VD HOSTS
Discuss your project

Our method

How we work

The same clear steps on every engagement, so you always know what happens next, what it costs and who is responsible.

The commercial path

Six steps, from first call to support

Nothing is built or charged before it is agreed in writing.

  1. 01

    Discover

    A discovery call and a written summary of your goals, constraints and risks. No charge, no obligation.

  2. 02

    Propose

    A fixed, written proposal: scope, deliverables, timeline, team and price. Ask questions and negotiate before deciding.

  3. 03

    Agree

    A signed agreement and the advance payment set out in the proposal. Work begins once both are complete.

  4. 04

    Onboard

    Access, accounts, contacts and a kick-off. You get one named point of contact for the whole engagement.

  5. 05

    Deliver

    Milestones, each with a demonstration, a written update and your sign-off. Changes go through a written change request with any cost agreed first.

  6. 06

    Hand over and support

    Documentation, credentials and source code handed over on final payment, then support under the agreed plan.

The delivery cycle

Working software early, not in month six.

  1. 01Discovery and fitWe listen first: your product, users, stack, team and constraints. You get a shared view of goals, risks and how success will be measured.
  2. 02Solution design and planningArchitecture, scope and roadmap agreed together, with a realistic first release, the tools we will use and how often we report.
  3. 03Build and iterateShort, visible cycles with regular demos. Trade-offs stay explicit, and working software reaches you early, not in month six.
  4. 04Launch and transitionRelease planning, rollout and monitoring, with documentation, runbooks and knowledge transfer so launch day has fewer surprises.
  5. 05Evolve and growWe study usage, feedback and performance, then decide together what to improve, extend or hand over to your own team.
Short, visible cycles

Engagement models

Choose how we work together

  • Project delivery

    For a clear scope, timeline and budget: a website, a first SaaS release, a migration or an audit. Milestones and assumptions are agreed up front, with fixed or milestone pricing where it fits.

  • Dedicated squads

    A cross-functional team (engineers, QA, DevOps, a lead) that works as an extension of yours, owns a product area and shares your goals, on a predictable monthly model.

  • Advisory and rescue

    Architecture, product and security advice, code and infrastructure audits, and roadmap resets for products that have stalled.

Management and communication

You always know where things stand.

We work in your tools and your repositories, and adapt to your rhythm instead of asking you to adopt ours.

  • A named engagement lead who understands both the technology and the business, and flags risks early
  • One point of contact, with regular roadmap and delivery reviews
  • Stand-ups, planning and retrospectives matched to your existing rhythm
  • Weekly or fortnightly check-ins for leadership, plus written updates so nobody chases status
  • Simple, written change management when scope moves
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Jira
  • Linear
  • ClickUp
  • Trello
  • Asana
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket

Quality

Practices built in from the first sprint

  • 01

    Engineering

    Code review on every change, agreed coding and branching standards, and automated checks (linting and tests) in CI.

  • 02

    Testing

    Unit, integration and manual QA, test environments that mirror production, and regression checks before key releases.

  • 03

    Security and operations

    Secure-by-default practices, least-privilege access, secrets management, hardening, and monitoring with clear incident ownership.

Principles

What we hold ourselves to

  • Written before it is built

    Scope, price and timeline are agreed in writing. Nothing is charged that was not agreed.

  • You own what you pay for

    On full payment you receive the source code, designs and documentation for work made for you, as set out in our Intellectual Property Policy.

  • Security by default

    Access is least-privilege, credentials are never shared over chat, and security checks are part of delivery.

  • Honest reporting

    Progress updates say what is done, what is late and why. We do not publish claims we cannot back with evidence.

Ready to start? Talk to us directly.

Tell us what you need in a few lines. A specialist replies with next steps and a written proposal before any work begins.

Frequently asked questions

Can't find your answer? Ask us

How long does a proposal take?
After the discovery call we usually send a written proposal within a few working days. Larger or regulated projects can take longer if we need to review existing systems first.
Do you work on fixed price or time and materials?
Both. Well-defined projects are fixed price. Ongoing work such as support, managed IT or dedicated squads runs on a monthly retainer. The proposal states which applies.
Can work start before the agreement is signed?
No. Every engagement starts with a signed agreement and the advance payment set out in the proposal. This protects both sides.
What happens if the scope changes?
We raise a written change request describing the change, its effect on timeline and any cost. Nothing changes until you approve it.
Which tools do you use?
Yours, where possible: Slack or Teams, Jira, Linear, ClickUp, Trello or Asana, and GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket. Code lives in your repositories.

Tell us what you need.

Share a few details. A specialist replies with next steps, usually starting with a short call.

VD Hosts