Productised retainer
Senior Azure architecture
judgment, on retainer.
The expert you'd hire full-time if you could afford one. Three tiers, A$8k to A$18k a month. No long contracts, no junior hand-offs. You get the engineer who has landed platforms for state health, federal government, and a global mining major.
Why this exists
You're making A$100k decisions with no one to sanity-check you.
Most mid-market Azure environments reach a point where the Head of Infrastructure is the most senior cloud person in the business - and every architecture decision, vendor pick, and security review rests on their judgment alone.
A full-time senior architect costs A$220k+ a year and isn't yet justifiable. The alternative is usually to call a consultancy, wait a week, scope a project, and pay twice as much for half the context.
The Fractional Cloud Governance Lead is the third option: a named senior engineer on retainer, available for the decisions as they come up, paid monthly at a rate that's a fraction of the hire and a fraction of the project.
What you get
Three things, every month, at every tier.
Real senior judgment
Not a delivery manager, not a junior analyst, not a rotating bench. Joshua personally delivers every engagement.
Decisions made faster
Every architecture decision runs past a senior peer before it's made. No scoping phase, no SOW per question.
A documented trail
Every month: decisions reviewed, recommendations given, risks flagged, action log for next month. Your next audit starts with evidence.
Short commitment
Three-month minimum, then month-to-month with 30 days notice. Meaningful enough to matter, short enough that you're never trapped.
Tiers
Pick the cadence that matches your load.
Advisor
A$8,000 / month
A senior sounding board. Your team owns delivery.
- 1 × 60-minute advisory call per month
- Async review of up to 2 ADRs per month
- Email access, 48-hour SLA
- 1 architecture review session per month
- Monthly written summary and action log
Partner · most chosen
A$12,000 / month
For teams making multiple architecture decisions a month.
- 2 × 60-minute advisory calls per month
- Unlimited ADR review, same-day turnaround
- Shared Slack or Teams channel
- Up to 2 architecture review sessions per month
- Quarterly 90-minute strategy session with the CTO
- Monthly written summary and action log
Embedded
A$18,000 / month
When the architecture load needs always-on senior judgment.
- 4 × 60-minute advisory calls per month
- Unlimited ADR review, same-day turnaround
- Shared Slack or Teams, business hours async
- Weekly architecture review session
- Quarterly 90-minute strategy session with CTO & exec team
- Attendance at up to 2 vendor meetings per month
- Co-ownership of the cloud architecture roadmap
All tiers
Terms
- 3-month minimum, then month-to-month
- 30-day exit on either side after the minimum
- 100% of fees go toward delivery
- Upgrades prorated, downgrades at next month boundary
- One senior engineer - Joshua - every time
Who this is for
The most senior cloud person in the business.
You are the CTO or Head of Infrastructure at a mid-market firm. You have a small engineering team, a growing Azure footprint, and an executive team that expects decisions to be defensible.
You're the most senior cloud person in the business, and every architecture judgment call currently rests on you alone. You don't need another engineer. You need a peer.
You're not a fit if you want someone to do the engineering work for you. This retainer is judgment and advisory, not delivery. For delivery, see the Secure Landing Zone offer.
Questions we get
Objections, answered.
How is this different from hiring a consultancy?
A consultancy sells projects. This retainer sells on-tap senior judgment. No scoping phase, no SOW per question, no clock starting and stopping.
What if we don't use all our hours one month?
You're not buying hours - you're buying the relationship and the judgment. Light months carry no rollover. Heavy months don't incur overage on Partner or Embedded.
Can we start on Advisor and move up?
Yes. Most Partner-tier clients start as Advisors and upgrade in month 2 or 3 once the cadence is obvious.
Who actually does the work?
Joshua, every time. No junior hand-offs, no offshore rotation, no "account manager will assign a specialist." You're hiring one person's judgment.
Can this replace a full-time hire?
For most mid-market firms, yes - for architecture advisory. When the delivery load justifies a full-time internal senior, we'll tell you and help you hire them.
What's the commitment?
Three months minimum, then month-to-month with 30 days notice. Enough to make the relationship meaningful, short enough that you're never trapped.
Retainer · from A$8k/month
Stop making architecture decisions alone.
Book a 30-minute fit call. We'll talk through your current workload, which tier fits, and whether this is the right call right now. If it isn't, you'll walk away with clearer thinking - either way.