What this is
Sometimes the right answer to a task is not "let's build it." Sometimes it's "don't do this," or "buy the existing product," or "hire a CTO first." Those answers are hard to hear from a vendor who makes money on development - so consulting is a separate service for us, priced honestly by the hour, no upsell.
Typical situations: you're preparing for an M&A and need to audit the IT asset; you're thinking of switching stack and want the price tag; you want to hire your first IT lead but aren't sure how to evaluate candidates; your team is asking to rewrite the old system and you're not sure that's what's needed.
We don't sell development disguised as consulting. If after the audit the honest answer is "nothing needs doing," that's what we'll say. If something does, we'll say what exactly, and give a market quote - not a discounted one that cross-sells our own work.
Stack
What's included
- Current infrastructure audit
- Digitalization roadmap
- Stack and vendor selection
- CTO / first engineer hiring
- Security review + threat modeling
Typical tasks
The kind of requests that usually come in for this service.
- Before a major release / deal
- When changing stack
- Hiring the first IT team
How we work on this service
Four stages with clear deliverables
This breakdown is specific to this service - the general methodology lives on the "How we work" page.
Intake
30-60 minutes to understand the question, propose a format and timeline.
Deliverable
Audit plan + estimate
Deep dive
Interviews with the team, review of code, infrastructure, processes.
Deliverable
Artifacts: interviews, code review, architecture diagrams
Report
A written document with findings, risks and a prioritised action plan.
Deliverable
20-40 page report + presentation
Follow-through
On request we help implement - or hand off to another vendor and validate their work.
Deliverable
Active help or independent oversight
When this isn't your task
We don't take these cases under this service label - honestly, so you don't lose time.
- "Tell us whose code is better - ours or the vendor's" without talking to both sides
- Court expert testimony - we're not certified
- Recommendations on jurisdictions or taxation - not our domain
FAQ
Common questions about this service
How is it priced?
Hourly rate or a fixed audit package. We settle this at the intake call.
Isn't there a conflict of interest - you could also be the vendor?
On technical due diligence we decline further development for the same client, so the report is independent. For other consulting formats we agree upfront how that's handled.
Other services