How we operate

Every engagement begins with a structured discovery conversation led by a principal engineer. We map the problem, constraints, existing systems, and the outcome you are accountable for.

You receive a written statement of work before any code is committed. It defines deliverables, milestones, assumptions, dependencies, and a fixed or capped price. Work begins once it is confirmed in writing — a short email approval is enough. There is no formal contract or legal team required; the written record simply protects both sides and keeps everyone aligned on scope and price.

We do not operate a sales layer or hand work to junior teams after scope is agreed. The people in your first conversation are the people writing your code, reviewing pull requests, and standing up your infrastructure.

• A single principal engineer is accountable for your engagement end to end.
• All code is peer-reviewed before it reaches a protected branch.
• Weekly written progress notes, with milestone demonstrations against the signed scope.

Each client runs in an isolated environment with its own repositories, secrets, and access controls. Changes flow through version control with reviewed pull requests, automated checks, and a staging environment that mirrors production before anything ships.

We bill against milestones, not open-ended hourly meters. The project is split into clearly priced stages, and you pay as each stage is delivered — so the cost is predictable from the start and you always know exactly what the next payment unlocks.

If you want something beyond the agreed scope, we send a short written change order setting out the extra work and its price for you to approve before we begin. That keeps you in control of the budget and means no surprise invoices.

You own everything we build. On completion you receive the full source repository, infrastructure-as-code, environment configuration, and a written handoff document covering architecture, runbooks, and how to operate the system. Optional care plans are available if you want us to continue maintaining it.

• Source code and commit history transferred to your organisation.
• Deployment, environment, and runbook documentation.
• A clean exit — no proprietary lock-in to Altnera tooling.

We work under a mutual non-disclosure agreement as standard and apply least-privilege access throughout. Details of how we store, transmit, and retire client data are set out in our Confidentiality & Data Protection document.