September 1, 2026 · Operations
Change management plan template for IT operations
A risk matrix, rollback triggers, approvers, update messages, and a worked database migration example.
Use the planArticles and engineering guides.
Guides, templates, and examples from our work on software, infrastructure, and security.
Guides and templates
Maintaining and changing existing systems.
Budget estimates, transition checklists, and operating procedures for people responsible for existing applications.
August 31, 2026 · Operations
Disaster recovery runbook template and example
Template sections, a worked DB failover example, drills that keep it current, plus a Markdown download.
Build a DR runbook
August 30, 2026 · Operations
Major incident communication templates
SEV1 and SEV2 update templates for engineering teams, executives, and customers, with suggested update intervals.
Use the templates
August 29, 2026 · Security
How to scope a web application penetration test
How to specify scope, choose the right depth, and ask for report deliverables that engineering can act on.
Review the scope checklist
August 28, 2026 · Security & Compliance
PCI DSS for SaaS: payment flows, scope, and SAQs
Review payment flows, questionnaire eligibility, card-data handling, and the evidence an assessor will need.
Read the PCI scope guide
August 27, 2026 · Operations
Choosing reliability targets and using error budgets
Choose service indicators, calculate an error budget, and use burn-rate alerts to guide release decisions.
Read the SLO guide
August 26, 2026 · Operations
Incident response runbook template (with filled examples)
Incident roles, severity levels, update intervals, and two worked examples to adapt for your team.
Use the template
August 25, 2026 · Cloud
A monthly checklist for cloud costs
Monthly checks for instance sizes, retention rules, data transfer charges, and resource ownership.
Use the checklist
August 24, 2026 · Modernization
Modernizing a legacy application in stages
Contract tests, feature flags, canary releases, and rollback checks for changing an existing application.
Read the modernization guide
August 23, 2026 · Software continuity
Legacy application maintenance: models, SLAs, and costs
Compare maintenance models, SLA terms, pricing, and acceptance checks for the first 90 days.
Choose a maintenance model
July 28, 2026 · Software continuity
How to budget for application maintenance
Estimate hosting, monitoring, support, engineering, recovery, and modernization costs from the work required.
Read the budgeting guide
July 28, 2026 · Software continuity
A checklist for transferring an application to a new team
The access, architecture, production, vendor, knowledge, and acceptance checklist for a developer or agency handoff.
Use the transition checklist
July 28, 2026 · Modernization
Replatforming or refactoring: how to choose
A plain-English comparison using business goals, operating risk, application structure, cutover, and rollback.
Compare the modernization paths
July 28, 2026 · Software continuity
Assessing and recovering a stalled software project
What to preserve, inspect, stabilize, and decide during the first ten working days of a stalled or abandoned application.
Read the rescue sequence
From our projects
Operating software and infrastructure.
August 13, 2026 · Software
People-Centric AI Integration
How to integrate AI so it augments your team, builds capacity, and grows the business toward more hiring.
Read the AI integration guide
June 18, 2026 · Cloud
Reviewing an AWS bill for unnecessary costs
Where we check for unnecessary compute, storage, data transfer, and unused environment costs.
Read the cloud cost guide
May 29, 2026 · Software
Preparing an AI-built application for production
The credentials, data models, permissions, payments, and monitoring we review before launch.
Read the AI production guide
May 7, 2026 · Security
What a Level 1 PCI DSS assessment involves
Our experience with PCI DSS scoping, evidence preparation, remediation, QSA coordination, and annual re-attestation.
Read the assessment guide
April 16, 2026 · Operations
The cost of managing multiple IT vendors
How vendor handoffs, missing access records, and unclear responsibilities add to IT costs.
Read the vendor cost analysis
March 25, 2026 · Private AI
Running AI in a private environment
Where private AI runs, when it fits, and what deployment and ongoing support require.
Read the private AI guide
March 4, 2026 · Modernization
How to replace an old system without downtime
Document existing behavior, build alongside the old system, and test staged cutovers and rollback.
Read the modernization case study