Working models
From inception to support
Four ways to work with us, covering the full lifecycle. Every one has a dedicated project manager and a team lead with years of industry experience.
Model 01
Project Delivery
Fixed scope, end to end, delivered and handed over.
- You have a defined problem and want a finished system rather than capacity
- You do not have an engineering team, or yours is fully committed
- You want a known scope and a written specification before work starts
Discovery, then a written specification with fixed scope, then the build. We run the whole lifecycle: design, engineering, integrations, quality assurance and deployment. You test against the specification before anything ships, and delivery includes the source code, the intellectual property, the documentation and the deployment guide.
| Project manager | Dedicated, owns scope, cadence and delivery |
|---|---|
| Team lead | Years of industry experience, accountable for technical decisions |
| Engineers | Onshore and offshore, sized to the agreed scope |
| Quality assurance | Tests against the specification, not against the code |
The project manager agrees the review cadence, written updates and communication channels during discovery.
Model 02
Embedded Team
Engineers working inside your process, not beside it.
- You have an engineering function and a process that works
- You need specific capability rather than a separate project
- Institutional knowledge should stay with your team
Our engineers join your tooling, your standups, your board and your review process. They pick up work from your backlog under your technical direction, with a Sawhorse team lead responsible for quality and for the people. There is no parallel project and no separate status reporting, because the point is that the work is indistinguishable from your own.
| Engineers | Inside your process, working from your backlog |
|---|---|
| Team lead | Accountable for quality and for the people, not for your roadmap |
| Project manager | Handles the commercial relationship so your managers do not have to |
| Quality assurance | Included where your process does not already cover it |
The engineers work within your agreed communication cadence. The project manager coordinates reviews with your team.
Model 03
Extended Team
Onshore and offshore capacity added to a team you already have.
- A deadline needs more hands than you can hire in time
- A workstream can run in parallel with a clear boundary
- You want coverage across more hours than one location provides
We add a group with its own boundary of responsibility: a service, a module, a platform, a migration. They coordinate with your team at defined interfaces rather than competing for the same files. Onshore and offshore capacity are both available, and the mix is agreed with you rather than assumed.
| Team lead | Owns the boundary of responsibility and the interfaces to your team |
|---|---|
| Engineers | Onshore, offshore or both, at the mix you agree |
| Project manager | Coordinates across the boundary and holds the cadence |
| Quality assurance | Covers the workstream before it reaches your integration branch |
Handover notes, technical discussions and scope reviews follow the cadence agreed with your existing team.
Model 04
Support Plans
After delivery, through a ticketing process.
- A delivered system needs ongoing attention
- You want a route to the people who built it
- You prefer a defined process to an informal arrangement
Support plans are available after delivery and are handled through a ticketing process. The specifics of a plan are tailored on a discovery or technical call, because what a system needs depends on what it does and who operates it. Taking a plan is never a condition of delivery: you own the code and the documentation either way.
| Ticketing process | A defined route rather than an informal channel |
|---|---|
| Project manager | Dedicated coordination for the agreed support process |
| Engineers | People familiar with the system that was delivered |
| Team lead | Accountable for technical decisions on changes |
| Quality assurance | Verification appropriate to the agreed support work |
| Support languages | English, French, Spanish and Filipino |
Agreed on the discovery or technical call, alongside the rest of the plan.
Comparison
Choosing between them
Most engagements start in one model and move. A project delivery that goes well often becomes an extended team, and an embedded team often produces a project.
| Project Delivery | You want a finished system. Scope is fixed, we run the lifecycle, you own the result. |
|---|---|
| Embedded Team | You have a process that works and need capability inside it. |
| Extended Team | You have a team and need more capacity with a clear boundary. |
| Support Plans | A delivered system needs ongoing attention through a defined process. |
Let’s talk about the system you need.
Tell us where the current process breaks down. We can map the workflow, examine the integration requirements and define a practical scope for the build.
- A mutual NDA is signed before project details are shared.
- Scope is fixed in writing before any build starts.
- You own the source code, the IP and the documentation at delivery.
- Support plans are available and tailored on a discovery or technical call.