Platform rescue and modernization
Untangle fragile applications, old frameworks, ad hoc data flows, vendor APIs, authentication, reporting, and infrastructure before they become a bonfire with login screens.
Senior technology consulting
Get the system unstuck.
I help organizations turn brittle software, legacy integrations, unclear platforms, and half-finished modernization efforts into systems that are stable, observable, and worth building on.
The work is part architect, part hands-on engineer, part translator for leadership, and part field mechanic. No theater. No twelve-month fog machine. Just the map, the risk, the fix, and the next useful release.
Core offer
Architecture and delivery help for real-world systems.
Best fit: small to mid-sized organizations, SaaS teams, nonprofits, public-safety adjacent groups, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and founder-led companies that need senior technical judgment without hiring a permanent CTO too early.
Fractional CTO / technical lead
Set direction, make build-vs-buy calls, define the architecture, calm the backlog, and give leadership a plan they can understand without sanding off the truth.
Hands-on implementation
Java, relational databases, Linux, integrations, APIs, ETL, queues, observability, SaaS operations, and pragmatic full-stack work when the situation calls for it.
Where I’m useful
When the problem crosses software, operations, vendors, and money.
Enterprise systems that cannot casually fail
Dartmouth Advancement required stable production systems, auditability, disciplined change control, security-minded operations, and clear communication with non-technical leadership.
Legacy plus modern, without the religion
I’m comfortable where old systems, vendor platforms, custom code, databases, scripts, and newer SaaS tools all have to cooperate. The goal is not purity. The goal is working machinery.
Product-minded engineering
I have built mobile apps, internal platforms, CRM/data systems, reporting tools, integrations, and early-stage products where architecture and product judgment had to travel in the same truck.
Physical-world technology
CAD, 3D printing, microcontroller programming, public safety, ski operations, edge devices, and sensor systems give me unusual range where software has to touch the real world.
Process
Start with a paid diagnostic. Leave with a map.
I do not sell vague retainers into vague problems. The first engagement should identify what exists, where it fails, what matters financially or operationally, and what should happen next.
1. Fit call
Confirm the business problem, urgency, technical surface area, budget owner, and whether I am the right operator.
2. Diagnostic
Map systems, data flows, failure modes, risks, team constraints, vendor dependencies, and the first practical fixes.
3. Executive readout
Plain-English options: do nothing, use your team, hire a vendor, or have me execute the first modernization stream.
4. Execution
Implement the priority fixes, stabilize operations, transfer knowledge, and leave the system less mysterious than I found it.
Simple engagement models
Clear scope beats consulting fog.
Paid Diagnostic
Fixed scope, usually two weeks.
$7,500
- System and data-flow map
- Risk and failure-mode heatmap
- Top fixes and execution plan
- Leadership-ready readout
Modernization Retainer
One prioritized execution stream.
$12,000 / month
- Architecture and hands-on implementation
- Weekly progress and risk updates
- Observability and operating baseline
- Knowledge transfer
Fractional CTO
Direction, delivery, and senior technical judgment.
Scoped
- Roadmap and architecture ownership
- Vendor and hiring support
- Build-vs-buy decisions
- Founder or executive advisory
Contact
Bring the ugly system.
If the system matters, people depend on it, and nobody quite trusts it anymore, that is probably the conversation.