Tech Consultancy

Advice on technology decisions, from people who also build. The questions are practical: whether to build or buy, whether a quote is fair, whether a design will cope with many more users, which supplier to pick and what to fix first.

Because TechSum builds software itself, the advice comes from people who know what each option really involves.

Founders without a technical co-founder who still have to make technology decisions. Businesses holding quotes they cannot compare. Investors and buyers who want to know what sits behind a pitch. Leaders planning a rebuild, a cloud move or their first AI work.

The quickest way in is the Tech Second Opinion. You share a quote, proposal or existing build and receive an honest, short written report.

• Fractional CTO: a part-time chief technology officer, the person who leads technology decisions. See fractional CTO.
• Fractional AI Officer: a part-time lead for AI decisions and policy. See also AI Systems & Automation.
• Technology strategy and roadmaps.
• Architecture and code reviews: an outside check of how your software is designed and written.
• Technical due diligence: a check of a company's technology for investors and buyers. See technical due diligence.
• Vendor selection and management: choosing and managing technology suppliers.
• Requirement and RFP drafting. An RFP is a written request that suppliers quote against, so the quotes can be compared.
• Second opinions on quotes and proposals.

We follow the same steps as our building work, adapted to advice. We start by listening and reading what exists: code, contracts, invoices, diagrams. Then we agree the question to answer, so a review has a clear end.

A one-off review ends with a written report: findings, risks in order of importance and recommended next steps. A part-time role means regular check-ins and a shared record of what was decided and why. You can use a Fixed-Scope Project for a review or Fractional Leadership for ongoing guidance.

The TechSum Standard applies to advice too:

• Secure by default: every review covers the security basics, such as who has access, how passwords and keys are stored, and what is exposed.
• Built to scale: recommendations are judged on whether they still hold when the business is much bigger, not only on whether they work today.
• Tested before it ships: claims are checked against the code, the setup and the invoices, not taken from a slide.
• Looked after after launch: as your part-time CTO we stay, with regular check-ins and a written record of every decision.
• Small changes handled, not invoiced: a quick question about a quote or a vendor email gets a straight answer. It does not become a billable review.
• Honest advice, even when it means less work for us: if the right answer is to buy a tool, keep your vendor or do nothing, that is what we write.

It is specific. It names the risk, the likely cost of ignoring it and the cheapest sensible way to deal with it. It admits uncertainty. If the right answer is to do less, that is the answer we give.

A good part-time engagement leaves the business more capable. Decisions are written down, the team knows why, and when you are ready to hire a full-time lead, the hand-over is clean.

If you want someone to approve a decision already made, we are the wrong choice. If you need legal or financial advice, you need a lawyer or an accountant, and we will say so. And if a question needs expertise we do not have, we will tell you before starting.

To talk through a decision, tell us what you need.