Someone built it, it half works, and nobody knows how
An inherited system that half works is a common and solvable situation. The first step is reading it and telling you the truth: what it actually does, what is worth keeping, what should be rebuilt, and what should be turned off. That assessment is part of a seat rather than a separate paid engagement, because the answer sometimes is that you need less than you thought.
The honest version of an audit
A lot of audits are a sales document with a diagnosis attached. The finding is always that you need a large rebuild, delivered by the firm that wrote the audit.
Sometimes a rebuild is genuinely the answer. Often it is not, and the real answer is that three things are broken, one thing is dangerous, and the rest is ugly but working. Ugly but working is allowed to stay.
Whoever built it was not stupid
Inherited systems usually look irrational until you know the constraint that produced them. Some of what looks like a mistake is a reasonable decision made under a deadline that no longer exists.
That matters practically, not just politely. If you rebuild without understanding why something was done, you tend to rediscover the original constraint the hard way.
What this looks like as a build
- A written read of what the current system does and where it is fragile
- A prioritized list of what to fix, what to rebuild, and what to switch off
- Rebuilds of the parts that need it, done in sequence with the system still running
- Documentation of what exists, which is often missing entirely
This is not a separate service with its own price
There is one thing to buy here: a build seat, from $7,500 per month. This page describes one of the things people point a seat at. You set the order, and the seat works one item at a time until each is done.
Questions about this kind of work
- Do you charge separately for an audit?
- No. Reading the system and scoping the work is part of a seat. You are not billed to find out what you have.
- What if the answer is that we should scrap it?
- Then I will say so, along with what it would take to replace it and what happens if you do nothing. I would rather lose the work than talk you into a rebuild you do not need.
Start with a call, not a contract
Thirty minutes. You describe what broke, what it is costing you, and what you have already tried. I tell you whether a seat is the right answer, and I will tell you when it is not.
Or reach me directly: +1 385-208-1781 scott@aetenum.com
If you are comparing quotes on price, I am not your cheapest option and I will not pretend otherwise.