Software Architecture & Technical Consulting
Technology Consultancy · From £1,700
Software Architecture & Technical Consulting
Technology Consultancy · Service 07
IT Consultancy & Technology Strategy
Independent advice on what to build, what to buy and what to leave alone — with the reasoning written down.
£1,500
Indicative starting point. Final pricing follows an agreed scope.
What this service is
Most technology money is lost before a line of code is written, in decisions made without enough information.
This service exists for the point at which a decision has to be made and the information to make it well is not available. Should we replace this system or extend it? Is this vendor’s proposal reasonable? What should we spend on technology over the next two years, and in what order?
We assess what you have, establish what the business actually needs it to do, set out the realistic options with costs and risks, and give you a documented recommendation. The output is written to be used — by your board, by your team, or by another supplier if you take a different route.
What we can deliver
Deliverables for this service
Not every engagement includes every item. Your quotation lists exactly what is in scope and what is not.
- 01Current state assessment
Systems, integrations, hosting, licensing, support arrangements, data flows and dependencies, documented as they genuinely are.
- 02Requirements and constraints
What the business needs technology to do over the planning period, gathered from the people who will live with the outcome.
- 03Risk register
Technical, operational, security and continuity risks, rated and with a recommended response for each.
- 04Options appraisal
Each realistic route set out with indicative cost, timescale, benefit, risk and the consequence of doing nothing.
- 05Technology recommendations
Specific, justified recommendations rather than generic principles — including where the correct answer is to change nothing.
- 06Costed roadmap
A sequenced plan over an agreed horizon showing dependencies, indicative cost and expected benefit per stage.
- 07Supplier evaluation support
Requirements documentation, evaluation criteria, proposal review and question sets for supplier conversations.
- 08Board-ready summary
A short written summary in plain language for the people who approve the spend, plus a session to work through it.
Business problems we solve
The situations that bring people to this service
If more than two of these describe your organisation, the conversation is usually worth having.
Competing supplier proposals with no way to compare them fairlyAn independent evaluation against criteria drawn from your requirements
Technology spend accumulating without a planA sequenced roadmap with costs, dependencies and expected benefit
A build-or-buy question that has been circling for monthsA written recommendation with the reasoning and the risks stated
A board asking for assurance the team cannot easily provideAn independent assessment written for a non-technical audience
Systems chosen department by department with no overall shapeA target picture that shows how the parts should fit together
Uncertainty about whether current systems will support growthA capacity and risk assessment against your actual plans
Visual model
How the work is structured
Drawn for this page in SVG. Nothing here is stock imagery.
Our approach
How we work on this specifically
The parts of the method that matter most on this kind of engagement.
- 01Start from the business objective
Every recommendation traces back to something the organisation is trying to achieve. Technology preferences without that anchor are just opinions.
- 02Look at what is really running
Documented architecture and actual architecture routinely differ. We check systems, data and usage rather than accepting the diagram.
- 03Talk to the people who use it
The most useful information about a system usually comes from the people who work around its limitations every day.
- 04Present options, not a single answer
You should be able to see what we discounted and why. A recommendation you cannot interrogate is not much use to a board.
- 05Stay independent
We hold no reseller agreements and receive no commission from any vendor. If the recommendation is to do nothing, or to use another supplier, that is what we will write.
Common use cases
Where this work typically applies
Practical examples rather than industry categories — the pattern matters more than the sector.
- 01Build, buy or extend
An impartial evaluation when the choice between commissioning software, licensing a product or extending what you have is unclear.
- 02Pre-tender preparation
Requirements and evaluation criteria prepared before approaching suppliers, so proposals can be compared on the same basis.
- 03Technology due diligence
An independent view of a system, product or supplier before an acquisition, investment or major contract.
- 04Post-incident or post-project review
Establishing what happened, what it cost and what should change, without apportioning blame.
- 05Growth readiness
Assessing whether current systems will support a specific growth plan, and identifying what will break first.
- 06Two-year technology plan
A sequenced, costed programme for organisations that have been buying technology reactively.
Project stages
The sequence from enquiry to delivery
Each stage has a defined output and a review point. You always know where the work stands.
01
Scope
Agree the decision to be supported, the questions to answer and the form of the output.
02
Gather
System review, documentation, data and interviews with the people involved.
03
Analyse
Assessment against requirements, with risks, costs and constraints established.
04
Option build
Realistic routes developed and costed, including the option of changing nothing.
05
Report
Written deliverable, recommendation and a working session with your team.
Strategic capabilities
What we bring to this work
Capability relevant to this service. We do not list technology we would not actually recommend.
Assessment
- System and application inventory
- Integration and data flow mapping
- Licensing and cost review
- Security and continuity risk review
- Support and supplier arrangements
- Capacity and growth assessment
Decision support
- Requirements definition
- Options appraisal with costs
- Technology selection criteria
- Supplier proposal evaluation
- Build versus buy analysis
- Total cost of ownership modelling
Planning
- Costed technology roadmaps
- Dependency and sequencing analysis
- Phasing and investment profiling
- Benefit definition and measurement
- Risk register and mitigation
- Board and stakeholder reporting
Who this service is for
Typical clients for this work
We work with B2B companies, organisations and private clients. The requirement matters more than the size of the buyer.
Businesses
- Owner-managed businesses without an internal IT function
- Companies evaluating a significant system purchase
- Organisations whose technology spend has grown without a plan
- Businesses preparing for growth, sale or investment
Organisations
- Boards and trustees needing independent assurance
- Charities making careful use of restricted funds
- Providers preparing for accreditation or tender
Private clients
- Individuals commissioning significant development work
- Professionals needing an impartial second opinion
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Service FAQ
Questions we are asked about this service
Yes. We hold no reseller agreements, partner tiers or referral arrangements, and we receive no commission from any vendor. Our only commercial relationship is with you, which is the point of engaging an independent adviser.
No. Consultancy deliverables are written to be usable by any competent supplier, and a number of clients specifically want an independent specification before approaching the market. If we are unsuitable for the implementation, we will say so.
Then that is what the report says. Recommending unnecessary work would be poor advice and poor business. Several engagements have concluded that the existing arrangement is sound and the money is better spent elsewhere.
Yes. Every engagement includes a written summary in plain language and a working session. We can attend a board or trustee meeting to present and answer questions, which is often the most useful part for non-technical decision makers.
Enough to see what is actually running: read access to relevant systems, documentation, contracts and cost information, plus time with the people who use and administer them. We work to whatever access constraints your governance requires and will note where those limit our conclusions.
Have a project in mind?
Tell us what you are trying to achieve and we will come back with a clear view of the scope, the approach and the cost.