DevOps and cloud services: servers, hosting and monitoring that keep your business online

What are DevOps and cloud services?

Your website or app runs on computers called servers. Most businesses rent them from a cloud company, such as Amazon (AWS) or Google Cloud. DevOps is the work of setting those servers up properly and keeping them healthy. That means going live, releasing updates safely, backing up your data, watching for problems and keeping the monthly bill in check.

Most business owners never think about this until the site goes down on a busy day, or the cloud bill suddenly doubles. Our job is to make those surprises rare.

Is this right for your business?

It usually fits if your system is new and not online yet, or if everything runs on one server and every update feels like a gamble. Common signs:

• Your site goes down or slows down, and customers tell you first
• Things break after updates, so every update feels risky
• Only one person knows how your servers work
• You're not sure you have backups, or whether they would actually work
• Your cloud bill keeps growing and nobody can explain why

What you get

Depending on where you start, you get some or all of this. Everything is set up in accounts that belong to you:

• Servers the right size for your business today, with room to grow, so you don't pay for more than you need
• Your domain, the padlock in the browser that shows your site is secure (SSL) and your automatic emails, set up and working
• Safe updates: each change is tried on a test copy first, and can be undone if something goes wrong
• Monitoring: one simple screen that shows if anything is wrong, and alerts only for real problems
• Backups we have tested by actually restoring them
• Passwords kept in a secure digital vault, not in emails or chat messages
• Cost control: a monthly budget, and an alert if spending suddenly jumps
• Short written guides, so nothing depends on one person's memory

How it works, step by step

Every project follows the same simple path:

• A free 30-minute call. Tell us what you have and what worries you. You get a one-page written summary, even if you don't hire us.
• A closer look, about a week (we call it discovery). We check your current setup and agree in writing what will be done. Only then do we send a quote.
• The work, in two-week rounds. Each round has a written plan, and you see the progress in a short demo every week.
• Going live. We connect your domain, switch on monitoring and backups, and hand over the guides.
• Looking after it. We stay with you after launch, and for longer if you want us to.

How long does it take?

A new system can be properly set up and online within days, once the plan is agreed.

If your system already runs, we improve it step by step without rebuilding it. Moving from a single server to a safe setup with monitoring and backups usually takes about eight weeks, in this order:

• First, we write down exactly what your system needs to run, plus the first short guide.
• Next, safe automatic updates. For the first month, a person approves each one before it goes live.
• Then monitoring, with alerts only for real problems.
• Then backups, and a timed practice run of restoring everything from them.
• Finally, we write down the main decisions and hand everything over to you.

What it costs and how pricing works

There's no public price list, because the work depends on where you start. After the free call and the discovery week, you get a clear quote for work agreed in writing.

Work is usually billed in two-week rounds, and each round's work is written down first. Clearly defined jobs can be done for a fixed price.

Your cloud bill is separate: you pay the cloud company directly, from your own account. Keeping that bill under control is part of our job.

After launch: you own everything

Everything is yours from day one. The cloud account is in your name and the domain is registered to your company. The code and settings are kept in your company's own account, and we only hold a set of keys.

We stay with you through the first weeks after launch. After that, your own team or developer can take over using our guides. Or we keep looking after it on an optional support plan, with a written service agreement if you need one.

At Phoned-Tech, the work is done by our team of 7+ senior engineers. We run the same kind of setup for our own product: every Phoned-CRM client gets their own CRM on a completely separate server, sized to their needs.

When we're not the right fit

Phoned-Tech probably isn't right for you if:

• You only have a simple marketing website. Good, simple hosting is probably all you need.
• You want the most complicated setup because it sounds impressive. We'll suggest the simplest setup that does the job.
• You want a system only we understand. We write everything down, so someone else could take over.
• You need an official security or compliance certificate. We're not auditors, so we can't give you one.