Azure Cloud Consulting Services
Hands-on Azure consulting from a certified Azure engineer: architecture, migration, Entra ID and security, Bicep or Terraform, and cost, delivered by the person you actually talk to.
Shane Schlabach · Azure Administrator – Associate · 12+ years in AWS & Azure · Remote across the US
Overview
I help businesses build, migrate, and improve Azure environments that are secure, reliable, and practical to maintain. Whether you're planning a migration, troubleshooting an existing setup, or trying to get cloud costs under control, I provide hands-on engineering from planning through implementation.
I'm a Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate and HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate, with more than 12 years of experience designing, migrating, and running production environments in Azure and AWS. At 3 Hops Tech, you work directly with me, from the first conversation through delivery and ongoing support.
Azure consulting services include
- Architecture and subscription setup: Design subscriptions, VNets, connectivity, and RBAC that fit your applications, team, and security requirements.
- Cloud migrations: Move servers, applications, and databases to Azure virtual machines, containers, or managed services, with a plan for dependencies, testing, cutover, and rollback.
- Identity and security: Replace passwords and connection strings with Entra ID and managed identities, enforce MFA and least-privilege access, and configure encryption, logging, and threat detection.
- Bicep, Terraform, and infrastructure automation: Bring manually created resources under version control and build reusable Bicep or Terraform configurations that make changes consistent and repeatable.
- Application delivery: Build or improve CI/CD pipelines and container deployments so your team can release changes with fewer manual steps.
- Reliability and troubleshooting: Investigate infrastructure issues, improve monitoring and alerting, and review backup and recovery processes to support day-to-day operations.
- Cost optimization: Identify idle resources, right-size workloads, and apply autoscaling and scheduling where they make sense, while accounting for performance and availability needs.
The goal is an Azure environment your team understands and can operate with confidence. Infrastructure work is delivered as code in your own Azure subscriptions, with documentation covering what was built, how to manage it, and how to make future changes. You keep ownership of your infrastructure, code, and access, whether you continue with ongoing support or manage everything internally. If you also run AWS, I work across both with consistent identity, networking, and security controls.
Have an Azure project in mind, or an environment that needs attention? Let's talk about what's working, what needs to change, and where I can help.
Selected work
Examples from enterprise production environments I've led. Client names are kept private.
Deploy a SaaS platform on Azure with Bicep
I used Bicep to deploy the Azure services behind a SaaS product, including App Service web apps, Function Apps, Azure SQL, Azure Storage, and Azure Key Vault. Apps authenticated to SQL, Storage, and Key Vault using managed identities, with Storage and Key Vault RBAC role assignments defined alongside the resources. Key Vault centralized the management of application secrets. I started with a proof of concept using public endpoints to validate the application. Because the infrastructure was already in code, moving to production with VNet integration and private endpoints involved reviewed template changes rather than a manual rebuild in the portal. The same templates kept deployments consistent across environments.
How engagements work
Every engagement starts with a free, no-obligation conversation. Project work is $150/hour with scope agreed up front, or ongoing care as a monthly managed service.
- 1
Discovery
What you run today, where it hurts, and what “done” looks like.
- 2
Plan
A written roadmap: options, sequence, and what I would touch first.
- 3
Build
Infrastructure, automation, and security — as code, in your accounts.
- 4
Support
Monitor, patch, and keep changing it as the workload changes.
Common questions
What kinds of Azure projects do you take on?
Subscription and network architecture, migrations to Azure, Entra ID and security improvements, Bicep or Terraform and CI/CD pipelines, cost optimization, and ongoing managed support. Most engagements mix a few of these.
Can you work on an Azure environment someone else built?
Yes, and that's most of the work. I start by reviewing what's running today, then improve it in place rather than rebuilding it, including bringing existing resources under Bicep or Terraform without downtime.
Who will I be working with?
Me, Shane Schlabach. The person on the first call is the person doing the work. There are no account managers and no handoffs to junior staff.
How much does it cost?
Project work is $150/hour, with scope and a plan agreed before work starts. Managed service starts at $2,000/month and is scoped after a review of your environment.
Do you work with companies outside Ohio?
Yes. I'm based in Cincinnati, Ohio and work remotely with teams across the United States.
Who owns the code and documentation?
You do. Everything is built in your own AWS or Azure accounts and source control, with handoff documentation so your team can run it without me.
How do we get started?
Use the form below to send a few sentences about where things stand. I reply within one business day, and the first conversation is free with no obligation.