Choose an architecture your teams can change and operate
Understand where service boundaries would help, where tighter modules are enough and what each option costs to run. A fixed-fee architecture review gives you a target architecture and a practical order of work.
Results from systems we have built and improved
Our architecture work includes separating hotel availability search from database processing and building a modular accounting platform. That experience informs the options we assess for your system.
- 80%
- lower infrastructure cost after hotel availability search moved from database queries to an in-memory data grid.Hotel metasearch case study
- 1B / hour
- financial transactions processed by FastPost, the cloud accounting platform developed for Legerity.FastPost case study
Stratoflow was a great partner, challenging as well as supporting our customer projects for the best outcome. They have a great pool of talent within the business - all very capable technologists, as well as being business-savvy and suitable for consultancy engagements.
- For
- Java systems with coupled releases or uneven scaling needs.
- Architecture review
- Usually 2 to 4 weeks, depending on scope and access.
- Pricing
- Fixed fee for the agreed review; it stands on its own.
- Output
- Architecture recommendation and prioritized implementation plan.
Start with the problem, then choose the boundaries
Domain and data ownership
Review business workflows, transactions and dependencies. Identify where a component can own its data and where separation would introduce consistency or integration costs.
Runtime and scaling
Use available call traces, traffic patterns and bottleneck measurements to understand which components need independent capacity or releases.
Team ownership and operations
Compare deployment responsibility, testing, monitoring and support for each option. Service boundaries need owners who can maintain them.
Migration and recovery
Choose an initial change that can be validated on its own. Plan interface compatibility, data changes and recovery before expanding the migration.
The recommendation can take more than one form
Strengthen existing modules
Improve boundaries inside the application when one deployment still fits the workload and team. Avoid adding service operations without a clear benefit.
Extract selected services
Separate components where independent scaling, ownership or release cycles justify the additional interfaces and operating work.
Consolidate unnecessary services
Review a split that has increased coordination or failure modes. Bringing components together can make the system easier to change.
Plan a broader transition
Where multiple services are justified, define the sequence, dependencies and operating capabilities needed to introduce them incrementally.
An architecture review with a usable implementation plan
Agree the question
Discuss delivery constraints, scaling needs and the decisions you need to make. Agree the review scope, fee and access.
Review code and runtime
Map module coupling, transactions, data ownership and available operational evidence with your engineers.
Compare architectures
Document the benefits, risks and operating costs of suitable options. Review the recommendation with the people who will build and run it.
Define the first phase
Hand over the target architecture, migration order and proposal for a scoped implementation. Your team can use the report independently.
Planning the engagement
Will you recommend microservices?
Only when independent deployment, scaling or ownership justifies the operational cost. Improving modules or consolidating services can be a better fit. The report explains the tradeoffs and the evidence behind the recommendation.
What does the architecture review cost?
We quote a fixed fee after understanding the codebase, integrations, available evidence and decisions in scope. The review stands on its own, like Technical Due Diligence. Implementation is a separate engagement, billed time and materials against a written ballpark once the review establishes its boundaries.
Can you help when an existing split is going badly?
Yes. We review current service boundaries, data dependencies and release coordination. The recommendation may be to continue extraction, adjust boundaries or consolidate parts of the system.
Can you implement the recommendation?
Yes. We can deliver agreed changes through application modernization phases, or work alongside your team. The review remains useful whether or not you commission implementation from us.
Related services
Choose the next step for your architecture
Tell us where delivery or scaling has become difficult. We will discuss what an architecture review should establish.