How do you handle confidentiality?

NDA before any access. Findings go only to the people you name. For due diligence we work under the deal's confidentiality terms and can operate through your counsel.

What access do you need?

Read access to repositories, architecture documentation, and time with engineers and stakeholders. For due diligence we can work with a limited scope where the seller restricts access, and we'll state what that limits in the report.

Can you act as a fractional CTO?

Yes, on retainer — typically a few days a month covering architecture decisions, hiring and technical strategy. It suits companies too early for a full-time CTO but past the point of guessing.

Service 13 / 14

Software Consulting

Sometimes what you need isn't more code — it's a straight answer about architecture, a team, a vendor, or a codebase you're about to acquire. We give it in writing.

Book a consultation Get a quote

Typical duration: 2–6 weeks
Engagement: 1–2 senior engineers · Fixed fee
Right for you if: Companies evaluating a build-versus-buy decision
Investors needing technical due diligence before a deal
Leaders inheriting a codebase and team they didn't choose
Teams stuck on an architecture decision with no clear answer

Problems

You're probably here because of one of these.

If more than one sounds familiar, that's normal — they usually share a root cause.

You can't assess your own codebase

The team says it needs a rewrite. You need an independent read on whether that's true or just fatigue.

Build or buy is a coin flip

Vendor claims on one side, internal estimates on the other, and no neutral basis for comparison.

Delivery keeps slipping

Reasonable people working hard and shipping late. The cause is usually structural, not effort.

You're buying technical risk

An acquisition where the codebase is the asset, and you can't tell what you're actually getting.

Approach

How the work actually runs.

From first conversation to running in production. Typical end-to-end duration for software consulting is 2–6 weeks.

01
Frame the question
2–3 days
We agree exactly what decision this work is meant to inform, so the output is useful rather than interesting.
- The decision and its deadline, written down
- Scope, access requirements and confidentiality terms
- The specific questions we will answer
- Fixed fee and delivery date
02
Investigate
1–3 weeks
Code, architecture, delivery process and the people doing the work. All four, because the problem is rarely only technical.
- Static analysis, dependency and security review
- Architecture review against actual load and roadmap
- Delivery metrics and process assessment
- Confidential interviews with engineers and stakeholders
03
Report
3–5 days
A written report with a clear recommendation. No hedging, no consultant fog.
- Findings with evidence and severity ratings
- A direct recommendation with reasoning
- Prioritized remediation plan with effort estimates
- Risk register with likelihood and impact
04
Present and debate
1 week
We walk leadership and engineering through it and defend the conclusions in the room.
- Executive session with leadership
- Technical deep-dive with the engineering team
- Documented answers to challenges raised
- Final report incorporating what we learned
05
Optional support
Ongoing
Where useful, we stay on to help execute — with no obligation and no pressure to.
- Fractional CTO or architecture advisory
- Hiring support: scorecards and technical interviewing
- Implementation of the highest-priority items
- Quarterly review against the plan

Included

What you get, spelled out.

Every item here is part of the engagement, not an upsell discovered halfway through.

Written report

A document you can circulate to a board or an investor, not a slide deck of generalities.

Direct recommendation

A clear answer, including when that answer is 'don't do this'.

Code and architecture review

Actual reading of the code, dependencies and structure — not a survey of the team's opinions.

Delivery process assessment

DORA metrics, planning and team structure, because the bottleneck is often organizational.

Technical due diligence

Acquisition-grade assessment of code quality, security, licensing and key-person risk.

Effort estimates

Remediation priced in engineer-weeks so you can plan and budget against it.

Confidential interviews

Engineers tell an outsider things they won't put in a status report.

No sales agenda

We're paid for the assessment. The recommendation frequently isn't 'hire us to build it'.

Stack

What we typically build this with.

A default, not a rule. If your team already runs something else and it fits the requirement, we work in your stack.

TypeScript

Types across the whole stack. Most integration bugs stop being possible.

Node.js

One language across client and server. Shared validation, shared types, one hiring profile.

PostgreSQL

Our default. Transactional integrity, JSON, full-text search and row-level security in one engine.

Kafka

Durable event log for service-to-service communication. Consumers can be replayed and added without touching producers.

AWS

Widest service coverage and the compliance posture enterprises expect.

Docker

The same image in dev, CI and production. 'Works on my machine' ends here.

Kubernetes

At real scale only. Below it the operational cost outweighs the benefit, and we'll say so.

Terraform

Infrastructure in version control, reviewable and reproducible from an empty account.

Why Devsock

The difference is in how the work is run.

Ten dimensions where engagements usually go wrong, and what we do instead. Every claim in the right-hand column is something you can verify in the first two weeks.

DimensionTypical agencyDevsock

Estimates
TypicalAn hourly rate and a range that grows once work starts.
DevsockFixed scope and fixed price after a paid discovery. Changes are quoted before they enter a sprint.
Communication
TypicalA weekly status email written by an account manager.
DevsockDirect access to the engineers building it, a shared board you can read any time, and a demo every second week.
Code ownership
TypicalDelivered at the end, sometimes with a proprietary framework attached.
DevsockYour repository, your cloud account, from commit one. No proprietary layer, no licensing.
Testing
TypicalManual clicking before launch, if the timeline allows.
DevsockAutomated suites in CI, load testing at projected peak, and a WCAG 2.2 AA audit before release.
Architecture
TypicalWhatever the available developer knows best.
DevsockA written architecture decision record explaining what we chose, what we rejected, and why.
Security
TypicalAddressed if the client raises it.
DevsockDependency scanning in CI, least-privilege access, secrets management and a pre-launch review as standard.
Accessibility
TypicalOut of scope unless legally forced.
DevsockWCAG 2.2 AA designed in and audited. Keyboard and screen-reader tested, not assumed.
Handover
TypicalA zip file and a phone number that stops answering.
DevsockDocumented architecture, runbooks, and a paid handover period so your team can genuinely take over.
After launch
TypicalA new quote for every bug.
DevsockDefect fixes covered for 90 days. Support retainers carry response-time SLAs in the contract.
Saying no
TypicalEvery request becomes a line item.
DevsockWe'll tell you when a feature isn't worth building, or when the answer isn't software at all.

Work

What we've built, and what it changed.

Live products you can open and use. Each one names the constraint, the approach and what shipped.

All case studies

SaaS · Waste management

Roll Off Rolodex

rolloffrolodex.com

Next.js
TypeScript
React Native
PostgreSQL
Redis
Stripe
AWS

Multi-tenant SaaS platform and driver apps for dumpster rental operators

Challenge

Dumpster rental operators run bookings, fleet position, driver assignments and invoicing across spreadsheets, whiteboards and phone calls. Nobody knows where a container actually is, proof of service arrives days after the job, and billing gets reconstructed from memory at month end.

Solution

A multi-tenant SaaS platform with self-serve signup, subscription billing and tiered plans, paired with native driver apps on iOS and Android. Operators get real-time container status, driver scheduling with route optimisation, customer and contract management, and automated invoicing. Drivers receive job assignments and upload proof of service from the field.

What shipped

Native driver apps published to both the App Store and Google Play
Multi-tenant architecture with per-operator data isolation
Self-serve onboarding with a 15-day trial and three subscription tiers
Real-time inventory and container status tracking
Driver scheduling with route optimisation
Automated invoicing and payment processing

Renewable energy

ISSC

issc-int.com

Next.js
TypeScript
Tailwind CSS
Vercel

Corporate platform for an independent renewable-energy consultancy

Challenge

An independent monitoring and evaluation consultancy for renewable energy projects needed to establish credibility with government, industrial and hospital buyers — a sector where procurement turns on verifiable regulatory standing and a demonstrable track record, not on marketing copy.

Solution

A structured corporate platform built around proof rather than persuasion: service definitions for independent oversight and technical training, a credentials section surfacing regulatory compliance across SECP, FBR, PRA and PEC, team profiles establishing sector experience, and a documented track record of verified installations. Enquiries route directly to the consultancy team.

What shipped

Structured service architecture across oversight and training lines
Regulatory credentials surfaced as the primary trust signal
Track record documented across government, industrial and public-health installations
Team credibility profiles with sector experience
Enquiry capture routed to the consultancy team
Server-rendered and fully indexable

Training & certification

Global Consulting for Safety and Environment

globalconsulting-int.com

Next.js
TypeScript
PostgreSQL
Tailwind CSS
AWS

Training platform with multi-country scheduling and certificate verification

Challenge

A QHSE training provider delivering internationally accredited certifications across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan needed to publish a constantly moving multi-city schedule, take registrations online, and let employers independently verify that a certificate is genuine — the last of which is what makes an accreditation worth anything.

Solution

A training platform combining a published course schedule across multiple countries with online registration, a separate corporate training enquiry path, and a public certificate verification tool employers can use to authenticate credentials. Accreditation bodies and trainer profiles are presented as structured, checkable content rather than a logo wall.

What shipped

Public certificate verification for employers
Multi-country training schedule with online registration
Separate paths for open-enrolment and corporate training
Course catalogue spanning ISO, OSHA, IOSH, NVQ and Lean Six Sigma
Accreditation bodies and trainer credentials as structured content
Server-rendered and fully indexable

Further work sits behind NDAs. We can walk you through the architecture and measured outcomes of those engagements under mutual NDA.

Request a walkthrough

FAQ