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Consulting

Architecture and platform decisions, with the trade-offs written down

For teams facing a decision that is hard to reverse: which platform, which architecture, build or buy. We look at what you already run, put the credible options side by side, and write down what each one costs you later.

What this covers

Architecture and platform decisions, with the trade-offs written down, end to end.

Architecture review

We map what you run now: the systems, the integrations, where the data actually lives, and which parts are holding everything else together. You get the diagram, the weak points ranked, and what breaks first if nothing changes.

Platform selection

Webflow or Shopify, headless or hosted, off-the-shelf or bespoke. We shortlist against your real constraints, including team size, budget and who maintains it after launch, and write down what you give up with each choice.

Build, buy or configure

Some problems are worth building for. Others are a product you configure in a fortnight. We cost both paths, including the maintenance the built one carries for years, and tell you which we would choose and why.

AI feasibility

Which of your workflows an agent or copilot could genuinely take on, which need a person on the decision, and which are not worth the effort yet. Each one comes with the data it would need and the guardrails it would require.

Data and integrations

Where your data sits, what it takes to get two systems talking honestly, and which integrations are stable enough to depend on. We flag the ones that will always need a person watching them.

Delivery plan and costing

A sequenced plan: the first thing to build, what depends on what, and a fixed scope and price for the phase that follows. Written so you can hand it to us, to your own developers, or to another firm.

How it runs

Plan. Build. Run.

01

A 30 minute call

You tell us the decision in front of you and what is already in place. We tell you whether this is a short piece of work or a longer one, what we would need access to, and what it would cost. No charge for the call.

02

We look at what you actually run

Read-only access to the systems in scope, plus short conversations with the people who use them every day. We are after how it works in practice, not how the documentation says it works.

03

The written recommendation

One recommended option and the alternatives we rejected, each with its cost, its risk and what it locks you into. Plain enough to forward to a board, detailed enough for your developers to argue with.

04

Build it, or take it elsewhere

If you want us to build, you get a fixed scope, timeline and price, and nothing gets rediscovered. If you would rather use your own team, the document is yours and it does not depend on us being involved.

Why infoloop

We do not hand over and leave.

  • We would be the ones building itAdvice is cheap when you never have to implement it. We quote a fixed scope and price against our own recommendation, which keeps us honest about how hard the work really is.
  • Fifty-plus products behind the adviceWe have shipped over 50 products across six countries: AI agents in production, ERPs, Shopify stores, attendance systems. The recommendations come from having built and maintained that kind of thing.
  • We live with the maintenance costWe run what we build on a monthly retainer, so every architecture decision comes back to us later. Clever design that nobody can support does not survive that test, and it does not make it into our documents.
  • The trade-offs are written downEvery option carries what it costs, what it rules out and what has to be true for it to work. You can disagree with our recommendation, because you can see exactly how we got there.
  • We will tell you not to buildSometimes the answer is configure an existing product, change a process, or do nothing this quarter. We would rather say that on the first call than sell you a build you did not need.

What you get

Every engagement includes these, in writing, before work starts.

  • A current-state diagram of the systems you run today
  • A written recommendation, plus the options we rejected and why
  • Cost, risk and lock-in noted against every option on the table
  • A sequenced delivery plan in the order things have to happen
  • A fixed scope, timeline and price for the first phase of build
  • A one-page summary you can forward to a board or a lender

Who this is for

Three situations where this is the right call.

You are about to commit to a platform

The quote is in front of you and it is a lot of money for something you cannot easily undo. You want someone with no stake in the winning vendor to read it properly and tell you what it looks like in year three.

Something you already run is straining

It worked at your old volume. Now there are workarounds, a spreadsheet holding a gap together, and one person who understands the integration. You need to know what to fix first, what to replace, and what to leave alone.

You have been told to do something with AI

There is pressure from the board or a competitor, a list of ideas, and no costing on any of them. You want an honest read on which workflows an agent could genuinely take on, what data each would need, and which are not worth it yet.

Questions

What buyers ask us first.

What does technology consulting actually cover?
It covers the decisions made before anyone writes code: which platform to build on, whether to build at all, how your systems should fit together, and where AI is worth applying. At infoloop that means we review what you already run, put the credible options side by side with cost, risk and lock-in against each, and write a recommendation you can act on. The output is a document and a delivery plan, not a workshop.
What does it cost, and how is an engagement priced?
We price consulting as a fixed piece of work rather than a day rate that runs on. The first 30 minute call is free. After it you get the scope, the timeline and the price in writing before you commit, and that number does not move unless you change what you asked for. What it costs depends on how many systems are in scope and how many people we need to speak to, which is why we quote after the call instead of publishing a figure that would be wrong for most people. If you go on to build with us, none of the work is repeated.
Will you just recommend building, since you also build?
Only when building is the right answer, and often it is not. An existing product configured properly, a process change, or fixing one integration will frequently get you further for less, and we say so in the document. The reason we can afford to is that we also run what we build on a monthly retainer, so a system nobody needed becomes our problem too. You are free to take the recommendation and have someone else deliver it, and it is written to be handed over.
How long does an engagement take?
It depends on how much is in scope, and we give you the timeline before you commit rather than after. A single decision, such as one platform choice or one build-or-buy question, is a short piece of work. A review of a whole estate with several connected systems and more than one team takes longer, mostly because it depends on getting time with the people who use those systems daily. We agree the dates on the first call and work to them, and if something slips we tell you while it is happening.
What happens after the recommendation, and do you build it?
You choose. If you want us to build, we give you a fixed scope, timeline and price for the first phase, and the consulting work carries straight into it so nothing is rediscovered. After launch we can run it: monitoring, fixes against agreed response targets, security updates, improvements and a monthly report. That is the part most people skip and then regret. If you would rather build in-house or with another firm, the document is written to be handed over, with the reasoning included so your developers can argue with it.
Do we have to give you access to our systems?
Read-only access to the systems in scope, yes. A recommendation based only on a description of how something works is really a recommendation about how it is supposed to work, which is rarely the same thing. We ask for the least access that answers the question, tell you exactly what we are looking at, and remove it when the engagement ends. If something cannot be opened up for legal or contractual reasons, we work from documentation and interviews, and say plainly in the report which conclusions are weaker as a result.

About to commit to a platform? Let us read it first.

Tell us the decision on a 30 minute call. We will say what we would need to look at, what the work would cost, and whether you need us at all.

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