Senior infrastructure judgement, retained monthly
Ongoing independent advice for business clients that need senior technical challenge, supplier assurance, infrastructure planning, and risk guidance without hiring a full-time infrastructure lead.
Monthly advisory support
£2,750 per month (exclusive of VAT)
Monthly retainer, paid in advance. Exact cadence, assumptions, deliverables, and boundaries are confirmed in a Statement of Work.
Best used when
Technical decisions keep returning, suppliers need challenge, leadership needs a clearer view, and internal teams need senior infrastructure judgement available before mistakes become expensive.
The retainer gives clients structured access to senior infrastructure judgement. It is deliberately separate from emergency support, project management, and hands-on implementation unless those services are separately scoped.
What the retainer is for
The advisory retainer is for organisations that need an experienced, independent infrastructure view on a recurring basis. It helps clients make better decisions around risk, resilience, suppliers, architecture, and technical change.
Leadership decision support
A senior technical view before approving spend, accepting risk, signing supplier proposals, or committing to infrastructure change.
Supplier and MSP challenge
Independent review of supplier recommendations so clients are not relying only on the party selling or delivering the solution.
Infrastructure planning
Practical guidance around resilience, supportability, modernisation, technical debt, and infrastructure direction.
What is included
The precise arrangement is defined in the Statement of Work, but the advisory retainer is built around structured, non-emergency senior guidance.
Scheduled advisory calls
Regular calls to discuss infrastructure risks, planned decisions, supplier proposals, and current priorities.
Email or Teams guidance
Reasonable non-urgent guidance where a short senior technical view is useful between scheduled calls.
Decision review
Review of infrastructure decisions, change approaches, supplier assumptions, and technical direction.
Quarterly risk review
Periodic review of infrastructure risk, resilience concerns, planning priorities, and next-step recommendations.
Typical advisory topics
- Network resilience and operational risk.
- Supplier, MSP, carrier, and vendor proposals.
- Infrastructure modernisation planning.
- Firewall, VPN, connectivity, datacentre, and core infrastructure decisions.
- Change risk, migration planning, and technical assurance.
- Technical designs, assumptions, dependencies, and weak points.
What is excluded
Unless specifically agreed in a Statement of Work, the retainer does not include:
- Emergency support or out-of-hours response.
- Hands-on implementation or change execution.
- Formal project management or supplier chasing.
- Detailed documentation production beyond reasonable advisory notes.
- On-site attendance.
- Helpdesk, service desk, or managed support responsibilities.
How the engagement works
The retainer is designed to stay controlled, useful, and commercially clear.
Conversation
We discuss the current infrastructure concerns, supplier context, risks, and decision points.
Scope
The Statement of Work defines cadence, assumptions, boundaries, responsibilities, and commercial terms.
Advice
Keystone provides the agreed advisory calls, non-urgent guidance, and senior review activity.
Review
Quarterly risk and planning reviews keep the engagement focused on the decisions that matter.
Unused advisory access does not roll over from month to month unless agreed in writing.
Commercial terms
- Fee: £2,750 per month.
- Payment: monthly in advance.
- Scope: always defined in a Statement of Work.
- Initial term: normally 3 months unless agreed otherwise.
- Notice: after the initial term, 30 days’ written notice.
- VAT: fees are exclusive of VAT where VAT is applicable.
Who it suits
- SMBs with limited senior infrastructure capability in-house.
- Leadership teams relying heavily on MSPs or suppliers.
- Internal IT teams that need senior support without permanent headcount.
- Manufacturing, logistics, engineering, legal, and professional services firms.
- Organisations preparing infrastructure change, supplier review, or modernisation work.
Need senior infrastructure judgement each month?
Start with a focused conversation about your current risks, supplier decisions, infrastructure direction, and whether the advisory retainer is the right fit.
Contact Keystone