation, and map what is actually running versus what is on the diagram. Weeks three and four produce the target design. Weeks five through eight produce the prioritized implementation plan and present findings. Optional ongoing architecture review retainer available after the initial engagement closes.
Engagement structure
- Discovery (weeks 1-2): technical interviews, document review, current-state mapping of network, cloud, identity, and pipeline controls
- Target design (weeks 3-4): reference architecture, segmentation plan, identity model, cloud hardening baseline
- Implementation plan (weeks 5-8): prioritized roadmap with effort estimates; findings presentation to technical and executive stakeholders
- Optional ongoing: quarterly architecture reviews to track progress and catch new risks as the environment evolves
What we ask of you
- Access to an engineer or architect who knows the current environment well enough to walk us through it
- Read-only access to cloud accounts, network diagrams, and pipeline configurations
- Two to three hours of stakeholder interview time in the first two weeks
- An internal sponsor who can prioritize the remediation work once the plan is delivered
Why a Red Hound architecture engagement
We have designed security architecture for regulated businesses (healthcare, financial services, defense contractors) and fast-moving SaaS companies that cannot tolerate process for its own sake. That range forces pragmatism: we know which controls are load-bearing and which are compliance theater. We do not recommend segmenting everything just because a framework says to.
What makes us different
- We have built on all three major clouds. AWS, Azure, and GCP each have different control planes, different IAM models, and different failure modes. We know the differences and design for them.
- Pragmatic about scope. Not every subnet needs its own firewall policy. We right-size the segmentation model to the actual risk, not the theoretical ideal.
- We work with your DevOps team, not around them. Secure CI/CD patterns only stick if the engineers who run the pipeline understand why the controls are there.
- Legacy and hybrid environments are not a problem. Many SMBs still have on-premises infrastructure or older systems that cannot be lifted and shifted. We design for the environment you have.
- Written deliverables you keep. Diagrams, decision records, and implementation plans live in your systems. If you ever change providers, the documentation stays with you.
Frequently asked
The questions we hear most often before an architecture engagement kicks off. Bring anything else to the discovery call.
Do you write Infrastructure as Code for us?
The standard engagement produces architecture artifacts and a prioritized implementation plan, not production IaC. If your team needs help translating the plan into Terraform or CloudFormation, we can scope that as a separate workstream. Most clients prefer to own their IaC directly; we review and advise on what their team writes.
Do you support multi-cloud environments?
Yes. Many SMBs run a primary cloud with a secondary footprint or SaaS integrations that span providers. We design for that reality. The control plane hardening recommendations cover each cloud account individually, and we address the cross-cloud identity and data flow risks explicitly in the target architecture.
How do you handle legacy or on-premises infrastructure?
We start from what you actually have. On-premises systems, older Windows Server environments, and legacy applications are not blockers; they shape the segmentation design. We identify which legacy systems carry the most risk, which need isolation, and which can be decommissioned without impact. Migration paths are phased, not assumed.
Can you work alongside our existing DevOps team?
That is the expected model. We interview your DevOps engineers during discovery, share findings in a format they can act on, and review pull requests or pipeline configurations as part of the secure CI/CD work. Security architecture that the engineering team does not understand does not get implemented correctly.
What is the difference between this and hiring an MSSP?
A managed security service provider monitors and responds to events in your existing environment. A security architecture engagement changes the environment itself so that the events are fewer and less severe. The two are complementary; many clients do an architecture engagement first, then bring in an MSSP to monitor the improved environment.
Get an architecture that supports your business — not one fighting it.
A 30-minute discovery call, no obligation. We map where you are, identify the highest-priority gaps, and tell you what a realistic engagement looks like.