A fractional AWS engineer, embedded in your team.
For teams that need ongoing AWS expertise without carrying a full-time hire. We work as your embedded AWS lead: in your Slack, on your code reviews, in the architecture decisions, and doing the implementation. Sized to what you need, and it can move up or down.
After a short initial commitment, with 30 days' notice on either side. Sized from light advisory presence to deep weekly involvement, and adjusted as your roadmap changes.
Why a fractional AWS engineer instead of a full-time hire
Most product teams need real AWS depth some of the time, not all of the time. A launch, a migration, an audit finding that needs fixing, a design decision nobody on the team has made before. Between those, the environment mostly needs someone who knows it to keep it tidy, and to say no to the change that will hurt later.
Hiring a full-time senior AWS engineer for that is slow and expensive, and the role can be hard to keep interesting. Leaving it to whoever touched the console last is how the bill grows and the restore never gets tested. A fractional cloud engineer, or an AWS consultant on retainer if you prefer the term, sits between the two: experienced enough to own the decisions, part-time enough to make sense.
What an embedded AWS lead does
The same work as an in-house AWS lead, for the share of the week you actually need.
In your Slack
Available where your team already works, for the quick question that would otherwise turn into a two-day detour.
Infrastructure reviews
Reviews on infrastructure pull requests and Terraform plans, so risky changes are caught before they are applied rather than after.
Architecture decisions
In the room when the decisions are made, with the reasoning written down so it survives the next reorganization.
Implementation
Doing the work, not only advising on it: Terraform, pipelines, IAM, networking, backups and alarms.
An eye on the bill
Watching spend between audits, so the savings you made do not quietly grow back as the product changes.
Written down
Decisions, runbooks and infrastructure documented as we go, so the day we stop working together costs you nothing.
How the retainer works
- A 15-minute call. We work out whether a retainer fits, or whether a fixed project is the better answer. If neither fits, we will say so.
- Sized to what you need. From light advisory presence through to deep weekly involvement, worked out on the call rather than picked from a package.
- Short initial commitment. Enough time to learn your environment and deliver something useful.
- Then month to month. With 30 days' notice on either side. No long lock-in.
- Adjusted as you go. The size moves up or down as your roadmap changes.
What you get
- An AWS lead who knows your environment, not a ticket queue
- Reviews on infrastructure changes before they reach production
- Hands-on implementation, defined in Terraform
- A second opinion on architecture decisions, with the reasoning written down
- Documentation as we go, so the day we stop working together costs you nothing
- Month-to-month terms after a short initial commitment
What a retainer does not cover
We are not a 24/7 on-call service. We do not write your application code, because your engineers know it better. We do not manage your team or run your hiring. What we do is own the AWS side alongside you, so your engineers can stay on the product.
Most retainers begin after a cost audit or a fixed project, such as a migration or a Terraform build, once a team has seen how we work. The retainer is then where the roadmap from that work gets carried out, one change at a time.
Who this is for
Engineering teams running production workloads on AWS without a dedicated AWS specialist on staff. Usually a team that is strong on the application and stretched on the infrastructure, where one person has become the single point of failure for anything AWS. B2B SaaS is our home ground. We work with teams in Canada, the United States and Europe, remotely.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional AWS engineer?
Experienced AWS help on your team part of the time, on an ongoing basis, instead of a full-time hire. We work as your embedded AWS lead: in your Slack, on your code reviews, in the architecture decisions, and doing the implementation.
How much time does a retainer include?
As much as you need, from light advisory presence to deep weekly involvement. We size it on the call rather than fitting you to a package, and it can move up or down as your roadmap changes.
How long is the commitment?
A short initial commitment, then month to month with 30 days' notice on either side.
Is this the same as fractional DevOps?
It overlaps. We cover the AWS side of DevOps: infrastructure as code in Terraform, deployment pipelines and release safety, monitoring and alarms, IAM and networking. We do not cover other cloud providers or write application code.
Do you provide 24/7 on-call?
No. We make production easier to run, with alarms that point at the problem and runbooks your team can follow, but the pager stays with your team.
Can we start with a retainer, or do we need an audit first?
You can start with a retainer. Most clients begin with a cost audit or a project, because it is a low-risk way to see how we work, but it is not a requirement.
Related services
See whether a retainer fits
Fifteen minutes on a call is enough to tell whether you need ongoing help or a single project. If you need neither, we will say so.