Phase 1 — Discovery and scoping

Two to six weeks, depending on scope.

Most of our engagements start with a Diagnostic Assessment — a fixed-fee, time-boxed review of the work to be done. We talk to the people running the existing process, look at the artefacts (models, spreadsheets, pipelines, packs), and produce a written diagnostic plus a scoped proposal for the work. The diagnostic is its own deliverable: even if you decide not to engage further, you have something useful in hand.

What we look at

  • The current state, in honest detail — what works, what does not, where the pain is.
  • The target state, scoped to what is actually achievable in the time and budget available.
  • Dependencies, risks and gates.
  • Indicative effort, named people, indicative cost.

What you get

  • A written diagnostic report.
  • A scoped proposal for the build phase — or a recommendation to do nothing, if that is the right answer.
  • A clear handover document if the project does not proceed.

How we protect the people in the process

A better operating layer is not only a cleaner technical estate. It should make the work less dependent on heroic individuals, less exposed to late surprises, and easier for client teams and trusted contributors to run with confidence.

  • For the client relationship: risks, trade-offs and decisions are written down early. We do not save hard news for a steering committee once the answer is already constrained.
  • For client staff: we start with how the work really runs, preserve the judgement that already exists in the team, and remove avoidable friction around reconciliations, evidence, review and handover.
  • For contractors and specialist contributors: scope, review route, client context and attribution are explicit. We use contract capacity for named outcomes, not anonymous overflow.

Phase 2 — Build

Four to sixteen weeks per increment, depending on scope.

We deliver in short, scoped increments rather than open-ended programmes. Each increment has a named outcome, a fixed scope, named people, and a defined end date. You always know what you are paying for and when it lands.

What we do

  • Build, test and document the work in your environment.
  • Hold weekly check-ins with named owners on your side.
  • Use version control, peer review and structured handovers from day one — not as a delivery afterthought.
  • Surface issues early. We would rather have a hard conversation in week 2 than a surprise in week 14.

What you get

  • The deliverables, in production-ready form.
  • A written record of what was built and why.
  • Sign-off from the named senior on the work.

Phase 3 — Run and hand over

Two to eight weeks of structured handover, then optional managed operations.

Most engagements end with handover. Some clients ask us to run what we built — that is the BAU Support practice. Either way, the handover itself is a deliverable, not an afterthought.

What we deliver

  • The working models and their source — so you can run and change the work without us.
  • Documentation that a new joiner could pick up.
  • Trained named owners on your side.
  • A defined contact path for questions after handover.
  • Optional managed support under SLA, if you want us to keep running it — by choice, never by lock-in.

Why we work this way

  • Small means accountable. The people who scoped the work are the people who do it.
  • Scoped means honest. Fixed fee and fixed date mean we cannot grow the bill silently.
  • Documented means transferable. The work survives our involvement.
  • Independent means uncompromised. We have no software to sell you, no hyperscaler kickback, no audit conflict to manage. Our only incentive is your answer being right.

For the capacity context behind this, see the About page. To start a conversation, see Diagnostic Assessments or contact us.