Senior technical help for growing businesses
If your business runs on spreadsheets, manual steps, and systems that do not talk to each other, I help you fix that. I automate the repetitive work, tidy up your cloud costs, and build the tools your team actually needs, without a long hiring process.
- →The manual work: spreadsheets, repeated steps and tools that don't talk to each other
- →Your cloud and hosting: reliability, security basics and the monthly bill
- →How your software gets tested and released, if you build your own
- →What can be automated, and how much time it would save
- →Where AI can realistically help (and where it can't)
- →A written report with a prioritized plan, cost and time estimates, and a walkthrough call
Who this is for
Small businesses
You run a business, not a tech team. I help you automate the manual work, like invoicing, scheduling, tracking and follow-ups, and set up simple systems that save time every week.
Startups past product-market fit
Your deploys, environments and cloud bill weren't built for the next stage.
Mid-size companies
Your engineering team needs senior DevOps or AI expertise without adding a full-time hire.
CTOs and engineering leads
You want an independent second opinion before a major infrastructure or AI investment.
How I can help
The Tech Review
I look at how your business runs today, from the spreadsheets and tools your team uses to your software and cloud accounts, and give you a clear plan of what to fix first.
- →The manual work: spreadsheets, repeated steps and tools that don't talk to each other
- →Your cloud and hosting: reliability, security basics and the monthly bill
- →How your software gets tested and released, if you build your own
- →What can be automated, and how much time it would save
- →Where AI can realistically help (and where it can't)
- →A written report with a prioritized plan, cost and time estimates, and a walkthrough call
Fractional Senior Engineer / CTO Advisory
Senior technical judgment a few hours a week, on a monthly retainer.
- →Architecture and infrastructure decisions
- →Hiring help, vendor and tool selection
- →Hands-on reviews of designs, pull requests and incidents
- →A sounding board for your engineering leadership
Fixed-Scope Builds
One clearly defined outcome, delivered end to end at an agreed scope and price.
- →Automating manual work: invoicing, scheduling, reports and follow-ups
- →Automatic testing and releases for your software, so shipping a new version is one click
- →Cloud setups that are automated and documented, not built by hand
- →Moving to the cloud, or cleaning up the setup you have
- →AI integrations: assistants, document processing, internal tools on your own data
- →One-off websites and small business sites
How it works
- Step 1
Free 30-minute call
We talk through where things stand and what's slowing you down. You leave with a clear next step, whether or not we work together.
- Step 2
A fixed plan and price
For the review or a build, you get a written scope and fixed price before any work starts.
- Step 3
Delivery and handover
I do the work, document it, and walk your team through it so you aren't dependent on me afterwards.
Common questions
- What do I get at the end of the review?
- A written report that lists what to fix first: the manual work worth automating, your cloud setup and costs, how your software gets released, and where AI could help. Each item comes with a cost and time estimate, and we go through it together on a call. You're free to do the work yourselves, with me, or with someone else.
- How long does the review take?
- Usually between a few days and two weeks, depending on your size. A small business with a handful of tools takes a few days; a company with several teams and its own software takes closer to two weeks. You get the timeline along with the fixed price, before any work starts.
- You're one person. Is that a risk?
- You get senior expertise directly, with no layers in between. Everything I build is documented and handed over, so your team can own and run it after the engagement ends.
- What cloud platforms and tools do you work with?
- Mostly AWS and Azure, with Azure DevOps for CI/CD, Terraform and Ansible for infrastructure-as-code and configuration, Docker, Kubernetes and OpenShift for containers, HashiCorp Vault for secrets, and Azure OpenAI, RAG and LangChain for AI work. If your stack is different, ask on the intro call.
- Do you work with teams outside Ottawa?
- Yes. I'm based in Ottawa and work remotely with clients across Canada and the US, in North American time zones (I'm on Eastern Time).
Find out what to fix first
Start with a fixed-price review, or book a free 30-minute call to talk it through.
Ottawa, Canada · Working with clients remotely · info@xil3.com