How we work
Discovery first.
Working software
every cycle.
The process is short to describe because most of it is discipline rather than ceremony. The same four steps run whether we are building a system, placing engineers, or running your tech function.
The four steps
First call to third year.
Each marker swings a quarter turn: the card goes round once per engagement.
01 · First call
Half an hour. You describe the situation; we ask what the system has to do, what it talks to, and who will live with it. We say plainly whether it is our kind of work.
02 · Discovery
A short, paid piece of work with the people who do the job. It ends in a written scope, a first design, and an estimate we will stand behind. You can take it elsewhere if you like.
03 · Build in cycles
Two-week cycles, each ending in working software you can use, not a demo. Priorities are reset at the end of every cycle, with you, from what we both learned.
04 · Launch and run
We deploy it, monitor it and keep it current. The team that built it stays on for changes, support and the next version. That is the part most agencies skip.
What stays constant
Six rules we do not negotiate.
- Repositories, cloud accounts and domains are in your name from day one
- One point of contact who is also an engineer on the work
- A written weekly note: what shipped, what is next, what we need from you
- Estimates given after discovery, not guessed before it
- No adjectives in status reports. Green means green.
- The same review, test bar and deploy path as our own products
How we charge
No rate card. A written price, every time.
Norwind does not publish rate cards. Every price is written before work starts, after a short discovery, and is specific to the engagement.
- Custom softwareFixed-fee discovery, then per-cycle
- Discovery is a fixed fee and ends in a written scope, a first design and an estimate. Builds are billed per two-week cycle, so a client can stop at the end of any cycle and keep everything produced so far.
- Staff augmentationMonthly, per engineer
- One monthly invoice per engineer covering the engineer's time, contracts, payroll and in-country compliance. A replacement is provided at no extra cost if a placement is not working.
- Tech departmentMonthly retainer, sized to the plan
- A monthly fee covering the technical lead and the team the agreed twelve-month roadmap needs, reviewed against a budget every month. Team size and fee change only when the plan does.
- Code, repositories, cloud accounts and domains in the client's name from day one
- A written weekly note on client builds and a monthly review on retainers
- No lock-in: documentation and handover are part of every engagement
Questions
What people ask on the first call.
How do you charge?
Discovery is a fixed fee. Builds are estimated after discovery and billed per cycle, so you can stop at the end of any one. Staff augmentation and the tech department are monthly. Every price is written before the work starts.
What time zone are you in?
Norwind is in Florida, on US Eastern time. Our engineers across Latin America work the same hours, so stand-ups are stand-ups, not recordings.
What if we already have a team?
Then we join it. Your conventions, your review process, your tools. We only bring ours where you have none.
What happens if we stop?
You keep everything: the code, the accounts, the documentation and a handover written for whoever comes next. We do not hold anything hostage.
Tell us what you
are building.
Or what is in the way. We will tell you plainly what it needs, whether that is us or not.
Replies come from a person, within two working days.