Advisory & Transformation

When the question is genuinely open — what architecture, what platform, what sequencing — or when an existing programme is at risk and an independent view is needed before committing more spend. Advisory engagements that produce real value tend to be short (four to eight weeks), narrow in scope, and led by the same architects who would deliver if it came to that. Advisory disconnected from delivery experience is, in our view, the wrong shape of work.

It is not. We charge for advisory work on a fixed-fee or time-and-materials basis depending on the scope, and we have closed audits with "do not start this programme, here is why" recommendations. We would rather walk away from a programme we would have to apologise for than book the revenue. Our repeat-client rate depends on that posture.

Yes — independent vendor evaluation is a standard advisory engagement. We assess the actual delivery shape, reference checks, architecture fit, operating-model implications, and procurement-readiness of each option. We have no resale relationships that would distort the assessment; if we deliver on a vendor's platform, we will say so.

Yes — this is one of our most common engagement types. Short diagnostic (usually two to three weeks), produce a remediation plan that separates "what is recoverable" from "what is not," and then either embed senior engineers alongside the existing team or take the programme over. We do not require the original consultancy to be removed before we engage.

The advisory work is led by the architects who deliver. No principal-sales / junior-delivery split. That is a design decision: advisory recommendations that are not informed by recent delivery experience produce decks, not outcomes. The person who would sign the assessment is the person who would lead the resulting programme.

Fixed-fee for well-scoped assessments (architecture audit, vendor evaluation, programme review). Time-and-materials when the scope is genuinely exploratory or when the assessment shape evolves through the engagement. We are explicit about which is which before contract; we do not run open-ended advisory engagements without a clearly defined exit.