Ongoing Platform Care
What you're buying: ContinuityYou paid to modernise. Who makes sure it stays that way?
Operate — ongoing care for the systems we deliver.
Projects end but systems keep running. Operate is ongoing care for what North Ark built or migrated — monitoring, patching cadence, security hygiene, and small fixes. Your MSP handles helpdesk; Operate keeps platforms healthy.
Monthly health checks, monitoring and alert review, patching cadence, security hygiene upkeep, and reactive support hours for infrastructure, apps, and automations North Ark delivered.
David Goulding delivers this work directly — senior engineering, not a handoff team.
Is this you?
Problems we solve
- “We went live but nobody owns monitoring and patches month to month.”
- “Our MSP handles helpdesk — not the custom app or migration they didn't build.”
- “Small fixes pile up because there's no retainer for the platform we just paid to build.”
- “Security hardening happened once — nobody maintains E8 controls or reviews alerts.”
What's included
- Monthly platform health check and status report
- Monitoring and alert review (infra, app, or security)
- Patching cadence for systems North Ark delivered or migrated
- Reactive support hours for bugs, small changes, and incidents
- Optional coordination with your existing MSP
What's not included
- L1 helpdesk, password resets, and laptop support
- 24/7 manned SOC
- Unlimited feature development (→ Build project)
- Net-new migrations (→ Engineer project)
Process
How we deliver
Monthly retainer — propose on every project close
- 01
Onboard
Runbooks, access, monitoring baselines, escalation paths.
- 02
Rhythm
Monthly review, patching window, alert tuning.
- 03
Improve
Small fixes, dependency updates, hygiene upkeep.
Before
- Go-live success with no ongoing owner
- MSP handles tickets but not your custom stack
- Founder still the escalation point for every alert
After
- Documented monthly care rhythm
- Fewer surprises and faster small fixes
- Single senior partner who knows your systems
Packages
Operate Lite
Single app or small infra footprint
Monthly check + 2 hrs reactive
$1,500/month
Book a Discovery CallOperate Core
Post-migration or post-build
Monitoring, patching, 4 hrs reactive
$2,500–$3,500/month
Book a Discovery CallOperate Partner
Multi-system anchor accounts
Combined infra + app + security hygiene
$4,000–$6,000/month
Book a Discovery CallAll prices in AUD. GST applies to Australian clients.
Common questions
- Is this replacing our MSP?
- No. Operate covers platforms North Ark built or migrated — monitoring, patches, small fixes. Your MSP keeps helpdesk and endpoints.
- Can we add Operate after a project?
- Yes — and you should. Every project proposal includes an optional Operate line item.
- What's the setup fee?
- Operate Core includes a $1,000 setup for onboarding, runbooks, and monitoring baseline. Quoted clearly on proposal.