Consultancy & contract engineering
Engineering help, from someone who still writes the code
Unobyte takes on data engineering, business intelligence, cloud and technical leadership work — as a scoped piece of consultancy, as an extra pair of hands inside your team, or under a retainer for a system that is already running.
What we do
Four areas of work
These are capability areas rather than a catalogue. Most engagements draw on more than one of them. One is an emerging direction rather than established work, and is labelled as such.
Named platforms and tools are ones the studio works with. Depth varies by platform and engagement, and no certification is claimed.
Data Engineering & Business Intelligence
Moving data reliably between systems, building the platform underneath it, and turning what it holds into reporting people actually use.
- Data pipelines and integration
- Data platform architecture
- Business intelligence and reporting
- Analytics and reporting infrastructure
- Legacy data migration and platform modernisation
- Data quality and governance
Platforms and tools
- Databricks
- AWS Glue
- Azure Data Factory
- Microsoft Fabric
- Power BI
- Amazon QuickSight
Cloud Engineering
Infrastructure and platform work, primarily on Azure and AWS, including the unglamorous task of improving what is already running.
- Azure and AWS engineering — the primary delivery platforms
- Google Cloud as an additional supported environment
- Cloud platform integration
- Migration, modernisation and improving what is already running
- Operational reliability
- Security-aware architecture
Technical Leadership
Experienced hands on a problem — architecture, delivery and the difficult conversations — working with your team rather than around it.
- Hands-on technical leadership
- Architecture reviews
- Delivery troubleshooting
- Engineering mentoring
- Modernisation planning
- Working alongside existing engineering teams
- Emerging
Applied AI & Automation
Software that uses AI where it genuinely earns its place. AI agents and workflow automation are an emerging direction, developed inside the studio's own products before being offered as client work.
- AI-enabled application features
- Workflow automation
- Systems integration
- API-backed applications
- Software architecture and implementation
- Practical AI adoption, assessed case by case
Working together
Three ways an engagement tends to be shaped
Starting points for a conversation rather than fixed packages. What fits usually becomes obvious once the problem is on the table.
Retainer-based Support & Continuous Improvement
Ongoing support and incremental improvement of a system that is already running, under a standing arrangement rather than a fresh scope each time.
Often fits when
- A platform that is live and needs steady attention rather than a project
- Improvements too small to justify an engagement of their own
- Teams who would rather keep a known pair of hands than find one each time
Enquire about retainer-based support & continuous improvement
Contract / Embedded Engineering
Hands-on contract engineering alongside an existing team, working the way that team works.
Often fits when
- An existing team that needs an experienced pair of hands
- Work where the requirements will move as you learn more
- Situations where knowledge needs to stay with your team afterwards
Scoped Project Consultancy
A bounded piece of consultancy and engineering with an agreed objective, scope and deliverables.
Often fits when
- A specific thing that needs building, migrating or assessing
- Work that can be described clearly enough to agree what finished looks like
- A design decision worth a second opinion before committing to it
Rates, availability and terms are agreed per engagement, so none are quoted here.
Principles
How the work gets done
The same principles apply to client work and to the studio's own products.
Practical over clever
The simplest design that solves the problem, rather than the most impressive one. Complexity has to earn its keep.
Hands-on delivery
The person doing the architecture is the person writing the code and shipping it.
Security and privacy by design
Decided at the start, as a constraint on the design, not retrofitted once something is already live.
Built to be maintained
Systems are handed over readable, documented and sane to change a year later by someone who was not there.
Clear and accountable
Plain explanations of trade-offs and progress, including the parts that are not going well.
Contact
Have something that needs building, fixing or unblocking?
Consultancy, contract engineering and collaboration enquiries are all welcome — including the awkward ones that do not fit a neat brief.
sales@unobyteitconsulting.com