Discovery and design
A defined piece of work producing a process map, a system design, a phased plan and an indicative cost. It stands on its own, and you can take it elsewhere.
When the problem is clear but the solution is not.
How we build.
You are entitled to know how the system you are paying for is designed, secured, released and looked after. This page explains it, in the order the work actually happens.
What we hold to
These decisions determine whether a system still serves the business in five years, so they are settled before a project starts rather than during it.
The business first, the technology second
The architecture follows how the company operates. We do not start from a favourite stack.
One place for the truth
Every system we build reads from and writes to a single authoritative record. Duplicated data causes most operational failure.
Connect before replacing
Where a system works, we integrate it. Replacement needs a business case, not a preference.
Built to be run
Monitoring, audit trails, backups and access control are part of the build, not a phase that gets cut.
People stay in the loop
Anything financial, contractual or customer-facing keeps a human checkpoint and a record of what the system decided.
You own it
Your data, your integrations, your deployment. Exit terms are discussed before they ever become relevant.
The six steps
Each step produces something you can hold, review and keep. If we stop after any one of them, you still own something useful.
- 01
Understand
We spend time in the operation before designing anything: how the work flows, where it stalls, what data exists and which constraints are real.
- 02
Design
We agree what the system should do, how it fits with what you already run, and in what order it should be built.
- 03
Build
Working software in short cycles, reviewed against the real process rather than a specification document.
- 04
Integrate
Payments, messaging, accounting, hardware and the systems that cannot be replaced yet are connected and reconciled.
- 05
Launch
Migration, training and a controlled go-live, with a rehearsed way back if anything goes wrong.
- 06
Operate & Improve
Monitoring, support and a continuing backlog of improvements, because a business system is never finished.
The parts nobody demonstrates
Security, reliability and monitoring are scoped into the build. They are not a phase that gets cut when a date moves.
Identity and access
- Sign-in, sessions and account recovery designed rather than assembled
- Roles, scopes and row-level rules enforced on the server
- Single sign-on where the business already has an identity provider
- Administrative actions separated, logged and reviewable
Data and privacy
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Collect what the process needs, and no more
- A defined retention period for each category of data
- Export and deletion paths built before anyone asks for them
Reliability
- Releases with no downtime and a rehearsed way back
- Backups that have actually been restored
- Sensible behaviour when a third party is unavailable
- Jobs written to run safely more than once
Observability
- Structured logs, metrics and traces from the first release
- Alerts on the symptoms a customer would notice
- Audit trails on decisions that carry consequences
- Performance budgets agreed with the business, not hidden from it
Choosing technology
We work across the major cloud platforms and the mainstream application and mobile ecosystems. Which one we recommend depends on your workload, your budget and who will maintain it afterwards. Sometimes the right answer is the cheapest one.
We will also tell you when the sensible option is a product you can buy rather than something we build.
Cloud
Cloudflare · AWS · Azure · Google Cloud
Data
PostgreSQL · Redis · Managed data warehouses
Application
TypeScript · Node.js · React · Astro
Mobile
iOS · Android · React Native · Progressive web apps
Business platforms
WhatsApp Business Platform · Payment gateways · Accounting systems
How engagements start
Terms are agreed in a written proposal or statement of work. No project begins on a verbal scope.
Build
A scoped delivery with named outcomes, working software in short cycles and a production system at the end. Environments, deployment and monitoring are included.
When there is a system to build or replace.
Operate
Ongoing responsibility for a live platform: monitoring, support, integration maintenance, security updates and a continuing improvement backlog.
When the system matters enough to need an owner.
Want this applied to your business?
Discovery is a defined piece of work with an output you keep. It is the cheapest way to find out whether the rest is worth doing.