Scoped work with a defined end
Every engagement follows the same shape. You should know what the deliverable is before the work starts, and you should be able to operate the result afterwards.
- 01
Scope
A working session to establish what you run, what is changing, and what the engagement has to produce. Output is a written scope with a fixed price and a defined end date.
- 02
Assess
Hands-on review using read-level access agreed in advance. Configuration is examined directly rather than inferred from documentation, because the two rarely match.
- 03
Plan
Findings are written up as a risk register — severity, effort and dependency against each item — followed by a remediation sequence that can be executed by whoever runs the environment.
- 04
Execute
Optional and scoped separately. Changes are made against the agreed plan, with rollback considered before each one and documentation produced as the work proceeds.
- 05
Hand over
Runbooks, diagrams and decision records go to your team. The measure of a finished engagement is that it does not require the consultant to stay.
Setting expectations honestly
- Not a managed service — there is no helpdesk and no 24/7 rota
- Not a reseller — licences and hardware are bought through your own channel
- Not a penetration test — this is configuration and control review, which answers a different question
- Not open-ended — work that is not in the agreed scope is quoted separately, not absorbed quietly
Not sure where your risk actually sits?
Start with a scoped assessment of your Microsoft 365 and Azure environment.