Álvaro
Data Scientist
“In a climate this uncertain, Shakers gives you a layer of reassurance and confidence. What I like most, without a doubt, is the flexibility and getting to work on top-tier projects.”
Join ShakersMulticloud projects
Work as a Cloud Architect on live systems
Engagements where the architecture call is yours: what migrates and which cloud each piece runs on. Shakers connects you with projects aligned with your stack, day rate and availability, with more flexibility and better terms.
This role is usually looked up in two places: a vendor exam or a salary list. Neither says how you get to decide architecture over a system that is already in production and that nobody can stop.
At Shakers the entry test is proof of work: what you have migrated and which decisions you can defend on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud. That is what we certify.
- Higher-paying projects
- More continuity between projects
- Greater recognition for your experience
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Amelia
AI Agent Developer
“I have been building AI agents for years. Thanks to Shakers I stopped chasing clients and started genuinely choosing which projects I wanted to work on. I work with some of the best companies in Europe, at my own rate, and I focus on what I am good at and what I love: building.”
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Luz
Backend Developer & Data Engineer
“Shakers adds a lot of value because it connects you with sharper projects, already filtered and better defined. It saves you a big part of the upfront work of understanding the client, quoting and weighing up whether it is worth it, and that means that as a contractor you can go far more directly to the opportunities that genuinely fit you.”
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Rubén
Software Developer
“Life as a contractor has a lot going on and it is not always easy. We like to focus on what we are good at, but you also have to manage clients, invoicing and go looking for work. For me, Shakers has been key because it does that prospecting for me, it gives the client confidence from the very first moment, and it lets us be part of a community with real enthusiasm.”
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Alejandro
AI Developer
“Shakers was key to getting my company off the ground: it gave me the flexibility to keep contracting while I built my next chapter. Without Shakers, I would have had to raise funding or push the project back.”
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Toño
Product Designer
“With Shakers I have landed recurring projects that give me peace of mind and room to grow professionally. It is not just about reaching quality clients: it is feeling that you have a network behind you, one that connects you with real opportunities and helps you move forward as a freelancer.”
Join ShakersWhat a Cloud Architect decides and which systems they touch
A Cloud Architect sets the cloud architecture a system will run on and decides which provider each part sits with: the order of the migration, the scalability model, the security of each layer and the spend the business carries afterwards (FinOps). Against a cloud engineer the difference is timing: the engineer builds and operates a design that is already closed, and the cloud architect is the one who chooses it, including how much vendor lock-in a multicloud system takes on.
You decide on the layers that cannot be changed later without stopping the service: the virtual network and IAM permissions, infrastructure as code in Terraform, containers on Kubernetes and the moment a managed service ties the system to one provider. That is where vendor lock-in is set, and what running the cloud costs each month.
cloud architecturemulticloudAWSAzureGoogle CloudTerraformIaCKubernetesDockerCI/CDFinOpslanding zoneWell-Architected FrameworkIAMVPC / virtual networksserverlessmicroservicesobservability
Provider choiceCloud migrationVendor lock-inHigh availabilityDisaster recoveryCloud governance
Free to join, no hidden fees
How Shakers works for talent
Create your profile
Tell us who you are, what you can do, the projects you want to work on and what your availability and rate are.
Get your certification
We certify your experience and your use of AI so companies understand and trust what you bring.
Match with projects
We connect you with well-paid projects that fit your expertise and your preferences.
DevOps and Cloud projects that live up to your expectations
Work on real projects, with teams that need your expertise, without wasting time looking for opportunities.
Projects that fit you
Work with companies that need your stack and experience to take their projects to production.
Opportunities that come to you
Our AI matching connects your profile with the projects that fit your preferences.
You build. Shakers handles the rest
Set your own terms based on your seniority. We manage contracts, payments and paperwork.
What a Cloud Architect delivers on a Shakers project
The project arrives with the scope already set
Shakers is talent infrastructure: the engagement arrives with the system described and the decision to be taken, not a list of technologies.
Written decisions and the option you ruled out
You deliver the target environment, the phased migration plan and the reason behind each cut, including the alternative you ruled out.
What happens when a zone goes down
You set with the company's team how far high availability goes, what observability is needed and which disaster recovery plan gets tested.
Migrations done, not only designed
Having moved real workloads to AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, and being able to say what broke, what cost more than planned and what you would change.
Reference frameworks used with judgement
You know the Well-Architected Framework and when a pillar is traded off on purpose. A framework orders the decision; it does not take it for you.
Cloud security and cloud governance
Cloud security is designed with the system: permissions, network segmentation and traceability, plus cloud governance somebody can audit.
Frequently asked questions
Any other questions? Write to us and we will reply.
What does a cloud engineer do?
They provision environments, automate deployments and answer for the system staying up. What is already decided, and not theirs to move, is the design: that is the cloud architect's ground.
What does a cloud solution architect do?
In practice it is the same job under another title: it also appears as cloud solutions architect or cloud systems architect. The solutions variant usually stays with one provider.
How does a Cloud Architect differ from a DevOps Engineer?
The DevOps Engineer automates the delivery flow: pipelines, deployments and rollback. The cloud architect decides earlier what shape the system takes and what it costs to keep running.
Do you need AWS, Azure and Google Cloud at the same time?
Not to the same depth in all three. On a multicloud engagement what gets examined is why you put each piece where you did: latency, regulated data, portability or a managed service.
How is IR35 status set on a cloud architecture engagement?
In the UK it is decided per engagement, not by the platform: the end client issues a Status Determination Statement for each contract, and the scope of work agreed is what sets it.
Can cloud architecture projects be done remotely?
On almost all of them, yes. Architecture is decided over documentation, access and sessions with the technical team; on-site work only appears when there is own hardware involved.
The layers of a cloud architecture
A cloud architecture is ordered in layers, and each constrains the next: the landing zone, the network, the data and the deployment. One more sits on top: where models and agents run.
The move from sysadmin, networks or development
Those coming from sysadmin or networking bring availability; those from development bring deployment and data. The same is missing in both: defending a decision with its cost and its risk.
Cost as a design decision
Cloud cost optimisation is not done by reading the bill at month end: it is decided when you choose region, instance type and data model. What nobody switches off at night costs the same on Sunday.
Cloud native and hybrid cloud
Not everything ends up in the cloud. A cloud native design assumes failure and elasticity; a hybrid architecture leaves part in the data centre for latency or regulated data.
Who else touches the architecture you decide
Five roles in the collective start where your design ends. They are ordered by how tight the overlap gets inside one project.
AWS DevOps Engineer
You close the plan and somebody automates it: where your call on networking and permissions ends and the pipeline begins is agreed at kickoff.
AI Engineer
You meet on where the model lives: you decide GPU, region and the cost of that layer, and the architecture of the system on top is theirs.
Backend Developer
Your decisions reach them as limits: which database, which network and which managed service they can use. What does not fit comes back to the table.
Python Developer
Platform tooling ends up written in Python: you mark what is declared in Terraform and what is solved with single-use scripts.
Salesforce Developer
When a piece lives in a third-party SaaS, your design stops there: you agree which data crosses, under which permissions and who owns it.
The boundaries between these five roles are agreed inside each project: they do not come with the job title.
Take the next step with Shakers
Want projects where you decide the architecture?
Pass the Shakers certification and choose which cloud projects you take on.
