Work with me
Solution architecture for problems that don't have an obvious answer yet
I work with companies and startups on the part of a project that happens before anything gets built: understanding the problem, designing the solution architecture, and making the technical decisions that are expensive to get wrong.
What I help with
These aren't separate services. They're different angles on the same job: understanding a problem well enough to design something that works.
Problem discovery
Working out what is actually going on when the problem is vague, political, or described differently by everyone involved.
Solution design & architecture
Designing how systems, data, and processes should fit together for a specific problem, with the options and trade-offs written down.
What solution architecture involves →Build vs buy decisions
Deciding whether to build, buy, integrate, or change a process instead, before the budget is committed.
How I approach build vs buy →Data migrations
Planning a move off a third-party or legacy system without carrying its limitations into the new one.
Data migration checklist →APIs & integrations
Designing how internal systems, providers, and partners connect, including what happens when one of them fails or changes.
API integration checklist →AI & automation
Figuring out which parts of a workflow are worth automating, and how much context an AI system needs to be reliable.
How it usually works
- 1
Discovery
Conversations with the people who have the problem, a look at the systems and data involved, and a clear statement of what we are actually solving.
- 2
Options
A small number of realistic approaches, compared on cost, risk, complexity, time, and what your team can maintain.
- 3
Recommendation
One recommended solution architecture, with diagrams and the reasoning behind each major decision.
- 4
Support during delivery
Staying close while it gets built, so the design adapts when real data and real users show up.
What you end up with
- A clear problem statement everyone agrees on
- The options considered, with trade-offs
- A recommended solution architecture with diagrams
- Decision records explaining why each major choice was made
- A plan your team or delivery partner can build from
Probably not a fit if
- You already know exactly what to build and need extra developers to build it.
- You want a long-term outsourced development team.
- The decision has already been made and you need someone to sign it off.
Questions
What is solution architecture consulting?
It is bringing in an experienced solution architect to understand a business or technical problem, compare the options, and design how systems, data, and processes should fit together before a team commits to building it.
Do you also build the solution?
My focus is the design and decision-making before and during the build. I have a software engineering background and stay involved during delivery, but I am not primarily a developer for hire.
When should a company hire a solution architect consultant?
When a problem spans several systems or teams, requirements are vague, a decision is expensive to reverse (a platform, a migration, a core data model), or a project has stalled and nobody can say exactly why.
How do we get started?
Send me a message describing the problem in a few sentences. I reply personally, and we start with a conversation about what is actually going on.