Context
A good cloud foundation starts with questions, before services are selected. What does the application need to do? Who uses it? What can the team operate confidently? What needs to happen when a dependency fails?
Map the application and its dependencies. Identify where data lives, what connects to it, and which components are essential to the user journey. Include scheduled tasks, email services and external APIs.
Separate development and production responsibilities. Define access deliberately and keep secrets out of source code. Make the expected configuration visible through documentation and repeatable provisioning.
Agree recovery expectations with the business. A backup schedule is useful only when the team understands what is backed up and how it would be restored. Record the assumptions behind architecture decisions so they can be revisited as the product grows.