The decisions that are hard to undo later.
We help decide what a system should look like before months of work go into it. You get an outside view, a written result and a recommendation you can take to your board and to your supplier.
When it pays to bring in an outside view
Architecture is the set of decisions made at the start and paid for across the whole life of a system. Where the data sits, what happens during an outage, how the system copes when customers multiply by ten. Changing them later means rebuilding what already runs.
An in-house team often sees these questions only from the inside, because they live in the system every day. An outside view is not about knowing more. It is about asking the questions nobody there questions any more.
We sell this as bounded work with a clear end and a written result. You do not have to hand us a project to get something out of it. If you then decide to build with us, the result is the first input. If you decide otherwise, it serves your own team or another supplier just as well.
The questions we are there to answer
These are the points that usually decide whether a system will carry the load in two years or be rewritten.
Build, buy, or connect?
The most expensive mistake is usually building what could have been bought, or bending the company around a tool that never fitted. We walk both routes with numbers rather than opinions.
Where does the data sit and who reaches it?
How data is split, who has access, and where the boundaries between parts of the system run. These decisions are made once and are the worst of all to change.
What happens when it goes down?
Which part may fail without consequence and which may not, how long recovery takes, and what the customer experiences meanwhile. The answer sets how much backup capacity is worth paying for.
Will it carry ten times the load?
Where the system stalls as it grows and what the cheapest step is that moves that ceiling. It is rarely a bigger server.
What will it cost to run?
Not just the build, but the monthly cost of keeping it alive, how that cost grows with customers, and how many people it takes to maintain.
Can it be handed to someone else?
Whether the system rests on widely used technology and documentation, or on one person and their memory. Management usually asks this question too late.
How the work is bought
All of these are bounded engagements with the scope, the deadline and the price agreed up front. No open-ended hourly billing.
Consultation
half a dayWe work through one specific question you are facing and you leave with a recommendation and the reasoning behind it. Useful when you need a second opinion on a decision already on the table.
When the question is single and clear
System review
one to two weeksWe look at the existing system, its architecture, the state of the code and how it runs. You get findings ranked by what threatens you most, with an estimate of the effort each fix takes.
When the system works but nobody fully understands it any more
Architecture design
two to four weeksFor a new system or a larger rebuild. We propose how to split it, what to build it on and in what order, including what can safely be deferred without hurting later.
When building is about to start and the how is unclear
Technical partner in a supplier selection
as long as the tender runsWe help write the brief, assess the bids and spot the supplier promising something that does not add up. We sit on your side of the table, not on the side of the proposal.
When you are placing a larger contract with someone else
What you actually walk away with
Always something written, that outlives the meeting and can be passed on.
A document of recommendations
Written plainly, with the reasoning behind each recommendation and what happens if it is skipped. Usable in a board meeting, not only among developers.
Findings ranked by priority
What to fix first, what can wait and what is fine. Each item carries an effort estimate so a budget can be built from it.
A drawing of the system
How the parts fit together and where the data flows. Most companies do not have this picture, although they need it for every larger decision.
A staged plan
The order of the steps and what each stage delivers. So you can start small and continue on results rather than on one big plan.
Common questions
What companies ask us before a first engagement.
Do we then have to order the build from you?
No. The result is yours and is written so your own team or another supplier can work from it. Precisely because we are not tied to who builds it, we can also recommend building nothing.
Will it be theory without knowing our business?
We start from what the company does and what the system has to handle, not from technology. If we could not explain a recommendation to your management, it means we have not thought it through.
We are a small team, is it worth it for us?
Often more than for a large one. A large company absorbs a bad decision; a small one loses months it does not have. That is why the smallest format is half a day rather than a month.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes, and it is our default rather than a concession. A system review or a tender gives us access to information that does not belong outside.
How is this different from a security audit?
A system review asks whether the architecture makes sense, can be maintained and will carry growth. A security audit and a penetration test hunt for specific vulnerabilities and are a separate service, billed separately.
What does it cost?
The price follows the format and is agreed up front rather than by hours worked. After a short conversation we can say which format fits, and it is often smaller than companies expect.
Got a decision on the table?
Send us a few lines about what you are weighing. We reply within one business day and tell you which format covers it, even when that is the smallest one.