Redpanda Consulting & Services

Redpanda Consulting & Services for Enterprises

Redpanda gives you the Kafka wire protocol without ZooKeeper, JVM tuning, or a separate coordination layer to operate. AceMQ engineers design and run Redpanda clusters for teams who want Kafka-protocol messaging without Kafka's operational overhead.

A senior engineer, not an SDR. No sales sequence attached.

Senior SMEs
11+
Emergency SLA
<15min
Customers
160+
Countries Served
26+

Without going back to a JVM Kafka clusterFor production incident cover, see AceMQ Redpanda 24/7 support.

Customers

  • Microsoft
  • Henry Schein
  • Enbridge
  • Gojek

Partners

  • Broadcom
  • Redis
  • VMware Tanzu
  • OSSeva

The Problem

Why teams call us about Redpanda

Eight Redpanda problems that teams bring to AceMQ: clusters sized from a benchmark, Kafka clients that misbehave at the protocol edges, tiered storage with too little local retention, and leadership shuffles after a node loss. If one describes your cluster, that is where the assessment starts.

  1. 01

    The cluster was sized from a benchmark and the real workload turns out to be bound by disk, not CPU

  2. 02

    Existing Kafka clients were pointed at Redpanda and a few of them still misbehave at the protocol edges

  3. 03

    Tiered storage is on, but local retention is shorter than the window consumers actually replay

  4. 04

    Losing a node triggers a leadership shuffle that some clients handle badly

  5. 05

    The cluster runs on general-purpose instances and the latency does not match what was promised internally

  6. 06

    Kafka monitoring was carried over wholesale and the metrics do not map cleanly onto Redpanda

  7. 07

    A rolling upgrade has never been rehearsed on a cluster this size

  8. 08

    The enterprise-tier features in use are hard to justify against what the workload needs

A good fit if you run Redpanda in production, or are weighing it against Kafka, and want senior engineers who know its failure modes and where its Kafka compatibility ends.

Not a fit for small teams with non-critical workloads. AceMQ is not a budget consultancy: we work with enterprises running business-critical and compliance-heavy Redpanda.

Running Redpanda in production? Get a quote from a senior engineer, answered within one hour.

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How it breaks, and the fix

What happens when one Redpanda consumer replays from tiered storage?

If local retention is shorter than the replay window, a restarted consumer reads from object storage. Those reads are slower, its poll loop overruns max.poll.interval.ms, the group rebalances, and every consumer in the group stops while lag builds on all partitions.

One slow replay, one stalled group

One producer, three partitions, one consumer group on Redpanda

Illustrative

  1. Each consumer keeps up with its partition. Lag stays near zero and recent data is read from local NVMe.

  2. Consumer 2 restarts and seeks back past the local retention window. Those segments are in object storage, so each poll takes too long, the member is evicted and the group rebalances. All three consumers pause and lag grows on every partition.

  3. Local retention now covers the replay window, consumer 2 has a poll interval and batch size sized for cold reads, and cooperative rebalancing means one restart no longer stops the group. Lag drains.

A replay that outlasts local retention is one of the quieter ways a Redpanda cluster stalls a consumer group. The fix is configuration, not hardware: retention.local.target.ms set to cover the replay window, max.poll.interval.ms and max.poll.records sized for cold reads, cooperative-sticky assignment so one restart does not stop the group, and an alert on lag per partition. AceMQ checks all four.

Our Services

Redpanda Consulting & Services

AceMQ runs five Redpanda service lines: cluster architecture and sizing, thread-per-core performance tuning, migration from Apache Kafka, managed operations, and a health check. A senior engineer leads each one, and any of them can roll into 24/7 support with a 15-minute emergency response.

  • 01

    Cluster Architecture Without ZooKeeper

    Redpanda's Raft-based architecture removes the ZooKeeper/KRaft coordination layer entirely. We design clusters around that simplification, not around Kafka habits.

    • Redpanda cluster sizing and topic partition design without a separate coordination service to operate
    • Raft-based replication and rack-awareness configuration for multi-AZ durability
    • Thread-per-core-aware node sizing — core count and NVMe disk selection matched to target throughput
    • Security configuration: TLS, SASL/SCRAM, and RBAC policy design for topic and cluster access
  • 02

    Thread-Per-Core Performance Tuning

    Redpanda's thread-per-core model rewards different tuning than a JVM-based broker. We tune for the architecture it actually runs on.

    • Core allocation and IRQ affinity tuning to keep Redpanda's thread-per-core model saturated under load
    • Producer batching and compression tuning specific to Redpanda's Kafka-API implementation
    • Tiered storage configuration to separate hot local NVMe retention from cold object storage retention
    • fsync and write-caching tradeoff tuning between durability guarantees and produce latency
  • 03

    Migration from Apache Kafka

    Redpanda's Kafka-API compatibility carries most client code over unchanged. We test what actually carries over and flag what doesn't rather than assuming full parity.

    • Kafka client compatibility testing across your existing producer/consumer libraries against Redpanda's Kafka API
    • Honest carries-over assessment: some Kafka-specific tooling (MirrorMaker patterns, certain Kafka Streams behaviors) needs rework
    • Schema Registry and Kafka Connect compatibility validation for your existing integrations
    • Phased cutover strategy with dual-write or replication-based sync during the migration window
  • 04

    Managed Redpanda Operations

    Redpanda's operational simplicity doesn't mean zero-touch. We build the monitoring and runbooks that keep it that way in production.

    • 24/7 incident response for node failures, under-replicated partitions, and consumer lag spikes
    • WASM data transform pipeline design for in-broker stream processing without a separate Kafka Streams cluster
    • Tiered storage lifecycle management for cost-effective long-retention topics
    • Capacity planning and node-scaling runbooks for teams without a dedicated streaming platform team
  • 05

    Redpanda Health Check

    A structured review of your cluster configuration and topic design — delivered as a written report your team can act on.

    • Cluster configuration review against Redpanda's production hardening recommendations
    • Topic and partition design audit for hot-partition risk and consumer group rebalancing frequency
    • Tiered storage and retention policy review against actual data access patterns
    • Written report with prioritized remediation covering throughput headroom, durability, and cost
  • 15 MIN SLA

    24/7 Redpanda Support

    Named senior engineers on your account — 15-minute emergency response, no ticket routing, no junior triage.

    • 15-minute emergency response SLA
    • Named engineer, zero cold-start
    • Proactive CVE & health monitoring
    • Quarterly deployment reviews
    Compare the four Redpanda support tiers

Want AceMQ to take this off your team's plate? Tell us about your Redpanda estate.

Contact Us

24/7 Support

Redpanda Support When It Matters Most

AceMQ Redpanda support gives you named senior engineers and a 15-minute first response when production is down, 24/7. Lower severities get 1-hour, 4-hour and next-business-day responses. The same tiers cover self-managed clusters and, above the managed layer, Redpanda Cloud.

  1. 15 minfirst responseEmergencyProduction down, messages not flowing, queue manager failure
  2. 1 hourfirst responseCriticalSevere degradation, high error rates, approaching capacity
  3. 4 hoursfirst responseHighPerformance issues, configuration problems, non-critical failures
  4. Next Dayfirst responseStandardQuestions, guidance, best practices, non-urgent improvements

P1 escalation path

A replay of one P1, from the first page to the written root-cause analysis

SLA 15:00
T+Elapsed15:00
Engineer on your bridge

15-minute P1 response, 24/7.
A response time, not a resolution time.

  1. T+00:00

    P1 opened, on-call engineer paged

    Phone, email or Slack reaches the on-call senior engineer directly, whether the incident is in RabbitMQ, Kafka, Redis, PostgreSQL or Kubernetes. No web form, no tier-1 queue.

    Paged
  2. T+15:00

    Senior engineer on your bridge

    A senior engineer who already knows your environment joins a live bridge, so nobody has to re-explain your topology.

    Live
  3. T+30:00

    Specialists across the stack join

    When an incident crosses components, the engineers who know each one join. For RabbitMQ, the path runs to the core team.

    If needed
  4. After

    Written root-cause analysis

    Root cause, the fix applied and the prevention steps, delivered after every P1.

    Every P1

How Our Support Actually Works

Beyond SLAs — the model behind senior-only, zero-cold-start expert access.

  • Named Engineers on Your Account

    Every ticket is handled by a senior SME assigned to your account — not a pool of anonymous agents. Zero cold-start. No re-explaining your environment.

  • Live Escalation on Any Ticket

    Any ticket can be escalated to a live session with your named engineer via calendar booking. No gatekeeping, no approval required — direct access, always.

  • Proactive Risk Mitigation

    Quarterly health checks on your deployment plus shared intelligence from 50+ support customers — we surface risks before they reach production.

  • Critical Bug & CVE Intelligence

    Proactive alerts on critical bugs and CVEs affecting your exact version, with version compliance monitoring so you're never caught off guard.

Compare Redpanda support plans

How It Works

What actually happens next

A Redpanda engagement runs in four stages: a cluster assessment of 1 to 2 weeks, written findings within a week, changes made with your engineers, then a handover with runbooks. Each stage ends in writing, so your team sees what changes, and why, before anything does.

1–2 weeks

Cluster assessment

We review node sizing and storage class, partition and topic layout, tiered storage and local retention, client configuration and the Raft group behaviour under node loss — against the throughput and latency the workload actually requires.

Within a week

Written findings and plan

Prioritised findings with the reasoning attached, including a plain answer on which enterprise features are earning their cost.

Scoped per engagement

Implementation alongside your team

We change cluster configuration, retention, client settings and instance profile with your engineers rather than around them, staged and reversible at every step.

Ongoing

Handover and optional cover

Runbooks for node replacement, rolling upgrades and tiered-storage reads, plus 24/7 support with a 15-minute emergency SLA if you want it.

  • Written findings before any change
  • Every change staged and reversible
  • Your engineers in the room
  • You keep the runbooks
  • Ad hoc engagements or an annual partnership

A senior engineer, not an SDR. No sales sequence attached.

Customer Success

Real Redpanda Results

Redpanda work from AceMQ: a Kafka migration, a tiered storage assessment, a broker latency remediation and production support. Each card links to the full write-up: the environment, what AceMQ assessed or changed, and the result.

1 / 5 case studies

  • Consulting

    Redpanda Migration from Apache Kafka

    Global Payments Processor

    Migrating from Kafka to Redpanda with client compatibility testing, ACL and schema registry translation, and a staged cutover per topic.

    RedpandaApache KafkaKubernetesApache Flink
    Read case study : Redpanda Migration from Apache Kafka
  • Assessment

    Redpanda Tiered Storage Assessment

    Connected Device Platform Provider

    Designing tiered storage for long retention so historical data lives in object storage without local disk dictating how long you can keep it.

    RedpandaApache KafkaKubernetesApache Spark
    Read case study : Redpanda Tiered Storage Assessment
  • Remediation

    Redpanda Broker Latency Remediation

    Online Gaming Platform

    Resolving produce and consume latency spikes traced to Raft leadership imbalance, disk saturation, and partition distribution across brokers.

    RedpandaKubernetesApache Kafka
    Read case study : Redpanda Broker Latency Remediation
  • Support

    Redpanda Production Support

    Healthcare Analytics Provider

    Named-engineer 24/7 support for Redpanda clusters covering node recovery, consumer lag incidents, upgrades, and client-side failures.

    RedpandaApache KafkaKubernetes
    Read case study : Redpanda Production Support
  • Assessment

    Apache Flink Streaming Readiness Assessment

    Smart Grid Technology Provider

    Evaluating whether a proposed streaming workload belongs on Flink, and what the exactly-once, state, and operational requirements will really cost.

    Apache FlinkApache KafkaKubernetesRedpanda
    Read case study : Apache Flink Streaming Readiness Assessment
All use cases

Solutions

Every way AceMQ works with Redpanda.

AceMQ covers Redpanda end to end: cluster consulting and Kafka migrations, 24/7 support and incident management, proactive monitoring, managed clusters on your infrastructure or on AceMQ's, support past Redpanda's 12-month window, and a fixed-price health check.

Projects

Build, fix or move Redpanda

Fixed-scope work led by a senior engineer: architecture and new builds, a health check of what you run today, or a migration with a reversible cutover.

Support and managed services

Keep Redpanda running

Four tiers of ongoing cover once you are live. Each tier hands more of the day-to-day work to AceMQ, from a 15-minute emergency SLA to AceMQ hosting and running Redpanda for you.

Compare the four Redpanda support tiers

Side by side

Redpanda vs Apache Kafka: what changes if you move?

Redpanda speaks the Kafka protocol, so most producers and consumers connect unchanged, but the broker underneath is different: C++ with one thread per core, Raft replication built in, and no ZooKeeper or separate controller to run. Each row below answers one question about the move.

Apache Kafka compared with Redpanda on runtime, coordination, old data, client compatibility, supported versions and migration work
QuestionApache KafkaRedpanda
What runs the broker?A JVM process, so heap size, garbage collection and page cache are part of the tuning work.A single C++ binary built on Seastar with one thread per core, so core count and NVMe speed drive sizing rather than heap.
How is the cluster coordinated?KRaft controllers on Kafka 4.x. Kafka 3.x and older lines still use ZooKeeper.Raft groups inside the brokers. There is no separate controller or ZooKeeper service to run.
How is old data kept?Local log segments, with tiered storage to object storage in recent releases.Local NVMe plus Tiered Storage to S3-compatible storage. Local retention is set per topic, and it has to cover the window consumers replay.
Will our existing clients work?They are native to it, with the Java client as the reference.Most producers, consumers and Kafka Connect pipelines connect unchanged. AceMQ tests each client library, Kafka Streams state store and MirrorMaker setup against your cluster before cutover.
Which versions does AceMQ support?Kafka 4.2 to 4.4 get upstream fixes. AceMQ supports every line, and OSSeva backports CVE fixes to Kafka 2.8 to 3.7.Releases inside Redpanda's 12-month window, on self-managed clusters and, above the managed layer, Redpanda Cloud BYOC and Dedicated.
What does a move involve?Nothing, if Kafka is stable and on a supported line.A client inventory, compatibility tests, a mirrored run beside the Kafka cluster, then a canary cutover with a rollback plan.

For the full list of support options, read Redpanda support options: Redpanda Data, community or independent. To compare Redpanda with other bring-your-own-cloud Kafka services, see Kafka BYOC options compared.

Not sure which option fits? A senior Redpanda engineer will scope it with you.

Contact Us

One partner, not five

We Support Your Entire Tech Stack

Redpanda rarely fails in isolation. AceMQ covers the full surrounding infrastructure — so one team owns the whole path instead of pointing at each other.

Messaging & Streaming

Databases & Caching

Search & Analytics

Lakehouse & Compute

Observability & Monitoring

Data Integration

Cloud & Containers

API Management

VMware Tanzu

See all 51 technologies we supportShow fewer

Guides, articles and comparisons

Go deeper on Redpanda.

Guides from AceMQ engineers on who supports Redpanda, how it compares with other Kafka-compatible options, and the AceMQ services for the Kafka, Pulsar and Flink estates that usually run next to it.

Related services

Ready to talk Redpanda? Get a quote or send us a message.

Contact Us

FAQs

Redpanda Questions Answered

Eight answers on Redpanda from AceMQ: how it differs from Kafka, supported versions, who answers when a cluster fails, how an engagement starts, working with your team, client compatibility, Tiered Storage, and managed versus self-run.

Still have questions about Redpanda? Email an Expert

Is Redpanda really simpler to operate than Kafka?

Partly. Redpanda removes the JVM, ZooKeeper and a separate controller quorum, so there is less to tune and patch. It does not remove sizing, which is tied to cores and NVMe speed, or tiered storage retention, partition limits, client behaviour and upgrades. Incidents tend to come from those areas rather than from the broker binary.

Which Redpanda versions are supported, and when do they reach end of life?

Redpanda supports each feature release for 12 months and has no LTS track. As of 19 October 2026 that means 26.2 until 28 July 2027, 26.1 until 31 March 2027 and 25.3 until 19 November 2026. AceMQ plans each upgrade, one release at a time, so the cluster stays inside that window.

Who answers when a Redpanda cluster fails in production, and how fast?

A named AceMQ senior engineer answers within 15 minutes, 24/7, when a Redpanda cluster is down or producers stop. Lower severities get a first response within 1 hour, 4 hours or the next business day. The engineer who takes the first call stays on the case until it is resolved, and a written root-cause analysis follows every P1.

How does a Redpanda consulting engagement with AceMQ start?

An AceMQ Redpanda engagement starts with a free consultation with a senior engineer, booked in our reply within 1 hour. Next comes a cluster assessment of 1 to 2 weeks covering node sizing, partition layout, tiered storage, client settings and Raft behaviour under node loss. Written findings and a plan follow within a week, before anything changes.

Can a Redpanda engineer work alongside our in-house team?

Yes. AceMQ assigns a named senior engineer from its team of 11+ who works with your engineers rather than around them, changing cluster configuration, retention, client settings and instance profile together. Every change is staged and reversible, and you keep the runbooks for node replacement, rolling upgrades and tiered storage reads.

Will our existing Kafka clients work against Redpanda without changes?

Most will. Standard producers, consumers and Kafka Connect pipelines connect unchanged because Redpanda implements the Kafka API. The gaps are at the edges: transactional behaviour, some admin API responses, MirrorMaker setups, Kafka Streams state stores and connectors that assume Kafka-specific broker behaviour. AceMQ tests your actual client inventory before cutover, not after.

How does Redpanda Tiered Storage work, and when do we need it?

Tiered Storage moves older segments from local NVMe to object storage and keeps them readable, so you retain data far longer than local disk allows. You need it when retention outgrows the disks. The usual failure is local retention set shorter than the window consumers replay, which makes replays slow. AceMQ sets retention tiers from your real replay patterns.

Should we run Redpanda ourselves, use Redpanda Cloud, or have AceMQ operate it?

It depends on who should hold the pager and where the data may live. Self-run suits teams with streaming platform skills. Redpanda Cloud removes infrastructure work but not partition design or client issues. AceMQ can operate Redpanda inside your own cloud account or data centre, or on AceMQ infrastructure, with the same 15-minute emergency response.

Can we work with AceMQ on Redpanda without a long contract?

Yes. AceMQ works on Redpanda in two ways: ad hoc engagements for a defined piece of work, such as a health check, an upgrade or an incident, or an annual partner engagement that covers 24/7 support, proactive reviews and named engineers. Many teams start ad hoc and move to an annual partnership once the first engagement is done.

How much does AceMQ Redpanda support or consulting cost?

Every AceMQ proposal is tailored to your requirements: your Redpanda environment, the SLA you need, the hours of cover and the scope of work. Most contracts run $24,000–72,000 a year, depending on the SLA, the scope and how Redpanda is deployed, with aggressive discounts when several technologies share one contract. Request a quote and AceMQ replies within 1 hour.

Let's talk

Ready to Simplify Your Streaming Operations?

Whether you need emergency support, a health check, a Kafka migration, or ongoing managed operations — AceMQ staffs every engagement with a named senior engineer. Quote requests answered within 1 hour.

A senior Redpanda engineer, not a sales queueAbout your cluster, not a pitch deckQuote requests answered within 1 hour

Production incident right now?Email a Redpanda Architect

Get in Touch

Talk to a Redpanda Expert

Send us a message and we'll follow up within 1 hour — or book a free 30-min consultation directly.

305-204-2607
info@acemq.com
66 W. Flagler St. 9th Floor
Miami, FL 33130

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