Consult, Implement, Maintain: how to work with an IT software house

We engage in three modes, and most clients move through them in order.

Consult

You have the problem, we find the solution. You know something is wrong — too expensive, too slow, too fragile — but not what to do about it. We diagnose it, cost it out, and hand you a plan you could take to anyone.

Implement

You have the solution, we ship it. The decision is made; you need it built right and on time. We deliver, then get out of the way.

Maintain

It’s running, we keep it that way. The least glamorous mode, and the one that decides whether the first two were worth anything. We own what breaks so your team doesn’t quietly become the help desk.

You can start in any of them. Plenty of clients arrive at Maintain first — something we didn’t build is failing — and we work backwards.

FAQ

What’s the difference between IT consulting and managed services? Consulting diagnoses and plans; managed services — our Maintain mode — runs the system and keeps it healthy. We do both, plus the implementation in between, so nothing falls through the handoffs.

Can you maintain a system you didn’t build? Yes — many clients come to us exactly that way. We learn it, stabilize it, and own the pager from there.