IT consulting
IT consulting answers the question of how to build. Choosing technologies and architecture, planning the move off legacy systems, reviewing proposals from others. We hand over a document with options and their consequences rather than one correct answer.
People come to us with questions that have no obvious answer but do have a price for getting it wrong. What to build the product on if in two years ten times as many people have to work in it. Whether to buy a ready solution or write your own. What to do with a system that has run for ten years and rests on one person. Who to give the work to, and whether the quote a contractor sent is reasonable.
Answering such questions in one word would be dishonest. There are almost always two or three sensible options, and each of them pays for itself somewhere: one is cheaper at the start and more expensive to maintain, another needs people who are scarce on the market, a third is faster but ties you to a single vendor. So we hand over a document with the options and their consequences, and you make the decision, because you know your business while we know the technical side.
A word on contractor quotes. It is a delicate request and we treat it calmly. We go through the scope, the timeline and the price and say plainly where there is reasonable headroom, where you are overpaying and where, on the contrary, it is underestimated and you will get a surprise halfway through. If the contractor is right, we will say so, even if we could have taken the work ourselves.
The same goes for the stack. We do not promote what we happen to write in. If a task is better solved with technologies we do not work in, we will write that and suggest where to look. Otherwise the whole consultation turns into advertising while you pay for it as expertise.
If you first need to understand what is happening with what already runs, that is an audit. If the question is not about technology but about what to automate and whether it will pay off, that is business consulting. The chosen path is then built by software, the backend, the infrastructure and corporate systems, and the work can be handed over under outsourcing or your team reinforced through outstaffing. What a task reformulated before development looks like can be seen in the Silent Notary and Battle of the Bees cases.
What the service covers
Any combination of the items below can be taken on its own.
For the task, for the load, for the deadlines and for the kind of people you will be able to hire. The last of these often matters more than the technology itself.
How to arrange the system, what to separate, what to keep together, where to build in headroom for growth and where that headroom would just be cost.
We cost both options on your numbers: licences, customisation, support, vendor lock-in, total cost of ownership over three years.
How to leave something that works but gets in the way: in parts, without stopping, with a clear order and points of return.
A breakdown of the scope, the timeline and the price. What is missing, what is overpriced, which questions to ask before signing.
Regular reviews of your team decisions, participation in key discussions, a second opinion on contested questions.
How we work
What the task is, what the constraints are, what already exists, who is on the team, what the deadlines and the money look like.
We cost two or three realistic paths, together with their risks and cost of ownership.
We hand over a written document and hold a meeting with your team, answer questions and argue on the substance.
We help during the rollout of the chosen path or stay on as an advisor for a period.
Cases for this service
Frequently asked questions
An audit answers the question of what is wrong with what has already been built. IT consulting answers the question of how to build from here. They often run in sequence: first we understand the current state, then we decide where to go.
We will not. If a task is better solved with technologies we do not work in, we will write that plainly and suggest where to look.
Yes, that is a common request. We go through the scope, the timeline and the price and say where there is reasonable headroom, where you are overpaying and where it is underestimated.
Also a usual situation. We look at the proposed path, search for its weak points and either confirm it or show what has been missed.
Yes, as a technical advisor: regular reviews, participation in key discussions, a second opinion. The scope and rhythm are agreed in advance.
We sign an NDA before the work starts. The document goes to you only.
Related services
Shall we discuss your task?
Tell us what needs to be done and we will come back with an estimate, the team composition and a plan for the first two weeks.