We maintain the systems we deliver - a standing vendor retainer, not day rates
None of this is unusual. It is what happens once a platform is live and the people who built it have moved to the next thing.
A standing maintenance retainer on the systems we build: upgrades, monitoring, small enhancements and advisory - your platform vendor, without the payroll.
If we didn't build the system, we start with a short review to understand its architecture, dependencies and known issues before the retainer begins.
Monitoring and an incident-response path are in place from day one, so a problem is caught by an alert, not a customer.
Requests are triaged into the cycle's capacity, so the backlog moves every month instead of waiting on a big-project budget.
Upgrades, technical debt and roadmap risk are reviewed together each quarter, with the findings put in writing.
Access to the codebase, hosting and monitoring tools, and a single point of contact who can triage incoming requests into the cycle. Ongoing time from your team is minimal - the retainer exists so it doesn't have to be theirs.
A retainer doesn't end at a milestone the way a project does - "done" for each cycle is the agreed enhancements shipped, the health review delivered, and monitoring showing the platform is stable.
Monthly or quarterly retainer
Retainers usually begin on systems we have delivered - and every engagement starts with a Platform & Delivery-Risk Audit.