Partners
The platforms we build on, and why
We work on a short list of platforms we know deeply, and recommend them only when they fit the problem in front of us.
We take no referral fees, resale margins or sales targets from any technology vendor. The advice you get from us is the advice we would give ourselves, and sometimes it is to keep what you already have.
The platforms below are the ones our teams build on most often. We chose them because they are well documented, widely understood and can be run by your own people after we leave.
The list changes slowly, and only when our own work shows that something has earned a place, or lost one.
Cloud and infrastructure
Where your systems run
- Amazon Web ServicesCloud infrastructure
- Microsoft AzureCloud infrastructure
- Google CloudCloud infrastructure
- KubernetesContainer orchestration
- TerraformInfrastructure as code
- OpenTelemetryObservability
- GrafanaMonitoring
- LinuxOperating system
Data and enterprise platforms
What your business runs on
- PostgreSQLDatabases
- Apache KafkaEvent streaming
- SnowflakeData warehousing
- DatabricksData and AI
- dbtData transformation
- SAPEnterprise resource planning
- SalesforceCustomer relationships
- ServiceNowService management
Our criteria
How we choose what to build on
Your people can run it
If your team cannot hire for it, learn it and operate it without us, we do not recommend it.
It is costed for year three
We price the licenses, hosting and people a platform needs once the launch discounts have ended.
There is a way out
Open formats, exportable data and standard interfaces, so a later change of mind is a project, not a crisis.
It has earned it in our work
A platform joins the list after it has run well for our clients in production, not after a sales briefing.
Independence
Independent by design
Because we are owned by the people who work here, there is no parent company with a product to place and no investor expecting a share of license revenue.
When a client asks us to compare platforms, we write down the criteria first, share them, and score each option against them in the open. Clients have chosen against our recommendation, and we have built on their choice just as carefully.
Strategy and AdvisoryFAQ
Questions about our partners
Do you resell licenses?
No. You buy licenses and cloud capacity directly from the vendor, in your name. We help you negotiate, but we do not take a margin.
Do you hold partner tiers or badges with these vendors?
We do not list them here, because a badge says little about the team you will get. Ask us for the specific experience of the people proposed for your work, and we will put you in touch with clients who can speak to it.
Will you work with a platform that is not on this list?
Often. Many clients come to us with systems already in place, and our job is to make them work well. We will tell you honestly if we think another team would serve you better.
How do you decide when a platform leaves the list?
When it stops meeting the four criteria above for our clients: usually because its costs rose faster than its value, or because it became harder to leave.
Choosing a platform?
Tell us what you need it to do. We will give you an independent view, with the costs written down.