Engagement 03
Operator Retainer
Software that does not evolve becomes shelfware. The Operator Retainer keeps your system moving with the business on a fixed monthly cadence — a roadmap update, one feature shipped, ongoing observability, and a direct line to the architect who built it.
Engagement specs
| Length | Monthly, 6-month minimum |
|---|---|
| Fee format | $5K–$12K / month |
| Team size | Principal architect |
| Deliverable | Monthly Operator Review + one feature ship |
| IP ownership | You own everything shipped |
Capabilities
- Monthly Operator Review: executive alignment and roadmap status.
- One significant feature shipped to production every month.
- Ongoing observability, uptime monitoring, and maintenance.
- A direct line to the architect — not a ticket queue.
Engagement · OP-007: 6 consecutive monthly ships, 99.97% rolling uptime, zero unplanned downtime.
Questions
About this engagement
Because one month of cadence is theater. Real momentum — adoption, shipped features, measurable change — takes a couple of quarters to compound.
System complexity and ship velocity. A single-vertical OS with a steady roadmap sits near the low end; a multi-team system with aggressive cadence sits higher.
After the six-month minimum, the retainer is month-to-month with 30 days’ notice. You own everything shipped, so leaving is clean.
Yes. Everything shipped during the retainer lands in your repository and your accounts, same as the original install.
