A clear offer before any paid engagement

This page is the commercial shape of the practice. It is not a binding quote. A binding scope exists only when you accept a written proposal. There is no fee for the first message.

Orientation brief

The orientation brief is a fixed piece of technology advisory. It is for a company that needs a written view before it spends money or signs with a supplier.

It includes the discovery conversation, a decision brief, a priority sequence, and a walkthrough. It does not include a full system selection, a workplace rebuild, or attendance at a long vendor implementation. If that later work is useful, it is proposed separately.

Project engagement

A project has one primary outcome. It draws on one or more of these services:

The proposal names the outcome, the people involved, the deliverables, the timing, and what is excluded. Vendor costs, licenses, and travel, if any, are the client’s costs and are listed as such. They are not folded into a vague professional fee.

Retained support

Retained technology support reserves time each month for questions, small follow-up, and correspondence with suppliers you already use.

The monthly note and the open-items list are the record. Unused questions do not have to be invented to fill the month. Work beyond the reserved volume is proposed before it starts. The retainer ends when you say so. It does not renew in silence.

Included when the proposal says so

Preparation and the working sessions described in the scope.
The named deliverables and one walkthrough.
Email notes after working sessions.
Corrections of factual errors in those documents.

Not included unless added in writing

Software licenses, hardware, or vendor implementation fees.
Legal, tax, accounting, or recruitment advice.
Round-the-clock monitoring or incident response.
Custom product development for a consumer audience.
A second project discovered during the first.

How the fee is set

The orientation brief is priced as one defined piece of work. A project is priced against the scope, the number of people involved, and the expected duration. Retained support is a monthly fee based on the time reserved.

You see the fee in the proposal, before work starts. The practice will not ask you to begin on a verbal estimate. If the scope changes, the fee is revised in writing and you can decline the change.

How to accept

Reply to the proposal by email and state that you accept the scope and the fee. Work starts after that acceptance. A purchase order, if your company uses one, can follow the same written scope.

The terms of use govern this website. They are not a substitute for the proposal that governs client work.