Context-led
Interviews, the documentation you supply, demonstrations, and limited non-invasive review. We describe the system as it is reported to us, with gaps and assumptions visible. No claim of technical completeness.
Discovery
Understand the system before anyone commits to changing it.
Discovery is how every engagement with Aleph Engineering starts. In 10 business days, for a fixed price, we map the system, its risks, and its realistic options, within the access you choose to grant. You keep the five written outputs, whatever you decide next.
DISCOVERY · REQUIRED FIRST STEP10 business days. Fixed price.Five written outputs. One recommendation. No obligation to continue.
The offer
A paid Discovery, with a clear end
Discovery ends with a decision either of us can make with real information, not a sales deck. It does not presume that modernization, or any further work with us, is the answer.
- Duration
- 10 business days, starting with a readiness check: access works, the right people are available, and the scope is clear.
- Price
- A fixed price for access Tier A or B, agreed in writing before we start. Tier C is scoped and quoted separately.
- You receive
- Five written outputs: system inventory, systems handbook, technical assessment, outcome roadmap, and a project definition for the recommended next step.
- Then
- One recommendation, with the evidence behind it. Continuing with us is optional, and you keep the outputs either way.
- We don't promise
- A fixed takeover deadline. AI accelerates the work; it does not compress trust or access.
Access tiers
You decide how much access to grant
The access tier sets how deep each output goes, not whether you receive it. More access usually means stronger findings; less access means more of the conclusions stay labelled as inferred or unverified.
Read-only technical inspection
Approved read-only access to selected repositories, configuration, build and deployment setup, or infrastructure views. Findings can be checked against what we inspected. Anything we could not see stays listed as a limitation.
Production evidence
Authorized access to production logs, product data, or business records, with explicit security, privacy, and operational approval. Tier C is scoped and quoted separately. We make no production changes unless you authorize them separately.
What you receive
Five outputs, and what each one contains
System inventory
Every system in the agreed scope, with its owner, purpose, dependencies, and the source of each fact. Delivered as a document or export; a hosted catalogue is optional.
Systems handbook
How the system is built, released, and operated, its dependencies, known risks, and knowledge gaps. Each statement says whether we observed it, validated it, inferred it, or could not verify it.
Technical assessment
What we examined, what we found, how serious we think each finding is and why, what we could not examine, and the controls we recommend. A security scan is included only when you authorize it separately.
Outcome roadmap
Prioritized outcomes, options, dependencies, and the decisions you will need to make. It contains no promised dates.
Project definition
For the recommended next step: scope, team and roles, capacity, schedule, acceptance checks, your responsibilities, commercial basis, risks, and open decisions.
Definition of done
When Discovery is finished
Discovery is done when every one of these is true, not when the 10 days run out.
- All five outputs exist, at the depth your access tier allows.
- Every report states the systems examined, the time period, access limits, exclusions, assumptions, confidence, and unknowns.
- A second Aleph engineer, not the author, has reviewed the material findings.
- A decision memo names one recommendation, with the reasons and the evidence behind it.
- We walk you through the findings in a closing session. You accept them, or send corrections within five business days (one correction round).
- We keep a record of the evidence and the decision.
Before we start
Paperwork and access first, then the work
We protect your system and your information before we look at either.
- 01A Discovery contract, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and a disclaimer covering the limits of the findings are signed before work starts.
- 02We agree the access tier, the systems in scope, data restrictions, permitted tools, and who approves what.
- 03You name a counterpart who knows the business and can arrange access. Discovery moves faster with one.
- 04We make no production changes during Discovery unless you authorize them separately.
Possible outcomes
Four ways a Discovery can end
The recommendation follows the evidence. You decide what to do with it.
Application Managed Services
The system should keep running, and someone accountable needs to operate it and make small, controlled changes.
Modernization
A specific part of the system needs to change: an upgrade, a refactor, a new platform, or a selective replacement.
New product development
The evidence shows a new system or a new capability is the better answer than changing the old one.
A clear recommendation not to proceed
Sometimes the right answer is to change nothing yet, or to do the work yourselves. That is a valid outcome, and you keep the outputs.
What we look for
We start where the pressure actually is
Not every bottleneck is technical. Sometimes the constraint sits in release approval, operations, or the way customer requests reach the team. We say so when that is what the evidence shows.
- Observed
When we took over support of Wassermeloni's systems, we set them up from scratch and found 23 gaps between the documentation and reality, 7 of them serious enough to block a working setup. One case, but a common kind of finding.
- Hypothesis
AI-assisted analysis shortens the time needed to map a system. We test that on each Discovery rather than assume it, and an engineer reviews every finding before you see it.
What we don't promise
The limits, stated up front
No fixed takeover deadline
AI accelerates the work; it does not compress trust or access. How fast we can safely take responsibility depends on what we find.
No guarantee that every issue is found
Findings are limited to what the agreed access lets us see, and the reports say where those limits are.
No promised dates in the roadmap
The outcome roadmap shows options and decision points. Dates belong in a project definition you agree to separately.
No automatic follow-on
Discovery does not commit you to further work with us, and it does not commit us to recommending it.
Start the Discovery
Tell us about the system.
Three short answers are enough to begin. We reply with a first conversation to confirm the scope and the access tier.