Method
How we work
A written process, and always the same one. Not out of bureaucracy, but because it is what makes an honest price possible and keeps anyone from being surprised halfway through.
Principles
Four principles we do not negotiate
Understand before quoting
A quote issued without understanding the problem is an invented number. That is why the first step is always a short, fixed-price assessment.
Say no when it is the answer
If the right answer is to configure an existing tool properly, hire someone in-house or do nothing, we say so. Losing a project is cheaper than losing credibility.
Deliver usable things, not reports
Every phase ends in something you can try: a deployed environment, a working flow, a dashboard in use. Documents accompany the software, they do not replace it.
Work to become unnecessary
Code in your repository, documented decisions and training for your team. Success is you being able to do without us and nothing falling over.
Phases
The four phases
Every project goes through these, even though the duration varies enormously between a three-week integration and a nine-month platform.
Assessment
One to four weeks, fixed price. We talk to the people who use the systems, read the code that exists and review the infrastructure. We finish with a map of the real situation and the highest-return moves, in order.
DeliverableSituation report and priorities
Proposal
Scope, phases, cost and risks in writing. Including what is explicitly out of scope, which is usually the part that prevents conflict. It is yours even if you do not continue with us.
DeliverableTechnical and commercial proposal
Build
Releases every two weeks in an environment you can test. Priorities are revisable at the close of each release; the budget is not revisable within the agreed phase.
DeliverableTestable release every two weeks
Handover
Documentation, runbooks, training for the in-house team and a warranty period. After that, monthly maintenance if you want it, or a clean goodbye.
DeliverableDocumentation, training and warranty
Engagement models
Ways of working together
Three models depending on what you need. They can be combined, and you can move between them.
Project
When there is a concrete, bounded objective
An integration, a migration, a dashboard, an application. Scope agreed in writing and a fixed price for that phase, with acceptance criteria defined before we start.
Commercial modelFixed price per phase
Technical leadership
When what is missing is decisions, not hands
Fixed monthly dedication on a continuing basis: architecture, roadmap, vendor management, hiring and a seat in leadership meetings. The model known elsewhere as a fractional CTO.
Commercial modelMonthly fee
Embedded team
When the project is yours and the hands are not enough
A senior engineer inside your team, with your conventions and inside your repository. It is the model we use for other consultancies, agencies and manufacturers: white-label, with your brand on the front and invisible to your client unless you ask otherwise. With a minimum of continuity, because dropping in and out weekly helps nobody.
Commercial modelBy days or by sprints
Commitments
Commitments
The code is yours from the first commit
It lives in your repository and intellectual property is stated in the contract. No proprietary components of ours that tie you in.
Infrastructure in your accounts
Servers, domains and services contracted in your name. We work with access you can revoke at any time.
Fixed budget per phase
If we estimate badly within an agreed phase, that is our problem. Scope changes are agreed beforehand, not billed afterwards.
A reply within one business day
To any question during an active project. With an agreed emergency channel when the system is critical.
We do not compete with the firms that subcontract us
If we come in through another consultancy or agency, their client is theirs. No commercial contact from us and no proposals behind their back, during the project or after it. In writing if you want it.
FAQ
What people ask us
What does the assessment cost?
It starts at €400. The final scope depends on the problem, but it is always a fixed figure known before we start, and it is deducted from the first phase if we continue. For a bounded problem it is usually a matter of days; for a full review of a company’s technical function, weeks.
Do you sign NDAs?
Always, and we can sign yours. We routinely work with sensitive business information and personal data, and processing is governed by contract from the outset.
What happens if the project goes wrong?
We say so early, with options on the table. Bad news early is manageable; bad news late is not. Each phase also has a natural break point where either party can stop.
Can we start with something small?
That is what we recommend. An assessment or a bounded first phase lets both sides find out what working together is like before committing to something large.
Next step
Half an hour well spent
Walk us through the problem on a short call. You leave with a first read on how we'd approach it and what it would involve — no commitment, no sales deck.