Engagement models
Four ways to work together. Each states what is included and, just as importantly, what is not.
Fixed-price assessment
Anyone who needs to know the size of a problem before committing budget to it.
What is included
- Read-only access review of the systems in scope.
- A written inventory of what exists and what depends on it.
- A findings document naming the risks, with the serious ones named as serious.
- A recommendation, including the option of doing nothing yet.
- A fixed price for the work that follows, if any.
What is not included
- Any change to your systems. Nothing is modified during an assessment.
- Remediation work. That is quoted separately once the findings are agreed.
- An audit opinion or certification.
- Typical duration
- Usually one to two weeks from read-only access being granted. Stated precisely in the proposal.
- Price
- Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts. The assessment quotes the figure for anything that follows.
Fixed-price project
Work with a defined end state: a migration, an upgrade, a rescue.
What is included
- An agreed scope, written down before work starts.
- The implementation itself, carried out in agreed windows.
- A rollback plan for each step, tested before that step runs.
- Handover documentation written for your team to use without us.
- A definition of done you can verify for yourself.
What is not included
- Work outside the agreed scope. Changes are priced before they are made, not after.
- Ongoing maintenance once the project closes. That is a care plan.
- Third-party licence or hosting costs, which stay in your accounts.
- Typical duration
- Set in the statement of work after the assessment. Depends on scope and change windows.
- Price
- Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts. The assessment quotes the figure for anything that follows.
Monthly care plan
Systems that need to keep working rather than keep changing.
What is included
- Patching and dependency updates on an agreed schedule.
- Store and compliance deadlines tracked and met before the date.
- Crash and error triage, handled in severity order.
- A short written report each month covering what changed and what is coming.
- An agreed response time for urgent issues.
What is not included
- New feature development, which is quoted as a project.
- Unlimited hours. The included scope is written down.
- Hardware, licence or hosting costs.
- Typical duration
- Rolling monthly. Minimum term and notice period are stated in the care plan agreement.
- Price
- Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts. The assessment quotes the figure for anything that follows.
White-label partnership
Agencies and consultancies who need delivery capacity under their own brand.
What is included
- Engineering capacity delivered under your brand.
- A fixed scope and price per piece of work, so you can quote with a known cost.
- Work committed into your repositories and your accounts from the start.
- One named engineer as the point of contact.
- A mutual non-disclosure agreement before any work begins.
What is not included
- Direct contact with your client, unless you arrange it.
- Any approach to your clients, during the engagement or after it.
- Your client relationship. It stays yours.
- Typical duration
- Per piece of work, or ongoing under a framework agreement. Duration is per statement of work.
- Price
- Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts. The assessment quotes the figure for anything that follows.
Commercial questions
What are the payment terms?
Projects are usually invoiced against milestones agreed in the statement of work. Assessments are invoiced on completion unless otherwise agreed. Care plans are invoiced monthly in arrears. Payment window and currency are stated on each invoice.
What happens if the scope changes?
Changes are priced before they are made, never after. If something is found mid-project that was not visible at the start, the work stops at a safe point, the change is written up with a price, and nothing continues until it is agreed.
How do rollbacks work?
Every step that changes a system has a rollback plan written before that step runs, and the rollback is tested rather than assumed. If a step fails, the system returns to its previous state within the agreed window and the work is re-planned.
How long is the contract?
Projects are governed by a statement of work for that piece of work. Care plans state any minimum term and notice period in the agreement itself. Either side can stop an engagement according to the exit clause in the relevant document.
What happens if we want to stop?
You get everything: code, documentation, credentials and accounts, which are in your name throughout. Handover is part of the engagement rather than a separate negotiation at the end.