How we work
Scope, plan, build, hand over
Every engagement runs the same way, whether it's a two-week sprint or a multi-phase platform. Here is what happens, what you approve and what you end up owning.
The lifecycle
Four steps, each with something you approve
Scope
It starts with a call about goals, users, constraints and what done means. You get a written scope back: what's in, what's out, the risks we see and the questions still open. For larger or uncertain systems we propose an Architecture & Roadmap Sprint, so the plan itself is a deliverable you can take anywhere.
Plan
The scope becomes phases. Each phase has a fixed price, a list of deliverables and acceptance criteria written in plain language. You approve the plan before any build starts.
Build
Each phase ships working software to your environments, with tests and documentation included. You review it against the acceptance criteria. Accept it and the next phase starts; stop and you keep everything shipped so far.
Hand over
Architecture documentation, runbooks, decision records and a knowledge-transfer session. Your team runs it from there, with a retainer available if you want us to stay close.
What acceptance means
Acceptance criteria are agreed before a phase starts and written so that both sides can check them: a flow works end to end in your environment, a pipeline deploys on merge, a sign-in round-trips through your identity provider. A phase is accepted when it meets its criteria, and it is invoiced then, not on a calendar date. If something does not meet the bar, we fix it inside the phase price.
Change is priced before it's built
Scope changes are normal. What matters is how they're handled. Anything outside the written scope gets a short change order: what it is, what it costs, what it moves. You approve it or you don't. The price of the phase you already agreed does not change, and nothing lands on a final invoice as a surprise.
Ownership
You own everything, from day one
- Code in your repositories, under your organization.
- Infrastructure in your cloud tenants and accounts in your name.
- Secrets, DNS, domains and third-party services registered to you.
- Documentation written for the next engineer, not for us.
- Knowledge transfer before the final invoice.
Every system is built so it can be handed over. A retainer is an option, never a dependency.
Pricing
Why we price by outcome
You know the cost before work starts.
Every phase has a price in writing before anyone opens an editor.
You pay for accepted work, not time spent.
A phase is invoiced when it meets its acceptance criteria.
We're paid to finish.
Shipping is the incentive, so scope stays tight and decisions get made.
A written scope, defined phases, a fixed price per phase and acceptance criteria give both sides the same incentive: finish. The cost is known before work starts, decisions get made instead of deferred, and the engineer who priced the work is accountable for shipping it.
Security- and compliance-aware
Identity and access, least-privilege permissions, secrets management, audit trails and careful handling of personal and sensitive data are part of how we build, not a hardening phase at the end. We don't claim certifications we don't hold. If your environment has specific compliance requirements, they go into the scope as acceptance criteria and get verified like everything else.
What makes an engagement go well
- A decision-maker who can accept a phase.
- Access to the systems and people the scope touches.
- Existing documentation, even if it's rough.
- Honest constraints: budget band, deadlines, dependencies.
FAQ
Two questions we hear first
Can we start with just the sprint?
Yes. The sprint is designed to stand alone. You get a priced, phased plan and can build it with anyone, including us.
What if we already have engineers?
Then the work is usually foundations and review: setting up the repository, environments, pipeline and a reference implementation your team extends, with architecture governance on a retainer if you want it.
Tell us what you're building.
We'll come back with a scope, phases and a price.