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Custom development and Power Platform

Automation, integrations and line-of-business solutions on the Microsoft stack — including the recommendation not to build, when the honest answer is a list and a flow rather than an application.

BillingTime and materials
Delivered byOur US engineers
You ownSource and documentation
Invoiced inYour currency
01 — Overview

What this engagement is

Automation, integrations and line-of-business applications built on the Microsoft stack: Power Automate, Power Apps, SharePoint solutions and integrations against Microsoft Graph.

The honest framing first. This work is delivered by our engineers in the United States, with the entity in your country holding the contract. It is the same organisation, but a different team from the one that runs our European migrations, and you should know which people are doing which work.

The second honest thing: most requests that arrive as “we need something built” turn out to be configuration rather than code. A process someone wants automated is often a Power Automate flow and a list, not an application. We will tell you when that is the case, even though the smaller answer is worth less to us.

02 — Outcomes

What you get out of it

01The process automated, or a clear explanation of why it should not be
02Built on platform capability wherever possible, so the next person can maintain it without knowing your codebase
03Documented, with the reasoning, not just the code
04Ownership with you: source, accounts and access, so nothing depends on us continuing to exist
05A realistic view of what it will cost to run and maintain, not just to build
03 — Deliverables

What you receive

Requirements summary in plain language, agreed before anything is built.
Recommendation on approach: configuration, low-code, or actual development — with the reasoning, including when the answer is "do not build this".
The solution itself, with source and configuration handed to you.
Documentation a different engineer could maintain from.
Handover session with whoever will own it.
04 — Plan

How the work unfolds

Week 1

Requirements

What the process actually is, as opposed to what the request says. These differ more often than not.

Week 1

Approach recommendation

Configuration, low-code or development. Including the case for not building it, where that case exists.

Weeks 2–5

Build

Iterative, with something to look at early rather than a reveal at the end.

Per iteration

Review

You use it and say what is wrong while changing it is still cheap.

Final week

Handover

Source, documentation and a session with whoever owns it next.

Describe the process, not the solution

Tell us what the process is and what is wrong with it now. If the honest answer is a list and a flow rather than an application, that is what we will say.

Time and materials · estimated per iteration
05 — Before we start

What we need from you

A named person who owns the process and can decide what it should do
Access to the systems involved
Licensing for the platform capability used — Power Automate and Power Apps premium connectors are not included in every plan
A view of what happens to this after we hand it over, and who maintains it
06 — Working together

Who does what

IT Partner

  • Understand the process rather than transcribe the request
  • Recommend the approach honestly, including not building
  • Build iteratively with early visibility
  • Document for a maintainer, not for an archive
  • Hand over source, configuration and access

Your team

  • Name the process owner
  • Provide access to the systems involved
  • Review each iteration promptly — this is the main schedule risk
  • Decide who maintains it afterwards
  • Own the licensing for premium connectors if the design needs them
07 — Scope

What is not included

×Ongoing maintenance, unless separately agreed. What we build is yours to run.
×Applications unrelated to the Microsoft stack. We do not build for platforms we do not work in.
×Data migration into the solution, beyond what the build itself requires.
×Premium connector licensing. Flagged during design; bought under your agreement or quoted by us as your CSP.
08 — Fine print

Limitations and technical notes

!Delivered by our engineers in the United States. Same organisation, different team from the European migration practice. English, with time zones managed around your working day.
!Time and materials, not fixed price. Development scope moves as understanding improves, and a fixed price on a moving scope helps neither side. Estimates are given per iteration.
!Premium connectors cost extra. Power Automate and Power Apps split capability across licence tiers, and the design can push you into a higher one. We flag it before building, not after.
!Low-code is not no-maintenance. A flow that nobody owns breaks eventually and nobody notices until something downstream is wrong.
!We will argue against building things. If the answer is a list and a flow rather than an application, that is what we will recommend, and it is worth less to us.
09 — Questions

Asked on almost every first call

Who does the development?

Our engineers in the United States, with the entity in your country holding the contract and the relationship. Different team from the one running European migrations. We say so because you should know.

Is it fixed price?

No, this is the one service we bill time and materials. Development scope changes as understanding improves, and a fixed price on a moving target ends badly for whichever side guessed wrong. Estimates are given per iteration and you approve as you go.

Do we own what you build?

Yes — source, configuration and access. Nothing we build should depend on us continuing to be involved.

Will we need extra licences?

Possibly. Power Automate and Power Apps put some connectors behind premium licensing, and a design can push you into a higher tier. We flag that during design rather than after the build.

Will you tell us if we do not need this?

Yes, and we do it regularly. Most requests that arrive as "build us something" turn out to be configuration. Saying so costs us the larger project and keeps the relationship, which is the trade we prefer.

10 — Related

Worth reading next

Scoping costs nothing

Tell us the shape of it and we will tell you what it involves

Answer the form or write to us. You get back a written scope, a sequence and a fixed price — usually within one business day, and nobody rings you unless you ask.