BuildXLR8 Assurance
Ongoing care for the operational system we built for you.
After BuildXLR8 delivers, the platform enters BuildXLR8 Assurance. Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring against the accepted spec. Custom-priced per build, prepaid annual. Your system stays healthy. Your team stays free of the operational debt that takes unmaintained custom software offline.
Annual care plan
10 to 20%
Of the build cost per year, custom-priced per build. Prepaid annual.
Security patches and dependency updates
Server maintenance, monitoring, backups
Bug fixes against the accepted spec
Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring only
Who Assurance Is For
BuildXLR8 clients after the platform ships. Pilot clients who want ongoing care on the smaller deployment.
Assurance starts the day Pilot or BuildXLR8 hypercare ends. There is no gap between a delivered platform and its first month of maintenance, because the same engineers who built it are the ones keeping it healthy.
For clients who prefer not to subscribe, hourly ad hoc support remains available. But Assurance is the default for anyone who wants to know what is in scope this month without asking.
What Assurance Covers
The safety floor, every month.
Proactive, not reactive. The system stays healthy.
01
Security patches and dependency updates
We track upstream advisories, apply patches against the accepted spec, and run the regression set before deploy.
02
Server-side maintenance
SSL renewal, backups configuration, log rotation, and the boring infrastructure work that keeps systems healthy.
03
Uptime monitoring with alerts
Synthetic checks, error tracking, and alerting tuned to the platform we built. Issues find us before they find your team.
04
Bug fixes against the accepted spec
Where a built feature deviates from its written acceptance criteria, the fix is included. No re-billing for what should already work.
05
Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring only
Assurance keeps the platform as built healthy. New features, new modules, and behaviour changes are a new BuildXLR8 cycle, not Assurance work.
The Bug vs Change Line
We draw the line in writing.
The hardest part of any maintenance subscription is what happens at the edges. Here is the rule, before you sign.
Assurance
Maintenance of the platform as built.
- Security patches and dependency updates
- Server-side maintenance and monitoring
- Bug fixes (feature deviating from accepted spec)
- Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring
New BuildXLR8 cycle
Changes to the spec itself. Scoped as a new BuildXLR8 cycle, not as Assurance work.
- New features outside the accepted spec
- New modules or workflows
- Changes to a feature's accepted behaviour
- Major dependency or platform rewrites
THE RULE
A bug is the feature deviating from its accepted spec. A change is the spec itself moving. Bugs are Assurance. Changes are a BuildXLR8 cycle.
Hosting, Decoupled
Application care is Assurance. Hosting is WebXLR8.
Assurance covers application-layer maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring, custom-priced per build. The work is application-layer regardless of where the platform runs. Hosting is a separate matter and is never bundled into Assurance.
Assurance
Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring. Custom-priced per build, prepaid annual.
Hosting (separate, under WebXLR8)
If you want us to run the infrastructure, hosting is billed separately under our sibling brand WebXLR8.
Either way, the deployment stays portable. Transferable to your account on request, with the keys, the secrets, and the runbook.
Re-scoping Rhythm
Assurance grows with the platform.
The care plan is not a fixed line for life. It scales every time the platform does, in writing, before the new annual rate begins.
STAGE 1
Platform ships
Initial Assurance scope locked at handover, sized to what was delivered.
STAGE 2
New BuildXLR8 cycle
New modules or features ship through a BuildXLR8 cycle, adding surface area to maintain.
STAGE 3
Assurance re-scoped
We send a written update naming what is now in scope and the new annual rate. You sign off before it begins.
STAGE 4
Rhythm continues
Stage 2 and 3 repeat for as long as the platform grows. Every change in scope is in writing.
You always know what is in scope this month. No surprise charges. No drift between what we maintain and what you pay for.
FAQ
Assurance questions, answered.
Anything not on this list? Book a fit call and we will work through it together.
What does BuildXLR8 Assurance cover?
Security patches, dependency updates, server-side maintenance, SSL renewal and backups configuration, uptime monitoring with alerts, and bug fixes against the accepted spec. Maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring of the platform as built, proactively. New features and changes are a new BuildXLR8 cycle.
What is the difference between a bug and a change?
A bug is a built feature deviating from its accepted spec. Bugs are Assurance. A change is the spec itself moving, a new feature, a new module, or a behaviour change to the system. Changes are scoped as a new BuildXLR8 cycle. We draw the line in writing so there is no ambiguity in the moment.
How is Assurance priced?
Custom-priced per build, in the region of ten to twenty percent of the build cost per year, prepaid annual. The plan scales with what it covers. After each BuildXLR8 cycle adds to the platform's footprint, Assurance is re-scoped and re-priced. You always know what is in scope.
Do you host the platform or do we?
Assurance covers application-layer maintenance regardless of where the platform runs. Hosting is a separate matter: if you want us to run the infrastructure, it is billed separately under our sibling brand WebXLR8, not bundled into Assurance. The deployment stays portable, transferable to your account on request.
What does Assurance not cover?
Assurance is maintenance, patches, updates, and monitoring only. New features, new modules, and changes to a feature's accepted behaviour are scoped as a new BuildXLR8 cycle. Hosting is billed separately under WebXLR8. We draw the line in writing so there is no ambiguity in the moment.
What happens to Assurance when we scope a new BuildXLR8 cycle?
Assurance is re-scoped and re-priced after each new cycle ships. New features add new surface area to maintain, so the plan grows with the platform. Re-scoping is in writing and you sign off before the new annual rate begins.
Can I get Assurance on just a 30-Day Pilot Build deployment?
Yes. Assurance is available on Pilot deployments too. The plan is smaller because the surface area is smaller. Hourly ad hoc support also remains available for clients who prefer not to subscribe.
If You Do Nothing
Custom software without ongoing care quietly rots.
Dependency updates lag. Security patches stack up. The first incident is a surprise the team is not equipped to handle, and the platform you spent months building goes offline for the wrong reason. Assurance is the boring, non-negotiable layer that keeps the system alive.
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