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Engagement model
Managed Services.
Ongoing operations with named SLAs, escalation tiers, and on-call coverage. We run what we built — or what you built — under a published service contract with the operating discipline production actually demands.
- Pricing
- Monthly retainer
- Cadence
- Continuous
- Min term
- 12 months
- SLAs
- Named per service
When this fits
You need on-call you can actually rely on — without growing the org chart.
Three patterns. First, post-launch operations: a system we (or you) shipped that needs SRE-grade operations without expanding internal headcount. Second, AI ops: production AI workloads that need continuous evaluation, drift monitoring, and quarterly model upgrades on a cadence internal teams struggle to sustain. Third, platform stewardship: cloud / data / enterprise platforms (D365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Power BI) that need ongoing release-wave management, governance review, and quarterly architectural review.
Managed Services answers all three. We operate as part of your engineering organization — pager rotation, incident response, change management, monthly executive review — under a published SLA matrix. The same senior engineering quality that built the system runs it. We tell you when Managed Services is the wrong answer (e.g., bursty work patterns better served by Dedicated Teams).
Operating cadence
How the engagement runs week-to-week.
The cadence below is what stakeholders actually feel. Named ceremonies, named owners, named acceptance criteria — not a generic agile slide.
- 01
Onboarding (30 days)
Service catalog definition, SLO specification, runbook authoring, on-call integration, monitoring access, and the operational baseline review. Onboarding is intensive and deliberate — the engagement after it depends on it.
- 02
Daily operations
On-call rotation aligned to severity matrix, change management gated by review process, monitoring with alert routing, and the ticket / incident workflow integrated with your engineering organization's existing tooling.
- 03
Weekly cadence
Weekly status with engineering leadership: SLO performance, incident summary, change activity, backlog health, capacity utilization. Issues surface before they become escalations.
- 04
Monthly executive review
Service health, incident retrospectives, technical debt accrual, roadmap dependencies, and the quarterly review preview. The engagement compounds value when leadership stays informed at the right altitude.
- 05
Quarterly architectural review
Architecture against the eval set, capacity planning against forecast load, technical debt prioritization, security posture review, and the operating cadence retrospective. The platform we run improves quarter over quarter — not despite operations.
Scope
In and out of scope, in writing.
Scope creep is a contract problem, not an engineering problem. Both columns below appear in the SOW.
In scope
- On-call coverage on documented SLA matrix (P0/P1/P2/P3 tiers)
- Monitoring, alerting, and incident response per runbook
- Change management for production deployments
- Backlog operations: bug fixes, minor enhancements, dependency upgrades
- Quarterly model retraining and AI ops where applicable
- Monthly FinOps review and quarterly architectural review
- Security posture maintenance and audit support
- Documentation maintenance and runbook evolution
Out of scope
- Major feature development (use Dedicated Teams or Project-Based)
- Net-new architecture or platform builds (use Project-Based)
- Open-ended consulting outside the operating cadence
- Sub-monthly engagements or short-term operational coverage
- Platforms whose underlying architecture we haven't reviewed and accepted
Team
Who’s on the engagement.
Senior-only by policy. Each role below names the seniority floor; we don’t staff client work below it.
- 01G6 – G9
On-Call Senior Engineers
Senior engineers in the on-call rotation across our delivery centers (Dallas, Doha, Lahore) for follow-the-sun coverage. Drawn from the practice that owns the workload.
- 02G8 – G9
Service Lead
Single point-of-contact for operations health. Owns SLO performance, incident retrospective, change-management quality, and stakeholder reporting. Reports separately from on-call line.
- 03G9 – G10
Department Co-pilot
Department lead for the practice owning the service. Architecture review, hard-problem escalation, and quarterly architectural review. Included in retainer.
- 04G8
Optional AI Ops Specialist
On request: AI ops specialist for engagements with production AI workloads. Eval discipline, drift monitoring, retraining cadence, and quarterly model-upgrade evaluation.
Pricing
Line items in the SOW.
Brackets — not hidden quotes. We publish ranges so visitors self-qualify before the first call.
- 01
Foundational tier
Single-service operations: on-call, monitoring, incident response, monthly review. For mid-complexity workloads with predictable load patterns.
Range
$25K – $60K / month
- 02
Standard tier
Multi-service operations: on-call, monitoring, change management, backlog operations, quarterly architectural review. For active platforms with multiple workloads.
Range
$60K – $150K / month
- 03
Enterprise tier
Multi-team operations: on-call, SRE program ownership, AI ops, platform governance, monthly executive review, quarterly architectural review. For enterprise platforms.
Range
$150K – $500K / month
- 04
Dedicated AI Ops add-on
AI ops specialist for production AI workloads: eval datasets, drift monitoring, retraining cadence, quarterly model-upgrade evaluation. Layered on Standard or Enterprise tier.
Range
+$30K – $80K / month
- 05
On-demand engineering capacity
Project-style engagements within the existing relationship — major feature work, modernization waves, etc. Billed at agreed day rates outside the retainer.
Range
Day-rate billing
Governance
How we report, escalate, and change.
- SLA matrix
- Named SLAs per service tier (P0: 15min ack, P1: 1hr ack, P2: 1 business day, P3: 5 business days).
- On-call coverage
- 24×7 follow-the-sun rotation across Dallas, Doha, Lahore delivery centers.
- Change management
- Documented change review process with explicit approval tiers. Production changes audit-traceable end-to-end.
- Incident response
- Documented IR plan rehearsed quarterly. Customer-notification SLA per severity. Blameless post-mortems within 2 weeks.
- Reporting cadence
- Weekly status to engineering leadership. Monthly executive review. Quarterly architectural review.
- Termination
- 90-day notice in either direction. Hand-off plan documented and rehearsed before termination effective date.
Decision grid
Managed Services vs the alternatives.
Most buyers debate at least two of our engagement models. Here is how to choose, dimension by dimension.
| Dimension | Managed Services Monthly retainer | Dedicated Teams Time & materials | Project-Based Delivery Fixed-price · milestone-based |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Production support, SRE, AI ops, ongoing platform stewardship | Long-term capability gaps, scale-up phases, embedded squads | Bounded initiatives with fixed scope, MVPs, modernization phases |
| Pricing | Monthly retainer | Time & materials | Fixed-price · milestone-based |
| Cadence | Continuous | Quarterly | Per SOW |
| Min commitment | 12 months | 1 quarter | Per SOW |
| Production SLA | |||
| On-call coverage | |||
| Embedded in your team | Operates as part of | ||
| Department backing included |
Selected work
Managed Services engagements, in flight.
Common questions
Asked before the first call.
- 01
Do you only operate what you built?
No — we operate what you built too. The onboarding includes an architecture review and acceptance phase: we audit the platform, document the operational state, and accept it under our service contract. We tell you honestly when the architecture isn't operationally viable and recommend remediation before we sign the SLA.
- 02
What's the on-call coverage?
24×7 follow-the-sun across Dallas, Doha, Lahore. Engineers in the on-call rotation are senior (G6+), drawn from the practice that owns the workload. P0 acknowledgment within 15 minutes, P1 within 1 hour, P2 within 1 business day, P3 within 5 business days. SLA matrix documented per service in the contract.
- 03
Can you do AI ops specifically?
Yes — AI ops is a common engagement add-on. Eval dataset maintenance, drift monitoring, retraining cadence, quarterly model-upgrade evaluation, and the audit-trail tooling regulated AI workloads require. Often layered on Standard or Enterprise tier as a $30K–$80K monthly add-on.
- 04
What about feature development on a service we operate?
Backlog operations (bug fixes, minor enhancements, dependency upgrades) are in-scope under retainer. Major feature development happens through Project-Based engagements within the existing relationship — billed at agreed day rates outside the retainer. We design the boundary explicitly so neither side over-asks.
- 05
How do you handle compliance evidence?
Continuous evidence collection produces what audits expect (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) as a side-effect of operating the system. We support QSA-led assessments, payer security reviews, and regulator inquiries with the audit pack already current.
- 06
What's the termination process?
90-day notice in either direction. Hand-off plan documented and rehearsed before termination effective date: knowledge transfer, runbook handover, on-call transition, and a 30-day shadow period. We design termination to be clean — both sides walk away with what they need.
- 07
What does Managed Services cost?
Foundational tier: $25K–$60K/month. Standard tier: $60K–$150K/month. Enterprise tier: $150K–$500K/month. AI Ops add-on: +$30K–$80K/month. On-demand project work: day-rate billing outside retainer. 12-month minimum term. Brackets published honestly so visitors self-qualify before the first call.
Talk to us
Ready for a managed services engagement?
A senior engineer plus the relevant department lead joins the first call. Bring the problem; we’ll bring the SOW draft.