Architecture Insights

Strategies for Azure architecture, cloud migration, and technical leadership

Feb 01, 2026 8 min read

The Truth about Network Observability

Why "Green on the Dashboard" is a lie. The 90-day survival guide for Azure Firewall Premium, WAF v2, and the Observability Trinity.

Azure Firewall Security Terraform
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Feb 01, 2026 8 min read

Busy Is Not Progress: The Three-Coordinate Career Framework

Motion feels productive, but direction changes trajectory. A 90-day system for Senior ICs and Managers to stop drifting.

Career Strategy Management
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Jan 31, 2026 8 min read

The Truth about Azure Landing Zones

Why your "Enterprise Scale" deployment is failing Day 2. It’s not a Terraform script; it’s an operating model. A realist’s guide to preventing the swamp.

Architecture Strategy Realist
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Jan 29, 2026 10 min read

Architectural Integrity: The AI Audit Framework on Azure

Synthesizing the AI Architecture Audit framework with Azure-native security controls. Learn how to bridge the gap between compliance theory and architectural reality.

GRC Azure AI Compliance
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Jan 28, 2026 10 min read

Regulator-Ready AI: The 4-Subscription AI Fortress

The regulator didn't care about the demo. They cared about data residency. Here is how we used a multi-subscription Hub-and-Spoke pattern, PTU reservations, and Private Link to build an AI fortress in UK South that passes any technical audit.

Security Azure AI Terraform
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Jan 26, 2026 7 min read

The Hybrid DNS Pattern That Survives Cutover Night

Cutover night has a predictable failure mode. DNS quietly sends your 'private' traffic toward the public world. Here's the hybrid DNS pattern we standardize on for landing zones—central Private DNS zones, Azure DNS Private Resolver, and a design you can validate in 60 seconds.

Azure Networking Private Link DNS Governance
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Jan 21, 2026 8 min read

The UKLifeLabs AI Gateway Pattern

How UKLifeLabs keeps Copilots compliant, regional, and audit-ready using Azure APIM, UK South/West, and Cloudflare.

Azure AI Security Gateway
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Jan 19, 2026 14 min read

Well-Architected AI: The "Go-Live" Playbook

A production-ready go-live playbook for Azure AI copilots using Azure Well-Architected Framework. Two lanes, one gateway, audit trails, and Day-2 operations.

Well-Architected Azure AI RAG
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Jan 18, 2026 25 min read

Document Intelligence Copilot: Complete Implementation Guide

Production-grade setup with Application Gateway for Containers, cost analysis ($1K-$19K/month scenarios), 7-week migration guide, monitoring, and CI/CD pipelines.

AGC Implementation Cost Analysis
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Jan 17, 2026 18 min read

Document Intelligence Copilot on Azure: The Production-Ready Blueprint

A deployable Azure AI Landing Zone for regulated document Q&A with citations, audit trail, APIM-first controls, and predictable quota + cost planning.

Azure AI RAG Security
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Jan 16, 2026 15 min read

Funding First, Migration Faster

A practical guide to Microsoft funding programs for Azure migrations. Learn when to use Azure Accelerate, AMM, and ECIF.

Azure Accelerate Partner Incentives Azure Migrate
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Jan 15, 2026 10–12 min read

From TCO to “Go”: The Wave 1 Playbook

Turn a stalled app portfolio into a funded Azure Wave 1, with real TCO math, a CXO-ready business case, and proof of execution.

Azure Migrate TCO Funding
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Jan 11, 2026 12 min read

Pick the Wrong Compute, Pay Forever

A decision tree for hosting AI agents on Azure. When to use AKS, ACA, or ACI without breaking the bank or security posture.

Azure AI Architecture Decision Tree
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Jan 09, 2026 8 min read

Two Doors, One Rulebook: AI Gateway

How TrustBank implemented dual Azure APIM gateways to scale AI agents for both customers and employees while maintaining strict audit controls.

AI Gateway Architecture Security
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Jan 06, 2026 5 min read

The Bank That Recalculated Reality

78 apps. 298 servers. 48% performance coverage. A story about why new Azure Migrate assessments are not magic reset buttons.

Azure Migrate Cloud Migration Architecture
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Jan 02, 2026 6 min read

Why Cloud Architects Must Learn Value-Selling

Because diagrams don’t get budgets approved. Learning value-selling changes your role from "solution designer" to "deal shaper".

Career Strategy Value Selling
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Dec 30, 2025 8 min read

The Assessment That Wouldn’t Let Go of AVS

A fictional STAR-format story about ZionPay Financial Services. How a simple checkbox in Azure Migrate locked an assessment into AVS, and how understanding the tool's hidden logic saved the project.

Azure Migrate Assessment Strategy
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Dec 29, 2025 10 min read

The Azure Migration That Almost Failed

A real-world story showing how DRIs, RFCs, and guardrails transformed a stalled landing zone program into a scalable execution model.

Migration Landing Zone Architecture
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Dec 27, 2025 12 min read

The Universal Translator: Rewiring AI with MCP

How the Model Context Protocol is solving the N×M integration problem and enabling true Agentic AI.

MCP Agentic AI Open Source
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Dec 26, 2025 10 min read

Mental Reset, Energy Protection & Career Acceleration

Four battle-tested frameworks that transformed how I lead high-pressure Azure transformations and manage delivery energy.

Leadership Productivity Career
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Dec 25, 2025 8 min read

Azure Landing Zones: Enterprise Foundation

A comprehensive guide to designing and implementing Azure Landing Zones for enterprise-scale cloud adoption. Learn best practices, governance patterns, and security frameworks.

Azure Landing Zones Architecture
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Dec 7, 2025 7–9 min read

From Ticket-Solver to Visionary

The skill shift to become an enterprise architect. Certs open doors, but decision-making and writing get you promoted.

Career TOGAF Leadership
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Nov 21, 2025 9–11 min read

Data Landing Zones: Building Data Mesh

Control plane vs data plane, with governance that scales. Learn how to build data mesh without creating a data swamp.

Data Mesh Purview Governance
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Oct 28, 2025 7–9 min read

Beyond the Scorecard: WAR to Roadmap

Turning a Well-Architected Review into a funded roadmap. Make execs read it, trust it, and approve it.

Well-Architected Cost Security
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Oct 3, 2025 9–12 min read

Brownfield Nightmares: Adopting ALZ

How to migrate legacy flat networks into hub-spoke with minimal downtime. A controlled transition strategy.

Migration Networking ALZ
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