Frequently Asked Questions
Transparent answers about our engineering methodology, cloud platforms, DevOps automation, security audits, and delivery expectations.
General
What does a DevOps consultancy like ARTechOps do?
ARTechOps designs and automates cloud infrastructure, builds CI/CD pipelines, embeds security scanning into delivery (DevSecOps), manages infrastructure as code, and sets up monitoring and incident response for engineering teams.
Do you offer a free architecture review?
Yes. ARTechOps offers a complimentary high-level review of your cloud stack and delivery bottlenecks. Book a slot on the website or email info@artechops.com.
Which cloud platforms and tools do you work with?
AWS, GCP and Azure; Kubernetes and Docker; Terraform/OpenTofu and Ansible; GitHub Actions, GitLab CI and ArgoCD; Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry and HashiCorp Vault.
How quickly do you respond to new enquiries?
Senior engineers respond within one business day, and all engagements are covered by NDA on request.
Cloud Architecture & Strategy
Do you work across more than one cloud provider?
Yes. We design for AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, including multi-cloud and hybrid setups, and choose the provider mix based on your workload, compliance needs and budget.
Can you reduce our cloud bill?
Cost governance (FinOps) is part of every architecture review: right-sizing, autoscaling, storage tiering and tagging policies. Savings depend on your current setup, so we quantify them during the audit rather than promise a number up front.
What do we receive at the end of an architecture engagement?
A documented target architecture, a prioritised roadmap, and infrastructure-as-code specifications so the design can be built and reviewed in version control.
DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines
Which CI/CD platforms do you support?
GitHub Actions and GitLab CI for build and test, and ArgoCD or Flux for GitOps-based deployment to Kubernetes.
Can you add rollbacks and zero-downtime releases?
Yes. We use canary or blue/green deployments with health checks so a failed release rolls back automatically.
Can you improve a pipeline we already have?
Yes. We often start by auditing an existing pipeline for slow stages, missing security gates and unreliable deployments, then fix those before rebuilding anything.
Infrastructure Automation (IaC)
Terraform or OpenTofu: which do you use?
Both are supported. We pick based on your licensing preference and existing state; the modules and workflow are largely the same.
Can you import our existing, manually created infrastructure?
Yes. We import resources into state and codify them in stages so production is not disrupted.
How do you prevent configuration drift?
All changes go through pull requests and pipelines, and scheduled plan runs flag any difference between code and the live environment.
DevSecOps & Security Engineering
What is DevSecOps?
DevSecOps means running security checks (code analysis, dependency and image scanning, secrets handling) automatically inside the delivery pipeline instead of reviewing security only at the end.
Will security scanning slow our releases?
Scans run in parallel with tests and are tuned to block only on severities you choose, so most teams keep their release speed while catching issues earlier.
Can you help us prepare for SOC 2 or ISO 27001?
We harden infrastructure and pipelines against the technical controls those frameworks expect. Formal certification still requires an accredited auditor.
Cloud Migration & Modernization
Can you migrate us from on-premise servers to the cloud?
Yes. We assess dependencies, choose between lift-and-shift and re-platforming per workload, and plan cutovers to minimise downtime.
How do you protect data during a migration?
We replicate databases ahead of cutover, run verification checks on both sides and keep a tested rollback path until sign-off.
Do we need to rewrite our application?
Not necessarily. Many workloads can be containerised and re-platformed first, with deeper modernisation done in later phases.
Site Reliability & 24/7 Monitoring
What is the difference between monitoring and observability?
Monitoring tells you something is wrong using known metrics; observability (metrics, logs and traces together) helps you find out why, even for failures you did not anticipate.
Do you provide round-the-clock coverage?
We design alerting and runbooks for 24/7 operation. Coverage arrangements for your engagement are agreed in the scope.
Can you work with our existing monitoring tools?
Yes. We extend existing Prometheus, Grafana or Datadog setups before introducing anything new.