Start with the business.
Translate the problem into clear requirements. Understand the constraints before choosing the services.
AZURE SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT
Good architecture.
Built for the
real world.
Connecting infrastructure, data and AI with the governance and cost discipline that make cloud solutions work.
Azure Solutions Architect Expert · Greater Chicago area
ARCHITECTURE / A PRACTICAL VIEW01
START WITH THE WHYBusiness outcomesClarity · Resilience · Sustainable cost
InfrastructureA secure foundation
DataUseful, trusted insight
AIAccountable workflows
Governance / Operations / FinOps
DESIGN → OPERATE → IMPROVE
Cloud architectureGovernance & securityFinOpsData & agentic AI
01 / THE APPROACH
Architecture is a set of decisions.
Make each one count.
A design needs to make sense for the people who fund it, build it and keep it running.
Design for operations.
Bring identity, networking, monitoring and recovery into the design from the beginning.
Make the tradeoffs visible.
Explain what a decision means for cost, security and complexity—then revisit it as needs change.
IN FOCUS / FINOPS
Cost is an
architecture decision.
At D&W Fine Pack, I reduced Azure spend by more than 50% in three months—from approximately $40,000 to under $20,000 per month—while maintaining uninterrupted 24×7 manufacturing ERP operations.
See how I approached it- 01
Understand the spend
Establish a baseline and connect resources to owners and workloads.
- 02
Evaluate the options
Review utilization, service choices and commitments against business needs.
- 03
Build a feedback loop
Track cost alongside reliability and performance, with clear accountability.
02 / SELECTED WORK
Ideas into architecture.
Enterprise results and ongoing project work.
Grounded in infrastructure, governance and cost.
D&W Fine Pack:
Azure cost optimization
More than 50% lower monthly Azure spend in three months, with no disruption to 24×7 manufacturing ERP.
FinOps · Azure Policy · Cost Management
View the approach
The question
How can a team reduce avoidable cloud spend while preserving the reliability its workloads need?
The assessment
Worked with stakeholders to understand utilization, archived dormant data, scheduled off-hours shutdowns, applied reservations to steady-state workloads, and right-sized storage and databases.
The outcome
Monthly Azure spend fell from approximately $40,000 to under $20,000 in three months. Manufacturing ERP operations continued without disruption.
KFA: auditable
financial analysis
Exploring how structured data, traceable sources and deterministic calculations can support AI-assisted analysis.
Traceability · Validation · Human review
View the approach
The question
How can a reviewer follow a financial conclusion back to its calculations and evidence?
The architecture direction
Separate calculations from generated narrative. Validate structured inputs and retain source references so a person can check the result.
Portfolio development
The universal architectural framework explores coexistence, migration and human review. Explore the KFA framework →
Crash Champions:
repeatable cloud foundations
A standardized “Shop in a Box” model to integrate acquired locations consistently and securely into corporate Azure landing zones.
Identity · Hybrid infrastructure · PowerShell
View the approach
The question
How do you give teams room to deliver while maintaining consistent controls?
The design
Architected and deployed the “Shop in a Box” model, enforced Azure Policy and RBAC governance, and developed PowerShell automation to improve deployment consistency.
Related delivery
Designed and scaled Azure-based VDI and coordinated a 100-server migration from VMware ESXi to bare-metal Windows Server hosts across shop locations.
ARCHITECTURE NOTEBOOK
Exploring the decisions behind the design.
Concept sketches, working references and perspectives on cloud architecture. These are starting points for discussion and detailed design.
© 2025 John Wilhelmi. All rights reserved.
Architecture concept
KFA: coexistence and migration
A proposed path from legacy systems through isolated ingestion, de-identification and schema validation into cloud services, with data lineage and human review before external delivery.
The diagram expresses intended controls; compliance and isolation require implementation and validation for each use case.
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Integration concept
Connecting separate Azure environments
An exploration of protocol mapping, data conversion and authorization at the boundary between two environments.
“Transformer gateway” is a conceptual component in this sketch. A detailed design still needs explicit identity, network and data-access boundaries.
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Data architecture concept
Temporary processing environments
An exploration of creating temporary staging and transformation resources, delivering processed data, and cleaning up resources after completion.
The next design step is to specify orchestration, failure recovery, retention and cleanup verification. Service labels represent the original concept.
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Business architecture concept
Modernization tied to business decisions
A proposed flow from portfolio-company legacy assets through data modernization to analytics and a human decision gate.
The target outcomes are design goals, not measured financial results.
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Illustrative worksheet
VM cost and discount reference
A quick comparison of hourly rates, 24-hour daily costs and monthly estimates based on 730 hours. Monthly cost after a discount equals hourly rate × 730 × (1 − discount).
For example, $1/hour gives $730/month, or $511 with an assumed 30% discount. The sheet does not specify VM sizes, regions, licensing or current Azure offers; actual discounts and total costs need a workload-specific estimate.
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Perspective
Technology changes. People adapt.
A visual starting point for discussing the relationship between technology cycles, learning and adoption.
My practical takeaway: evaluate the benefits and tradeoffs, then give people the context and support to adopt a change. Newer technology is not automatically better for every workload.
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Career reflection
From operating systems to designing them
A visual metaphor for expanding from hands-on infrastructure work into architecture, migration, cost and governance decisions.
Exam labels in the illustration describe a learning journey; earned qualifications are listed in the credentials section.
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Product prototype
KFA: County Connector Hub
A prototype for organizing county-specific connectors, tenant enablement, authorization status and audit workflows in one place.
The screenshot shows a proposed interface and example tenant counts; it does not establish live county integrations.
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Illustrative comparison
Thinking through availability-zone distribution
A comparison of evenly distributed, explicitly assigned and unevenly distributed workloads across three zones.
The counts illustrate scenarios, not guaranteed Azure placement behavior. The first two examples total 99 tenants; the third totals 100.
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Resilience perspective
Regional risk belongs in the architecture conversation
A supplied Tornado Archive map of the Des Moines area prompts a broader discussion about geographic hazards and recovery planning.
Historical tracks alone do not establish risk to a particular datacenter. A design needs workload recovery objectives, dependency analysis and verified regional information. Map credit: Tornado Archive; underlying map attribution remains visible in the image.
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03 / THE PERSON BEHIND THE DESIGN
An infrastructure mindset.
A wider architectural view.
I’m John Wilhelmi, a cloud architect with nearly 30 years in technology, including more than 11 years in infrastructure and cloud engineering. I design Azure environments that balance performance, security, governance and cost.
I’m interested in the decisions that connect those disciplines: how a solution is secured, how it is operated, what it costs and how its value can be measured.
My experience spans enterprise cloud engineering, managed services and business ownership. I completed my B.S. in Cloud Computing at Western Governors University in March 2026 and earned Azure Solutions Architect Expert in September 2026.
AzureBicepMicrosoft FabricGoverned AIArchitecture
EXPERIENCE & CREDENTIALS
Practice backed by continued learning.
Microsoft Certified
- Azure Solutions Architect Expert — September 2026
- Azure Administrator Associate — renewed August 2026
- Azure Data Fundamentals — March 2026
- Azure Fundamentals — September 2022
Education & foundations
- B.S., Cloud Computing — WGU, March 2026
- CompTIA Cloud+, Security+, Network+ and A+
- ITIL Foundation and CompTIA Project+
- LPI Linux Essentials
Microsoft Fabric, Synapse Analytics, Databricks and Terraform: lab and academic experience. Agentic AI: ongoing project work.
A COLLEAGUE’S PERSPECTIVE
“John is the kind of engineer who does not stop at keeping systems up. He designs the next state.”
RÉSUMÉ
Take a closer look at my experience.
Download my résumé for professional experience, certifications, education and selected projects.
LET’S CONNECT
Have a role in mind?
A cloud challenge to solve?
I’m interested in conversations about Azure architecture, governance, FinOps and practical AI solutions.
Roles & opportunities
Architecture, cloud infrastructure and technical leadership.
Projects & collaboration
Cloud design reviews, governance and cost assessments.
Greater Chicago area · Open to contract, contract-to-hire and full-time engagements