Case Study

Architecting Regulated Cloud Transformations in Financial Services

Clients
SouthState Bank
Pulte Mortgage
Industry: Financial ServicesPlatform: Microsoft AzureScope: Cloud Architecture & MigrationRole: Lead Solution Architect
The Challenge

Two financial services organizations needed to modernize legacy infrastructure to Azure while maintaining strict regulatory compliance. Both operated in heavily regulated environments (FFIEC, SOC 2, GLBA, CFPB) where security, data residency, and audit readiness are non-negotiable. They required enterprise-grade landing zones, compliant architectures, and phased migration strategies that would not disrupt critical business operations.

🏦
SouthState Bank
Regional Banking
✓ Led full Azure Design Phase for core banking workloads
✓ Enterprise Landing Zone aligned to Azure CAF
✓ API Management layer for secure service integration
✓ Defense-in-depth security model across 5 layers, mapped to FFIEC, SOC 2, and GLBA
✓ 5 architecture definitions (security, governance, operations, shared services, API mgmt)
🏠
Pulte Mortgage
National Mortgage Lender
✓ Enterprise Azure modernization strategy
✓ Scalable Landing Zone with workload-specific subscriptions
✓ Phased migration sequencing for 7 application workloads
✓ Wave-based migration roadmap
✓ Architecture designs, risk logs, and cost estimates per workload
Architectural Approach

Assess and Discover

Workload inventory, dependency mapping, compliance gap analysis.

Design and Blueprint

Target-state architecture, LZ topology, identity, security controls.

Plan and Sequence

Wave-based roadmap, risk-prioritized grouping, validation gates.

Govern and Operate

Policy-as-code, cost guardrails, compliance automation.

5
Arch Defs
7
Workloads
5
Security Layers
100%
Audit-Ready
Landing ZonesFFIEC / SOC 2MigrationAPI MgmtWorkload AssessmentAzure CAF

Compliant by Design

Every architecture decision mapped to regulatory controls, reducing audit preparation from weeks to days.

Zero-Disruption Migration

Critical banking and mortgage systems maintained full availability through every migration wave.

Repeatable Framework

Landing Zone designs created reusable blueprints for future financial services engagements.

"These engagements proved that regulatory complexity and cloud agility are not mutually exclusive. With the right architecture, financial institutions can modernize without compromising compliance."

Engagement summary
Microsoft Certified TrainerEsteban Gomez Quesada · estebangq@gmail.com · linkedin.com/in/estebangq
Case Study · 2026