Small software companies run real production on Linux, and the knowledge of it usually sits with one developer who would rather be shipping. I become the person who owns it, as part of your team, on a monthly retainer.
Or is about to. I take over the servers, write down what only they knew, and keep it running while you decide whether to hire.
Your sysadmin just left →Bigger customers ask about patching, backups, access and logging. I answer the infrastructure questions with evidence from servers that really are looked after.
GUARD review →The infrastructure controls an auditor asks to see: patch records, restore tests, access reviews, kept current month by month rather than rushed in the week before.
ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials →Old Ubuntu, PHP or database releases that nobody has had time to move on. A tested upgrade path, done in a window.
Upgrades and migrations →A full-time hire makes sense once infrastructure is a full-time job. Until then, most small teams are paying for capacity they don't use, or hoping a developer covers it.
| DevOps hire | A developer covers it | Fractional lead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Salary, on-costs, recruiter | Lost product time | From £1,000 a month |
| Starts | Months away | Already stretched | Within a week |
| Experience | Whoever you can hire | Learning on production | 19 years |
| If they leave | Back to square one | Back to square one | Runbooks stay with you |
A UK B2B software company with two products, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials, and customers who send long security questionnaires. Its sysadmin left.
Took over the servers, documented them, and became its part-time infrastructure lead: patching, monitoring, architecture advice, certification evidence and incident cover.
Four years later the arrangement is still running, and a major platform upgrade is being planned the same way.
"One of those rare suppliers who feels more like a trusted member of the team than someone on the other end of a ticket system."
Angus B. · Founder, UK SaaS company"A reliable technical partner for ISARR over the last eight years. He supports both infrastructure and wider technical decision-making when we need senior input."
Nick Beale · ISARR"A trusted partner responsible for everything from AWS infrastructure, networking and security to operational support, monitoring and MySQL performance."
Jake Rudkin-Wilson · Head of Product Development, CameoYou get a written quote after a short call.
A 15-minute call: what you run, what's worrying you, and whether a fractional lead fits. If it doesn't, I'll say so.