Chrisando Wagner

Cloud Architect · Platform Engineer · DevSecOps

25+ years in enterprise ICT. I help organisations design, build, and operate secure, cost-efficient cloud-native platforms — from architecture blueprints to fully automated GitOps pipelines running in production.

Kubernetes / EKS / AKS AWS & Azure Terraform / IaC ArgoCD / GitOps DevSecOps FinOps Zero Trust / IAM CI/CD Pipelines Hybrid Cloud VMware / ESXi OpenStack Open Source Stacks Cisco Networking

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25+

Years in ICT

10+

Years in Banking / FinTech

AWS
Azure

Multi-cloud expertise

k8s

Kubernetes-first approach

PgDip

Software Engineering
University of Liverpool

What I offer

Services

Whether you need a cloud strategy, a production-grade Kubernetes platform, or a DevSecOps pipeline built from scratch — I bring hands-on architectural depth backed by real production experience in regulated banking environments.

☁

Cloud Architecture & Strategy

End-to-end cloud architecture design for AWS, Azure, and hybrid environments — from landing-zone blueprints and on-premise integration patterns (VMware, OpenStack, Red Hat) to Well-Architected reviews, compliance mapping (POPIA, PCI-DSS), and cost-governance frameworks.

AWS Azure Hybrid Cloud Landing Zones Well-Architected FinOps

⚙

Kubernetes Platform Engineering

Design and build production-grade Kubernetes platforms — EKS, AKS, OpenShift, or self-managed k3s or RKE2 on bare-metal/Proxmox — with GitOps, Cilium CNI, and full observability baked in from day one.

EKS / AKS OpenShift k3s / RKE2 Cilium Helm

🔄

GitOps & CI/CD Pipelines

Implement GitOps workflows with ArgoCD and Argo Workflows, automated blue-green / canary rollouts, and end-to-end CI/CD pipelines including pre-promotion testing (E2E, load, security scanning).

ArgoCD Argo Workflows Azure DevOps Gitea Kaniko

🛡

DevSecOps & Security Architecture

Embed security into your SDLC — SAST/DAST toolchain setup, image vulnerability scanning, secrets management (Vault, Sealed Secrets), Zero Trust networking, and IAM governance at scale.

SonarQube Trivy OWASP ZAP Vault Zero Trust

💾

Infrastructure as Code

Build fully automated, reproducible infrastructure using Terraform and Ansible — from VM provisioning on Proxmox or cloud hyperscalers to application bootstrap and day-2 config management.

Terraform Ansible Proxmox Cloud-init

📈

Observability & FinOps

Stand up full-stack observability (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki/Graylog, Alertmanager) and build a FinOps practice — tagging strategy, cost dashboards, rightsizing workflows, and governance guardrails.

Prometheus Grafana Graylog FinOps Alertmanager

🖥

Hybrid Cloud & On-Premise Design

Design hybrid architectures that span on-premise estates (VMware ESXi, OpenStack, Red Hat) and public cloud — with data-sovereignty guardrails, workload portability patterns, and a clear path from where you are to where you need to be.

VMware / ESXi OpenStack Red Hat Hybrid Cloud POPIA / PCI-DSS

📄

Cloud Migration & Modernisation

Assessment, roadmap, and execution of legacy-to-cloud migrations — containerising workloads, refactoring monoliths, and migrating on-premise systems to regulated cloud environments safely.

Lift & Shift Containerisation Refactoring POPIA / PCI-DSS

🏫

Team Enablement & Mentoring

Upskill engineering teams on cloud-native practices — workshops, pairing sessions, architecture reviews, and establishing internal developer platforms that make teams self-sufficient.

Workshops IDP Architecture Review Agile

How I work

Engagement Process

A structured, low-friction approach from first conversation to live platform.

Discovery & Assessment

Understand your current architecture, team maturity, compliance requirements, and business goals. Identify gaps, risks, and quick wins.

Architecture & Roadmap

Produce a target architecture with clear rationale, technology choices, migration phases, and governance guardrails — documented and reviewed with your stakeholders.

Build & Automate

Hands-on implementation: infrastructure-as-code, pipelines, Kubernetes platform, observability, and security controls — everything version-controlled and reproducible.

Validate & Harden

Load testing, E2E validation, security scanning, cost analysis, and compliance verification before anything touches production.

Handover & Enablement

Documentation, runbooks, knowledge transfer sessions, and optional ongoing advisory to ensure your team owns and evolves the platform confidently.

"I don't just design on whiteboards — I build and run these systems myself. My background spans VMware ESXi estates, OpenStack private clouds, Red Hat environments, and highly complex Microsoft Server infrastructures — through to fully open-source, cloud-native platforms. My homelab runs a production-grade k3s or RKE2 cluster on Proxmox with full Terraform/Ansible IaC, ArgoCD GitOps, Cilium eBGP, blue-green deployments, SonarQube, Trivy, OWASP ZAP, and a complete observability stack. Every recommendation I make comes from having operated these systems under real conditions — not just read about them."

Ready to build something solid?

Let's talk about your cloud challenges — whether it's a greenfield platform, a migration, or hardening what you already have.

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