Technology & Architecture Consulting

Architecture-led delivery for regulated and high-scale platforms

We help organisations modernise legacy estates, design resilient cloud-native architectures, and deliver rapid proof-of-concepts that de-risk transformation—across payments, data platforms, and AI-enabled services.

  • Payments platforms and transformations supporting £200B+ daily processing
  • Global IoT and telecom platforms processing at 500,000+ events per second
  • Real-time analytics estates processing 25 Petabytes daily events
  • Real-time payments architectures delivering ~5,000 TPS and sub-0.5s latency

Services

Consulting and hands-on architecture support from strategy through pilots and delivery governance.

Enterprise & Solution Architecture

Target-state architecture, transition states, reference patterns, and decision governance to align delivery teams and stakeholders.

  • Target-state and transition architectures
  • Reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails
  • Architecture governance and design authority support

Cloud Strategy & Modernisation

Cloud strategy and modernisation roadmaps for hybrid and cloud-native estates, including platform engineering direction and delivery standards.

  • Cloud strategy (AWS/Azure/GCP; hybrid)
  • Modernisation roadmap (monolith to modular/microservices)
  • Platform engineering standards (Kubernetes, IaC, CI/CD)

Data Platform Strategy

Data foundations, governance, and platform direction to enable trusted reporting, real-time insights, and AI-ready data products.

  • Data platform blueprint and operating model
  • Streaming-first patterns (Kafka) and integration design
  • Governance: lineage, quality, and controls

AI & GenAI Enablement

Practical AI architecture patterns and PoCs, including controlled integration of LLMs into business workflows.

  • GenAI architecture patterns (RAG, orchestration)
  • Controls: security, privacy, auditability
  • Rapid PoCs with measurable success criteria

Banking, Payments & Regulatory Change

Architecture and delivery leadership across payments schemes and regulated banking environments.

  • ISO 20022 alignment and scheme programmes
  • Straight-through processing, reconciliation, and exception handling
  • Integration patterns across channels, core and back-office

Technology Assurance & Architecture Audit

Independent assessment of architecture decisions, delivery risk, and operational readiness.

  • Architecture review and NFR gap assessment
  • Delivery risk and dependency analysis
  • Operational readiness: monitoring, support model, resilience

Industries and capabilities

Industries

  • Banking and payments (real-time processing, ISO 20022, scheme change)
  • Telecom and IoT platforms (global-scale, high-throughput backends)
  • Transaction screening, controls, and regulated operations
  • Energy trading and risk-oriented platforms

Capabilities

  • Target-state architecture and modernisation roadmaps
  • Cloud strategy, landing-zone direction, and platform engineering
  • Event-driven and streaming architectures (Kafka)
  • API strategy and governance
  • AI integration patterns and rapid PoC delivery

Platforms and delivery

  • AWS, Azure, GCP; hybrid architectures
  • Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD and GitOps direction
  • Observability and service reliability practices
  • Security, compliance, and evidence-driven governance

How we work

A delivery-minded approach designed to de-risk change and make architecture actionable.

  1. Discover

    Assess current state, constraints, risks, and value hotspots.

  2. Define

    Target-state architecture, key decisions, standards, and transition plan.

  3. Prove

    PoC or pilot to validate feasibility, security, performance, and delivery approach.

  4. Deliver

    Architecture leadership and governance through build, integration, and rollout.

  5. Assure & evolve

    Independent review, optimisation (resilience/cost), and continuous improvement.

Engagement options

Flexible ways to engage depending on urgency, scope, and delivery stage.

Architecture & risk review

Duration: 1–3 weeks


  • Architecture assessment and recommendations
  • NFR and resilience gaps
  • Risk register and prioritised actions

Target architecture + roadmap

Duration: 3–6 weeks


  • Target-state and transition architectures
  • Delivery sequencing and dependency map
  • Governance model and decision framework

PoC / pilot delivery

Duration: 4–8 weeks


  • Working pilot with success criteria
  • Reference implementation and runbook
  • Scale and rollout plan

Programme architecture lead (retainer)

Duration: Monthly


  • Design authority support
  • Architecture reviews and decision logs
  • Standards, patterns, and delivery assurance

Selected engagements

PTSB Bank

Cloud modernisation & trusted data hub

Modernisation strategy, data foundations, and architecture governance for regulated delivery.

AWSKafkaKubernetes

Bank of Ireland

SEPA Instant architecture

End-to-end solution design and transition approach aligned to scheme and regulatory timelines.

Event-drivenKafkaSecurity

Mastercard

Real-time payments platform

High-scale platform design and multi-geography deployment patterns.

PaymentsISO 20022MQ

HSBC

Cloud migration & digital banking services

Cloud-native architectures enabling real-time account services and integration to payments ecosystems.

GCPCloud-nativeAPIs

Barclays

PSD2 / open banking

API platform strategy, security controls, and AI/ML-enabled components within regulated constraints.

APIsSecurityAI/ML

Lloyds

Payments transformation & resilience

Resilience and modernisation direction for a critical payments estate.

ResilienceAPIsModernisation

Vodafone / Three UK

Telecom & IoT platform modernisation

Cloud and streaming architectures for global-scale platforms and high-volume analytics.

IoTStreamingCloud

Transaction screening (GSS)

Regulated screening and controls platform

Architecture patterns and governance for screening, controls, and partner onboarding.

ComplianceSecurityControls

Certifications and standards

Selected certifications and delivery standards relevant to regulated and cloud programmes.

ISEB Enterprise & Solution Architecture Google Professional Cloud Architect AWS Solution Architect Associate Microsoft Azure Administrator Coursera Machine Learning Specialisation ISO 27001 / SOC / NIST (delivery alignment)

Partner with us on your architecture

If you need target-state direction, modernisation planning, or a rapid PoC to validate an approach, we can help you move from decisions to delivery with clear governance and measurable outcomes.