Independent IT and solutions architecture for businesses about to spend real money on systems. We assess what you have, cost the options, and hand you a recommendation you can act on — or take to your board.
Vendor-neutral by design: we take no commission, referral fee, or reseller margin on anything we recommend.
This is IT and solutions architecture — how your systems fit together — not building architecture. If you’re weighing a platform migration, replacing a core application, planning for growth, or trying to work out whether a supplier’s proposal is reasonable, this is the service that gets you a defensible answer.
The output is a document, not a conversation you’ll half-remember. It states what you have now, what the options are, what each one costs over a realistic horizon, what could go wrong, and which one we’d choose and why. It’s written so a non-technical director can follow the reasoning and a technical implementer can act on the detail.
If you have one clear problem and one obvious fix, an architecture engagement is overkill — go straight to hosting, networking, or security. This service earns its money when the decision is expensive, contested, or hard to reverse.
An honest inventory of systems, integrations, dependencies, licence positions, and running costs — including the parts nobody has documented since the person who built them left.
A diagram and written description of the recommended end state, at a level of detail an implementer can build from without guessing.
Normally two or three viable routes with capital and running costs over three years, so you’re comparing like with like rather than headline prices.
What could go wrong with each option, how likely it is, and what mitigating it would cost. Including the risks of doing nothing.
What to do first, what can wait, and what depends on what — phased so you can stop between stages without being stranded mid-migration.
Our actual opinion, stated plainly, with the reasoning shown. You’re paying for a judgement, not a menu.
Half an hour to understand the decision you’re facing. We’ll tell you honestly whether this service is the right one, including when it isn’t.
Scope, deliverables, timeline, and price in writing. Architecture work is quoted as a fixed project, never open-ended consultancy hours.
Interviews with the people who use the systems, technical review of what’s running, and a look at the contracts and licences. Usually a few days spread over a couple of weeks.
Options developed and costed. If the answer turns out to be “keep what you’ve got and fix two things,” that’s what the document will say.
We present the draft, you challenge it, and we correct anything we’ve misread about your business. This step matters — you know things we don’t.
The finished recommendation, yours to keep and use with any supplier. If you’d like us to implement it, that’s a separate quote you’re free to decline.
No — this is IT and solutions architecture: servers, networks, applications, data, and how they connect. We don’t design buildings.
The recommendation is separate from the implementation, and you’re under no obligation to use us for the latter. We take no commission or reseller margin on any product we recommend, which is precisely what makes the document worth paying for. A fair number of our recommendations end with “your existing provider can do this.”
Typically two to four weeks from kick-off for a small business estate, depending on how much discovery is needed and how quickly we can get time with your people. The timeline is fixed in the proposal.
The walkthrough exists for exactly that. If we’ve misunderstood a constraint, tell us and we’ll rework it — that’s part of the fixed price. If you simply disagree with the conclusion, you still own the document and the analysis behind it, and you’re free to take it elsewhere.
No. “We know something needs to change but not what” is a perfectly good starting point — arguably the best one, since nothing has been prematurely committed.
Tell us the decision you’re facing. The scoping call is free, and we’ll say plainly if you don’t need us for it.