Client: Kevin, Signal Research Company Role: Freelance Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Expert Engagement Duration: 1-month contract (April 2025)

Signal Research Company—an analytics firm specializing in real-time signal processing and data insights—engaged me as an individual GCP freelancer to audit, optimize, and provide ongoing support for their Google Cloud infrastructure. The goal was to enhance platform reliability, streamline operations, and reduce overall cloud spend while maintaining high security and performance standards.

Infrastructure Audit & Assessment • Conducted a thorough review of the existing GCP environment, including VPC configurations, IAM policies, networking, and resource utilization. • Identified performance bottlenecks, security gaps, and cost-inefficient components.

Architecture Optimization • Redesigned VPC sub-nets and firewall rules to improve network segmentation and security. • Refactored IAM roles and service accounts to enforce the principle of least privilege. • Migrated legacy workloads from Compute Engine to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for better scalability and maintainability.

Cost Management & Monitoring • Implemented custom dashboards in Cloud Monitoring (Stackdriver) to track CPU, memory, and storage utilization across projects. • Configured budget alerts and automated rightsizing recommendations, driving monthly cost reductions.

Security & Compliance • Enabled Organization Policy constraints and deployed Security Command Center to detect misconfigurations. • Automated vulnerability scanning of container images via Container Analysis. • Provided guidance on data encryption at rest and in transit, ensuring compliance with industry best practices.

Automation & CI/CD • Wrote Terraform modules to provision and manage core GCP services (VPCs, GKE clusters, Cloud SQL instances). • Integrated Cloud Build pipelines for automated testing and deployment of containerized applications.

Knowledge Transfer & Support • Delivered hands-on workshops and documentation covering GKE operations, Terraform usage, and cost-optimization strategies. • Provided Tier-3 support, troubleshooting complex incidents and advising on best practices for ongoing maintenance.

Compute & Orchestration: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Compute Engine, Cloud Functions

Storage & Databases: Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, BigQuery

Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Cloud Deployment Manager

Monitoring & Security: Cloud Monitoring, Security Command Center, VPC Service Controls

CI/CD: Cloud Build, Container Registry

Networking: VPC, Cloud NAT, Cloud Load Balancing

Reliability: Achieved 99.95% uptime by migrating stateless services to GKE with automated health checks and failover.

Cost Savings: Reduced monthly GCP expenditure by 28% through rightsizing VMs, adopting preemptible instances, and automating shutdown schedules.

Security Posture: Closed 15+ major security gaps and enforced stricter IAM policies, reducing risk of unauthorized access.

Operational Efficiency: Decreased deployment time by 60% via CI/CD pipelines and Terraform automation.

Team Enablement: Empowered Kevin’s engineering team to self-manage critical infrastructure through tailored training sessions and clear documentation.

This engagement demonstrates my ability to swiftly assess and transform a cloud environment, driving both technical excellence and tangible business value as a solo GCP specialist.