Procedure
The Fixed-Spec Method: the scope is written before the price is given
An IT project rarely overruns because the developers are slow. It overruns because nobody wrote down what was included, what was not, and who arbitrates when the question comes up. The Fixed-Spec Method addresses that by invoicing it separately.
The principle
We refuse to give a firm price on a need described verbally. Instead we sell a short, paid framing phase, at the end of which you own a usable document — including if you decide to have the project delivered by someone else. That document contains the firm price for the full project.
Why we charge for it
Free framing is rushed framing. When pre-sales is free it is done fast, by a salesperson, and its purpose is to close rather than to be accurate. By charging for it, we put an architect on it for a full week and commit our price to what comes out.
How it runs
01
Qualification call
20 minutes, free
You describe the need. We answer one question: is this in our scope, yes or no. If the answer is no we say so during the call and, where we can, we point you elsewhere.
What you get · A yes or a no, and an order-of-magnitude range
02
Fixed-Spec framing
1 to 3 weeks, invoiced
Workshops with your business owners and technical team. We write the functional specification, the target architecture, the acceptance cases and — most importantly — the explicit list of what is excluded from scope.
What you get · Specification, architecture, acceptance cases, exclusion list, firm price
03
Decision
Your pace
You hold a document and a firm price. You can sign with us, put the document out to tender, or do nothing. The document is yours in all three cases, with no reuse clause in our favour.
What you get · A firm, enforceable quote with no hidden conditions
04
Delivery in batches
2-week sprints
Demo on a real environment at the end of every sprint. You do not read a progress report, you watch the software run. Any scope deviation goes through a priced change order signed before the work starts.
What you get · Increments delivered to staging, code in your repository
05
Joint acceptance
1 to 2 weeks
You test against the cases written during framing, not cases invented at the end. Each defect is classified blocking, major or minor against a grid defined at framing. That avoids the end-of-project argument about what counts as a bug.
What you get · Signed acceptance report, list of reservations
06
Go-live and warranty
90-day warranty
Assisted cutover with a written, tested rollback plan. Then 90 days during which any defect on the delivered scope is fixed at no charge. After that, a maintenance contract if you want one, or takeover by your teams.
What you get · Application in production, operations documentation, handover done
What we commit to
Firm price on frozen scope
The price that comes out of framing does not move. A scope change is handled by a priced change order signed before the work, never by a true-up at the end.
Full intellectual property
Code, documentation, intermediate deliverables: assignment is total and effective on payment of each milestone. We retain no reuse rights.
Two contacts, never one
On any assignment over three months, two people know your file. A departure, a holiday or an illness must never stop your project.
Replacement within 10 days
On embedded work, if a profile is not right you flag it and we replace them within ten business days. Days worked by a profile replaced for mismatch are not billed beyond the tenth day.
Compliance documents up front
DPA, standard contractual clauses and a pre-filled security questionnaire are handed over before the first technical meeting, without you having to ask.
Written reversibility
The contract sets out exit conditions from day one: notice period, contents of the handover pack, duration of assistance. You are never locked in.
Fixed price or embedded: how to choose
Both models are legitimate. The bad choice is taking an embedded team because the scope is fuzzy, then steering it like a fixed-price project.
Fixed price
Stable scope, budget to secure, obligation of result expected
Advantages
- Guaranteed budget
- Overrun risk carried by us
- Contractual acceptance
Constraints
- Requires a paid framing phase first
- A scope change costs a change order
Governed embedded team
Moving backlog, strong internal product steering, lasting capacity need
Advantages
- Priorities can change at any time
- Skills ramp-up on your domain
- Fast start
Constraints
- Overrun risk stays with you
- Requires an available product owner on your side
Twenty minutes is enough to know whether we are useful
No sales deck. You describe the need, we say whether it is in scope, at what price and on what timeline. If it is not for us, we say so during the call.