A plan with costs attached
Every recommendation comes with effort, cost range, risk and expected benefit. You can compare options on the same terms and fund the ones that matter most.
Consulting
Technology decisions made with the facts in front of you
Independent advice from engineers who still build every week. We review your architecture, delivery and vendors, then hand you a prioritized, costed plan your team can act on, with or without us.
Outcomes
Decisions you can defend to the board
Risks named before they bite
Single points of failure, security gaps, unsupported software and key-person risks, written down and ranked, so you fix them on your schedule instead of during an outage.
Vendors held to account
An informed second opinion on proposals, contracts and estimates. You negotiate with facts, avoid paying for features you won't use, and spot unrealistic timelines early.
What we deliver
Written, specific and ready to act on
Every engagement ends with documents your team can use, not a slide deck that gathers dust.
Architecture review
An assessment of your systems' structure, scalability, resilience and technical debt, with ranked findings and practical fixes.
Code and delivery health check
A review of code quality, testing, release process and team practices, benchmarked against what works in similar teams.
Security posture review
A practical look at access, secrets, dependencies, logging and backups, prioritized by real risk rather than checklist count.
Technology roadmap
A phased 12 to 24 month plan linking technology work to business goals, with costs, dependencies and decision points.
Build-vs-buy analysis
A side-by-side comparison of building, buying or extending, including three-year cost, lock-in risk and team impact.
Fractional CTO support
A senior technical leader for a few days each month to guide decisions, hiring and vendors until you hire your own.
Areas we cover
What we look at
We scope each review to the questions you need answered, so you pay for the depth that matters to you.
Architecture
- System design
- Scalability
- Resilience
- Technical debt
- Data model
Delivery
- Release process
- Testing
- Team structure
- DORA metrics
- Estimation
Risk
- Access control
- Secrets
- Dependencies
- Backups and DR
- Vendor lock-in
How we work
Four steps from questions to a plan
- 01 / 04
Frame
We agree the questions to answer, the decisions they inform and who needs to be convinced by the findings.
You get: a one-page brief and scope
- 02 / 04
Investigate
Interviews, code and architecture walkthroughs, data from your tools, and a look at how work actually flows today.
You get: weekly written findings
- 03 / 04
Recommend
We rank options by cost, risk and value, and test the draft with your team before it goes to leadership.
You get: a costed, prioritized plan
- 04 / 04
Support
Optional follow-through: we help hire, brief vendors, or deliver the first phase with your team.
You get: momentum after the report
FAQ
Questions about IT consulting
How long does a typical review take?
Most focused reviews take two to four weeks, depending on the number of systems and teams involved. A single architecture or code review can be quicker. We agree the scope, questions and timeline up front, so there are no open-ended consulting hours.
Are your recommendations independent?
Yes. We don't resell software licenses, and we have no referral fees from vendors. If the best answer is a product we don't build on, or a change that needs no outside help, our report says so plainly.
Do we have to hire you to implement the plan?
No. Plans are written so your own team or another vendor can deliver them. Many clients do ask us to help with the first phase, which is fine, but the advice never depends on that. A good plan should stand on its own.
Who will do the assessment?
Senior engineers and architects with hands-on delivery experience, usually two people. They are the same people who would lead the work if you hired us to implement it, so recommendations stay grounded in what is buildable.
How do you handle access to sensitive systems during a review?
We sign your NDA and agree the minimum access needed, usually read-only and time-limited. Much of a review works from walkthroughs, configuration exports and screen shares. Access is removed at the end, and we confirm in writing that no copies of your data are kept.
Facing a big technology decision?
Tell us what you're deciding and by when. We'll suggest a review scope that answers the question without wasting your budget.
Reply within one business day. No sales scripts.