Independent consultant for complex technical work

For CTOs, founders, CEOs, and engineering leads who need experienced technical support on difficult work.

Senior consultant for complex platform, cloud, security, and delivery work.

Marcel Heers is a senior independent consultant who helps teams untangle complex platform, cloud, security, and integration work when architecture decisions and hands-on delivery both matter.

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15+ years across software, platform, and consulting.

Independent consultant since 2009.

Architecture, implementation, and enablement in one engagement.

Based in Crete and working across EU time zones.

Portrait of Marcel Heers

Capability areas

Where Marcel is most useful

The main areas Marcel is usually brought in for.

  1. architecture

    Architecture for complex delivery

    Clarifies difficult platform and system decisions so teams can move from uncertainty into an executable plan.

    • Shapes pragmatic target architectures for migration-heavy or governance-heavy environments.
    • Connects technical decisions to delivery constraints, ownership boundaries, and operational reality.
    • Stays hands-on where the riskiest architectural choices need proving in code.

  2. cloud

    Cloud modernization without unnecessary drama

    Helps teams modernize cloud and platform foundations without turning every problem into a prolonged transformation program.

    • Designs Kubernetes, infrastructure-as-code, and delivery automation patterns that teams can actually maintain.
    • Supports cloud and hybrid migration work where platform reliability and operational clarity both matter.
    • Improves observability, governance, and platform guardrails as part of delivery, not as a side initiative.

  3. secure delivery

    Secure delivery as an operating habit

    Builds secure-by-default delivery practices that reduce friction instead of adding ceremony after the fact.

    • Works on authorization, policy controls, secrets handling, and supply-chain-aware delivery flows.
    • Modernizes CI/CD and delivery paths so teams can ship critical changes with more confidence.
    • Introduces AI-assisted engineering or policy workflows only where they are genuinely useful.

  4. data integration

    Data and integration work that stays operable

    Turns data-heavy and integration-heavy systems into something clearer, more reliable, and easier to evolve.

    • Designs data platform and internal-service foundations for operationally important systems.
    • Connects APIs, workflows, and backend services into coherent delivery paths instead of isolated point solutions.
    • Balances architecture, implementation, and production concerns in environments with real complexity.

  5. leadership enablement

    Technical leadership that makes teams stronger

    Brings senior technical judgment and practical enablement when teams need clearer direction and delivery support.

    • Supports architecture decisions, stakeholder alignment, and delivery-critical planning.
    • Mentors teams through difficult implementation phases instead of stopping at recommendations.
    • Uses workshops, training, and technical communication to leave stronger patterns behind.

Experience and leadership

Experienced across architecture, delivery, and team enablement

Experience across architecture, implementation, and team enablement.

Marcel brings more than 15 years of software, platform, and consulting experience across product teams, internal platforms, and large-scale enterprise environments. His work consistently combines architecture, implementation, migration, and enablement instead of treating them as separate tracks.

  • Independent consultant since 2009, combining senior architectural judgment with hands-on delivery.
  • Experience across platform modernization, secure integrations, data-heavy systems, and internal tooling under real operational pressure.
  • Comfortable working with smaller delivery teams as well as large environments serving hundreds of thousands of users.

Leadership

Leadership and delivery support

  • Helps teams make faster, clearer technical decisions when delivery risk is high.
  • Bridges engineering, product, and stakeholder conversations without losing technical depth.
  • Stays close enough to implementation to turn direction into working outcomes.

Selected projects

Selected work

A small selection of anonymized project references based on recent work.

Case study 01

A Microsoft-to-Google migration needed provisioning, audit logging, exception handling, and backend services for roughly 600,000 users across multiple business units.

Industry
Retail
Scale
enterprise
Role
T-shaped architect for enterprise migration
Problem
A Microsoft-to-Google migration needed provisioning, audit logging, exception handling, and backend services for roughly 600,000 users across multiple business units.
Outcome
Built Go services, Pulumi providers, and GCP infrastructure for provisioning, reconciliation, imports, and rollout.

Case study 02

A large organization needed a shared authorization service with common policies, decision logging, and secure delivery for around 320,000 users.

Industry
Insurance
Scale
enterprise
Role
Lead architect for global authorization platform
Problem
A large organization needed a shared authorization service with common policies, decision logging, and secure delivery for around 320,000 users.
Outcome
Designed the OPA-based platform, built Go decision-logging components, and improved CI/CD, testing, and policy tooling.

Case study 03

A virtual events platform needed product expansion, stronger tenant automation, and reliable operations while supporting multilingual events with up to 15,000 users.

Industry
SaaS
Scale
scale-up
Role
Full-stack engineer for multi-tenant event platform
Problem
A virtual events platform needed product expansion, stronger tenant automation, and reliable operations while supporting multilingual events with up to 15,000 users.
Outcome
Delivered new collaboration features, tenant provisioning, CI/CD improvements, and performance work for large live events.

Case study 04

Data teams needed self-service integration, automated provisioning, and consistent policy, logging, and connectivity across NiFi, Trino, AKS, and supporting services.

Industry
Sensor and automation technology
Scale
multi-team-platform
Role
Platform architect for internal data systems
Problem
Data teams needed self-service integration, automated provisioning, and consistent policy, logging, and connectivity across NiFi, Trino, AKS, and supporting services.
Outcome
Added operators, platform automation, observability, and security controls that made the platform easier to extend and use.

Supporting proof · Open source

Open-source work that reflects hands-on practice

Selected public contributions from recent technical work.

  • Contributes to public infrastructure, observability, data, and Go projects where similar delivery problems show up in the open.
  • Maintains small, practical tools around Kubernetes, container workflows, configuration handling, and developer productivity when they solve recurring problems.
  • Treats public work as evidence of real practice rather than as a vanity list of repositories.

Supporting proof · Enablement

Training and enablement that strengthen the team

Training and workshops tied to the systems teams actually run.

  • Uses workshops, mentoring, and technical sessions to help teams apply better platform, cloud, security, and delivery practices in their own work.
  • Treats enablement as a way to strengthen team judgment and execution capacity, not as a detached seminar catalog.
  • Keeps training tied to the real delivery context so teams leave with clearer habits, shared language, and more confidence to continue without outside help.

Where Marcel is most useful

Offers

Four practical ways to bring in senior architecture, delivery, and implementation support.

  1. 01

    Platform and cloud modernization

    Clarify the target architecture, migration path, and delivery guardrails for complex platform work.

    Engagement shape

    Assessment, architecture lead, or hands-on implementation support

  2. 02

    Secure delivery and DevSecOps uplift

    Improve delivery flow, policy controls, supply-chain hygiene, and operational confidence in high-stakes environments.

    Engagement shape

    Architecture, platform enablement, or rescue support

  3. 03

    Data and integration-heavy internal systems

    Design or stabilize internal services, workflows, and platform-connected systems that need to work reliably under real constraints.

    Engagement shape

    Technical advisory plus hands-on build support

  4. 04

    Fractional architecture and delivery leadership

    Add senior technical direction during migrations, restructures, or delivery-critical phases where teams need clarity and momentum.

    Engagement shape

    Fractional lead, advisor, or short intensive engagement

Need senior support on one of these?

Share the context, constraints, and delivery pressure. Marcel can usually tell quickly whether he is the right fit.

Discuss your project

Who this is for

Best fit

Best for teams that need senior technical guidance and practical execution support at the same time.

  • Platform, product, and engineering teams navigating migration, governance, security, or delivery complexity.
  • Organizations that need architecture plus hands-on implementation support, not slide decks alone.
  • Leaders who need difficult platform, cloud, data, or integration work clarified quickly and moved into delivery.

How engagements usually run

How I work

Define the problem, make the key decisions, and support implementation where needed.

  1. 01

    Frame the real problem quickly, with the technical and delivery context that actually matters.

  2. 02

    Turn that context into clear architecture decisions, priorities, and execution guardrails.

  3. 03

    Work hands-on where implementation is risky, blocked, or delivery-critical.

  4. 04

    Leave the team with stronger patterns, clearer decision-making, and practical enablement.

Availability and collaboration

Built for practical collaboration

Enough context to judge fit, timing, and working mode without turning the page into a personal dossier.

Location

Based in Crete, working across EU time zones.

Availability

Available for consulting engagements, advisory work, and focused delivery support.

Start the conversation

Discuss the problem, scope, and next step

A short note with the team context, the problem to solve, and the expected timing is enough to get the conversation started.

Email

marcel@heers.it

Send a short note with the team context and Marcel will reply with the most sensible next step.

Best first step

Discuss your project Schedule a meeting
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