How is this different from hiring a full-time architect?
A full-time architect is a headcount decision — months of hiring, then a permanent cost whether or not there's an architecture-sized problem that quarter. This is the same judgement, bought by the decision or by the month. An Architecture Review gets you a senior opinion on one specific question in a couple of weeks; a retainer gets you that opinion continuously without the salary, the notice period, or the risk of hiring the wrong person for a role you only half need filled.
What does an architecture review actually deliver?
A written findings document, plus a call to walk through it. The document covers the risks I found in what you're building or planning, the trade-offs behind each one, and a specific recommendation — which option to take and why, not a list of things to consider. It's written to be forwarded: something you can put in front of an engineering team or a board without translating it first.
What does a week actually look like on a retainer?
Most weeks: a standing review call on whatever rhythm we agree, and async access in between for the questions that can't wait for it — a design doc you want read before it's circulated, a "are we about to regret this?" sanity check, a second opinion on a vendor or a database choice. Quiet weeks are quiet. Busy weeks are the point of having the access.
How much does a fractional technical advisor cost?
A Fractional Advisory retainer here runs ₹2,00,000–₹4,00,000/month, and a fixed-scope Architecture Review is typically around ₹1,50,000. Both are priced on outcome rather than hours logged, so there's no timesheet to argue about. A call to work out which one you need — or whether you need either — is free.
How do you handle confidentiality and NDAs?
Send your standard mutual NDA with your first message and I'll sign it before we get into specifics. Nothing you share appears anywhere on this site — as a case study or otherwise — without your explicit written agreement. In the other direction: this consulting work sits entirely outside my day job and never touches my employer's clients, codebases, or confidential information.
Do I have to pay anything to talk to you first?
No. The free call is the front door for all three options, not a trimmed-down version of them — book a slot and we'll work out what you need. If that turns out to be an Architecture Review or a retainer, we'll scope it from there. If it turns out to be neither, that's a useful answer too.
