How is fractional cloud engineering different from hiring a freelance contractor?

A contractor fills a seat. Fractional cloud engineering is more like having a senior technical advisor and hands-on engineer in one. I'm not just executing tickets — I'm helping you make better architectural decisions, unblocking your team when they're stuck, and building your team's capabilities over time. The retainer model also means you have consistent access, not a scramble every time something breaks.

We're on AWS or Azure — can you still help with cloud engineering?

My deep expertise is Google Cloud Platform. If your stack is primarily GCP, this engagement is designed for you. If you're multi-cloud with a GCP component, reach out and let's discuss your specific situation.

What if we need more than 10 hours in a given month?

Not a problem. We can adjust hours up or down based on what's happening in your environment. The retainer starts at 10 hours per month but can scale as your needs evolve. Some months are heavier than others — we'll handle that as it comes.

We're early-stage and not sure we're ready. Should we still reach out?

Yes. The earlier you get the GCP architecture right, the less you pay to fix it later. If you're not sure whether you need this, a 30-minute conversation will tell us both. There's no commitment required to have that first call.

Do you work with startups that have no dedicated cloud engineer at all?

Yes. Some of the startups I work with have developers who understand their application deeply but have never run production GCP infrastructure before. I can serve as your de facto cloud engineering lead while your team is building that capability internally.

GKE Platform Architect — USA

I’m Amit Malhotra, a Principal GKE Platform Architect working with mid-market and enterprise engineering teams across the United States.

If your team is building or scaling production workloads on Google Kubernetes Engine, I provide the platform architecture expertise to do it right — secure, observable, Terraform-managed, and built to survive enterprise security reviews.

What I Do as a GKE Platform Architect

Production GKE requires deliberate architectural decisions across cluster design, security, networking, autoscaling, and observability. Teams that treat GKE as a black box accumulate platform debt that surfaces at the worst possible moment — a security review, a scaling incident, or an audit.

I work with US engineering teams on:

Cluster architecture and design. Regional cluster topology, node pool design by workload profile, private cluster configuration, VPC-native networking, and Network Policy enforcement from day one.

GKE security hardening. Workload Identity Federation, Binary Authorization, OPA/Gatekeeper policy enforcement, distroless containers, and Secret Manager CSI Driver for secrets injection. The full defense-in-depth stack, implemented as code.

Platform engineering. Standardised GKE deployment templates, self-hosted GitHub Actions runners via ARC, Terraform module structure, and an internal developer platform layer that abstracts GKE complexity from application teams.

Autoscaling and reliability. HPA, VPA, cluster autoscaler, PodDisruptionBudgets, multi-zone failover, and health probe design — the reliability architecture that keeps clusters operational under real production load.

Observability. Datadog or Google Cloud Operations, GKE-specific alerting, custom SLOs, and log aggregation that gives your on-call team clear, actionable signals.

My approach follows the SCALE Framework — Security by Design, Cloud-Native, Automation/IaC, Lifecycle Ops, and Elastic Scalability. Every GKE platform I design is evaluated against all five dimensions, not just the immediate workload brief.

Fractional or Full Engagement — Your Choice

Fractional GKE Architect. Part-time embedded architectural oversight — I own the GKE platform roadmap, review decisions, and unblock engineers without the cost or lead time of a full-time senior hire. Typically 2–3 days per week.

Project engagement. Scoped deliverable — a new GKE platform build, security hardening, migration, or platform engineering programme. Fixed scope, defined outcome, direct Principal Architect involvement throughout.

No sales layer, no junior engineers, no handoffs.

Why USA Teams Work With Me

I work exclusively with North American clients and understand the compliance and security requirements that US enterprise and mid-market companies face — SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI, and enterprise security review processes that GKE platforms need to pass.

Named clients include Tangerine Bank, Telus Health, Loblaws, RBC, and Ford.

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Ready to Build a Platform That Scales Without the Tech Debt?

The SCALE framework gives your GCP platform a structured foundation — secure by design, automated by default, and built to grow with your business without accumulating technical debt.

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Amit Malhotra

Amit Malhotra is a Principal GCP Architect and founder of Buoyant Cloud, with 20+ years of IT experience — including 6+ years hands-on with Google Cloud architecture and DevSecOps. He has designed and delivered production-grade cloud platforms for enterprises including RBC, Tangerine Bank, Telus Health, Loblaws, and Ford, as well as high-growth SaaS teams across Canada and the USA.