Architecture first, code second. No months of analysis with nothing to show.
We work in short phases with well-defined outputs. Every phase adds tangible value — architecture proposal, working MVP, production release, runbook. We never bill inputs; we bill outputs.
48 hours from first call to an architecture proposal
Weekly demo — you always see what moved
Every sprint ends with something you can deploy
Five phases of every project
These are not sequential gates that close — they are points of view. Phases 1–2 run before a contract; phases 3–5 after signing. On bigger projects they overlap.
1. Discovery
We understand the problem before proposing a solution. We ask about business context and quietly verify technical state. Goal: we know what must be built and what is risky about the project.
30-min free call — quick fit check
Optional paid audit (1–3 days): repo, infrastructure, integrations
Written summary with identified risks
2. Architecture and plan
We design the solution on paper before touching the keyboard. Diagrams, technology choices, phasing, budget. You know WHAT we will build and WHY — without committing to us.
Architecture document (40% diagrams, 60% decisions)
ADRs (Architecture Decision Records) for key choices
Effort estimate by phase and critical assumptions
Team structure proposal (if needed)
3. Build
We build in weekly sprints. Every sprint has a demo — you see what moved. CI/CD runs from day one; every commit goes through builds and tests. If something fails, we know it before you do.
Weekly demo + changelog for stakeholders
Code with tests, code reviews, lint gates
Staging environment from week two
Incremental production deploys (no "big bang")
4. Handover
At handover we do not dump documentation and vanish. We walk your teams through how it works, write runbooks for common ops situations, accompany them through the first on-call. Goal: after 2 weeks without us, you can run and fix the system.
Runbooks for incidents, deploys, rollback, scaling
Architecture walkthrough with recording
Shadow on-call — we accompany you through the first incident
Code ownership matrix (who decides what)
5. Support
After handover we stay available — either a retainer for continued development, or on-call backup for critical incidents. Or nothing, if everything runs. We do not push monthly fees.
Optional retainer (monthly hour cap)
On-call backup for P1 incidents (SLA contract)
Or just email us when something comes up
What you concretely get
Every phase ends with a tangible output that is yours regardless of whether the engagement continues.
Architecture document
Diagrams, ADRs, decisions. Usable even by another team that would finish the project.
Production code with tests
Code that you own (your Git repo, your licence), with meaningful test coverage on critical paths.
CI/CD pipelines
Automated builds, tests, deploys. From day one, not "later."
Operations runbooks
How to deploy, how to roll back, how to debug common incidents. Written down, kept current.
Team onboarding
Your people understand the code and can build on it. Session recordings, pair programming where it helps.
Observability setup
Logs, metrics, tracing. If something fails in production, you know within 5 minutes — not from customer support.
How we communicate
Async where it is enough. Sync where it makes sense. We will not flood you with Slack.
Weekly demo
30 minutes every Friday. You see what was delivered, what moved, what is blocked. Recorded if you cannot attend.
Dedicated Slack/Teams channel
Shared space with your team. Quick questions, demo videos, PR preview links. Not standup floods.
Async decisions via ADRs
Big decisions (database choice, cloud provider, auth strategy) are documented in ADRs. You have them on paper, not in a forgotten Slack message.
PR reviews as dialogue
If you have an internal team, we review their code and they review ours. No handoff without ownership transfer.
Tooling we use
We do not build a custom toolchain on every project. Standards that your people know work just fine.
GitHub / Azure DevOps
Source control + PR workflow
Azure / Cloudflare
Hosting + edge services
Linear / Jira / GitHub Issues
Tickets, per your preference
Slack / Teams
Communication, per your preference
Mermaid / Excalidraw
Architecture diagrams
Datadog / App Insights / Grafana
Observability
Frequently asked
How much does discovery cost?
The first 30-min call is free. A paid audit (1–3 days, €600–1,800) is optional for deeper assessment of an existing system. Its cost is deducted if we continue the engagement.
Do you work fixed budget or T&M?
Most commonly time & materials with monthly invoicing. Fixed budget makes sense for clearly scoped work (audit, specific migration, integration). We always tell you up front what things roughly cost — no nasty surprises.
How fast can you start?
Usually within 1–2 weeks from the first call. Architecture proposal within 48 hours. Critical incidents (P1) we can tackle within 24 hours of contact.
What if something breaks after handover?
For 30 days after handover we fix bugs for free — if something we delivered fails. Beyond 30 days, either a retainer (monthly hour cap) or ad-hoc T&M.
Do you work alone, or do you have a team?
The project is always led by Tomáš Mikeš as senior architect. For the build phase we bring specialists (frontend, DevOps, data) based on what the project needs. You never get a team of juniors without senior oversight.
Let's talk for 30 minutes.
No sales pressure. No presentations. You describe the problem, you get direct technical feedback.
Directly with Tomáš Mikeš. Opens Microsoft Bookings in a new window.