How we work
Everything we’re willing to put in writing. Which is everything.
Most consulting firms describe their process in adjectives. After 18 years, ours fits on one page in commitments: how an engagement runs, the principles that decide the engineering, and the commercial terms, all published, because a firm that believes its own estimates can afford to.
The engagement lifecycle
Three stages, each with something you can hold us to.
Not a methodology diagram. Each stage maps to a commercial commitment (a written estimate, on-estimate delivery, a 180-day warranty), so the process reads as terms, not ceremony.
01
Scope
A written estimate you can hold us to.
We start by understanding the system you have and the constraints you're working inside. What comes back is a written estimate with its assumptions and scope boundaries stated explicitly: the document you'd need to compare us against anyone else, not a range that moves once work begins.
02
Build
Senior engineers, no rotation.
The people who scoped the work are the people who build it. You get working software on a regular cadence rather than a status deck, along with the architecture decisions, tests, deployment pipeline, and documentation needed for someone else to pick it up later.
03
Hand off
Warranted for 180 days, yours to run.
Delivery includes runbooks, knowledge transfer, and a 180-day warranty on defects. We stay available for ongoing support if you want it, but the system is built so that you don't need us to keep it running.
Principles
Five engineering disciplines that decide how we build.
When two options both work, these decide which one ships.
Efficiency
Streamlined processes and optimized solutions. Every technical decision considers resource utilization and operational overhead, not just whether it works, but whether it's the simplest thing that can.
Accuracy
Solutions that meet specifications exactly and perform reliably under real-world conditions. Our attention to detail extends from initial requirements through final deployment, and is reflected in our 100% on-estimate record.
Scalability
Architectures that accommodate increased demand, expanded functionality, and evolving business requirements without requiring a complete redesign. We design for the system you'll have, not just the one you have today.
Reusability
Maximize return on investment through modular, well-documented designs. Components built for one purpose can be extended and adapted, reducing future development costs and accelerating delivery on the next initiative.
Reliability
We engineer for uptime, build in fault tolerance, and maintain the kind of client relationships organizations can count on year after year. Senior engineers, 15+ year working partnerships: consistency you can plan around.
The terms
Standing policy for every client. Not a negotiation.
On estimate
Every engagement starts with a written estimate that states its assumptions and scope boundaries. If the work runs past the estimate without a change in scope, the overage is ours to absorb; you are never billed for it.
That has produced a 100% on-estimate record. Not because every estimate was perfect, but because the misses were our cost, not yours. A firm that believes its own estimates can afford to guarantee them.
180-day warranty
Defects in delivered work are fixed at no additional charge for 180 days after launch. Warranty issues jump the queue: they are treated as priority work, not filed behind new business.
The warranty covers defects: delivered behavior that doesn't match the agreed specification. It isn't a support contract in disguise, and it doesn't expire quietly; the 180 days are written into the engagement terms.
Response times
Written response commitments on every engagement: standard inquiries answered within 2 business days, urgent within 1 business day, critical within 4 business hours.
Acknowledgment always lands inside the committed window even when full resolution takes longer, so you are never left wondering whether the message arrived.
Net 30, no deposit
Standard Net 30 payment terms. No deposit is required to start work, and no retainer is required to hold a place in the schedule.
Check, ACH, credit card, and PayPal accepted. Invoicing maps to the milestones in the estimate, so finance sees the same structure the engagement was sold on.
For procurement
The vendor-form answers, before the vendor form.
Healthcare systems, agencies, and universities evaluate vendors on the same handful of questions. Here they are, answered in public.
- Who does the work?
- A small team of senior engineers who have shipped together for 15+ years, led by the founder. No offshore handoffs, no staffing pyramid, no substitution after the sale: the people who scope the work are the people who build it.
- Where is the team located?
- Based in Cary, NC, in the Research Triangle, working with clients nationwide. Most work is remote and always has been; for Triangle-area clients we can be in the room.
- How are response times guaranteed?
- Response times are written into the engagement terms: standard inquiries within 2 business days, urgent within 1 business day, critical within 4 business hours. Acknowledgment always lands inside the committed window, even when full resolution takes longer.
- How do you handle security and access?
- Least-privilege access to client systems, access revoked at engagement end, and client data never used outside the engagement. Where a client has its own security review or vendor onboarding process, we go through it.
- What does delivery include?
- Working software plus the things procurement never sees but operations depends on: architecture documentation, tests, deployment pipeline, runbooks, and knowledge transfer. Systems are handed off operable by people who didn't build them.
- What does an engagement cost to start?
- Nothing up front. The initial conversation and the written estimate are free, terms are standard Net 30, and no deposit or retainer is required. If the estimate is wrong, the overage is ours; that's the standing policy, not a negotiation.
Test the terms
The fastest way to evaluate us is to ask for an estimate.
It's free, it's written, and it comes with its assumptions attached. Then hold us to it. Everyone else has.