Infrastructure and cloud architecture that can be governed, supported and scaled
Petatec helps businesses modernise infrastructure without losing control of identity, cost, security, backup or support responsibility.
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Infrastructure and cloud consulting from Petatec connects architecture decisions with operational reality. We review Microsoft 365, Azure, virtualisation, identity, backup, endpoints and networks together so cloud adoption improves resilience and governance instead of creating another unmanaged layer.
Definition and business impact
Infrastructure and cloud consulting is the process of designing, reviewing and operating the technical platforms that support users, applications, data and security across on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments.
The best infrastructure programmes reduce outages, simplify support, make security enforceable and prevent cloud cost from drifting. The worst create shadow platforms, unclear ownership and expensive dependencies. Petatec focuses on the first outcome.
Microsoft 365 architecture
Review tenant structure, licensing, security defaults, Teams, SharePoint, Exchange, device policies and admin boundaries.
Azure governance
Design subscriptions, identity, cost controls, tagging, policy, monitoring and access models that can be audited.
Hybrid infrastructure
Connect on-premise systems, cloud services and remote users with a clear operating model and resilient access paths.
VMware and virtualisation
Assess host capacity, licensing, storage, backup, availability and migration options for virtualised workloads.
Backup and disaster recovery
Review recovery objectives, backup coverage, restore testing, immutable storage and ransomware recovery readiness.
Network segmentation
Design sensible segmentation for users, servers, OT systems, third parties and critical services.
Identity and access management
Strengthen identity controls, admin roles, conditional access, MFA, privileged access and joiner-mover-leaver workflows.
Endpoint management
Standardise build, patching, compliance, remote support, encryption and device lifecycle management.
How Petatec assesses it
- Review the identity plane before changing endpoints, cloud access or application permissions.
- Map workload dependencies before moving systems into cloud or new virtualisation platforms.
- Assess backup and restore evidence, not only backup job success messages.
- Separate network zones by business risk and support need, not arbitrary address ranges.
- Use monitoring and reporting that operations teams can act on without specialist translation.
Process
- 1Baseline: document users, devices, tenants, domains, workloads, networks and recovery dependencies.
- 2Control model: define identity, admin, policy, logging and change control boundaries.
- 3Resilience model: set recovery objectives, backup scope, restore tests and escalation paths.
- 4Modernisation plan: sequence cloud, virtualisation, endpoint and network changes by dependency order.
- 5Operational handover: create runbooks, dashboards, ownership maps and review cadence.
Evidence used
- Microsoft Secure Score and tenant configuration exports
- Azure cost, policy and access reports
- Backup job history plus restore test evidence
- Network diagrams, firewall rules and VPN usage
- Endpoint compliance, patch and encryption status
How Petatec turns this into a decision
The useful work is not the audit itself. It is the judgement that follows: what to change, what to leave alone and what to sequence first.
Situation
Microsoft 365 has grown without a governance model.
Petatec view
Start with roles, identity, security defaults, retention and SharePoint/Teams structure before adding more tools.
Risk if ignored
Uncontrolled collaboration data becomes difficult to secure, retain, search or migrate.
Situation
Cloud bills are rising and nobody can explain why.
Petatec view
Introduce tagging, ownership, budget alerts, reserved capacity review and workload rightsizing.
Risk if ignored
Cloud cost becomes a recurring finance problem instead of an engineering decision.
Situation
Backups exist but restores are rarely tested.
Petatec view
Treat restore evidence as the control, not backup job status. Recovery plans should be rehearsed.
Risk if ignored
A ransomware or hardware incident exposes that critical systems cannot be restored within business tolerance.
Situation
Legacy virtualisation is stable but costly.
Petatec view
Assess supportability, licensing, workload dependency and migration timing before choosing cloud, refresh or consolidation.
Risk if ignored
A rushed migration creates performance, licensing and support issues.
Common mistakes
- Moving workloads to cloud before identity, backup and monitoring are ready.
- Treating Microsoft 365 as a subscription purchase rather than an operating platform.
- Assuming backup coverage is valid because dashboards show green jobs.
- Allowing remote access, admin roles and service accounts to grow without review.
- Designing network segmentation that operations teams cannot maintain.
Practical recommendations
- Review identity, backup and monitoring before any major cloud or endpoint programme.
- Use clear ownership labels for every tenant, workload, licence group and network zone.
- Document recovery objectives in business language before buying more backup tooling.
- Keep hybrid architecture simple enough for support teams to troubleshoot under pressure.
- Review Microsoft 365 and Azure governance quarterly, not only during renewal.
FAQ
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