Advisory Retainer for Platform & SRE Teams
Some of the most expensive infrastructure decisions are not the big set-piece reviews — they are the steady stream of medium-sized calls that happen every week: whether to split this state file, how to draw a support boundary, whether an AI-agent integration is safe to ship, how to sequence a migration. A retainer gives your team a senior outside voice for exactly those decisions, without the cost and overhead of hiring a full-time staff or principal engineer to get it.
The retainer is built around ongoing access — async between sessions for the fast-moving questions, plus scheduled working sessions for the decisions that deserve real time. It is intentionally not staff augmentation: the point is to help your team reason better and own their own decisions, not to become a permanent dependency. It usually follows a strategy or risk review once there is trust and a shared picture, but it is available from day one when the problem is already clear.
What’s included
- Ongoing async access for architecture, platform, reliability, and AI-risk questions
- Scheduled working sessions for the decisions that deserve real time
- Outside review of design docs, RFCs, and proposals before they ship
- A consistent senior voice in the rooms where hard-to-unwind decisions get made
- Continuity across migrations, redesigns, and scaling phases
- Honest, vendor-neutral guidance with no incentive to expand scope
Who it’s for
Engineering leaders and platform/SRE teams that want recurring senior judgment on architecture, reliability, and AI-era operational risk without hiring a full-time staff/principal engineer. Fits teams in a sustained migration, scaling, or platform-build phase.
Start with Advisory Retainer.
Most engagements start with a quick intake call to confirm fit, scope, and timing — no long sales cycle. Tell us about your team, your systems, and the decisions you’re weighing.
Discuss a Retainer → ← All advisory servicesWant a feel for how Brian thinks first? Browse the SRE episodes on Ship It Weekly.