Why We Moved to the Cloud, But Kept Our Architecture Grounded
Article summary
We didn’t adopt the cloud to follow a trend. We did it to break free from bottlenecks. Staging servers took days to spin up. Log storage hit size limits. Every deployment required manual steps and cross-team coordination. We needed to move faster-and cloud infrastructure gave us room to breathe. This write-up shares how we made our first steps into the cloud while deliberately avoiding a full architectural overhaul. What We Migrated First We started with non-production infrastructure: Jenkins agents for CI/CD were moved to AWS EC2 Integration testing began running in cloud-isolated environments Shell scripts provisioned the test infra-we hadn’t touched Terraform yet The result: parallel builds, disposable test environments, and fewer dev bottlenecks.
Read Full Article on MediumPractical takeaway
The main idea behind Why We Moved to the Cloud, But Kept Our Architecture Grounded is to help teams move from broad theory to clear, repeatable decision making. When teams apply this thinking, they reduce ambiguity and focus on improvements that deliver measurable momentum.
Example scenario
Imagine a team facing competing priorities. By applying the ideas in Why We Moved to the Cloud, But Kept Our Architecture Grounded, they can map dependencies, identify risks and choose the next move that produces progress without destabilizing their system.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trying to redesign everything instead of taking small steps.
- Ignoring real constraints like incentives, ownership or legacy systems.
- Creating documents that do not lead to any change in code or decisions.
How to apply this in real work
Start by identifying where Why We Moved to the Cloud, But Kept Our Architecture Grounded already shows up in your architecture or delivery flow. Then pick one area where clarity would reduce friction. Apply the idea, measure its effect and share the learning.
Signs you are doing it correctly
- Teams make decisions faster and with fewer disagreements.
- Architectural conversations become clearer and less abstract.
- Changes land safely with fewer surprises or rework cycles.