04 · Look afterServata, the care retainer
Keep your app healthy and keep shipping, every month
After a sprint, most applications need the same thing: someone senior who knows the codebase, keeps it current, and ships small improvements every month without a procurement cycle. The Servata retainer is a monthly web application maintenance plan: a block of senior engineering time with written response commitments. It follows a sprint — we do not take on applications we have not stabilised.
01Tiers
Three sizes of monthly cover
The fee for your application is agreed in writing after the sprint.
Fixed monthly fee for each tier, paid in advance. Three-month minimum, then 30 days' notice. Unused hours roll over one month. Upgrade or downgrade at any month boundary.
02Included
What is included
- Dependency and security updates
- Monitoring and incident response during working hours
- Bug fixes
- Small features and improvements from a prioritised backlog you control
- A monthly written report: what shipped, what is next, what we are worried about
- Documentation kept current
03Response
Response commitments
Critical issues acknowledged within 4 working hours during our working window; all other messages answered by the next working day. No 24/7 claims: we publish the hours we can keep.
Our hours, in your time zone
We work 03:30–12:30 UTC, Monday to Friday. In your time (UTC) that is 03:30–12:30. Outside these hours everything is async and in writing, with a reply by the next working day.
Scale: your time (UTC)
Live overlap with your working day: 09:00–12:30. That is the best time for calls.
04Not included
What is not included
- After-hours or weekend cover
- Large features (quoted as sprints)
- Third-party costs (hosting, licences, API usage)
- Work on applications we have not audited
05Questions
Frequently asked questions
Not answered here? Ask on the triage call.
What should a web application maintenance retainer include?
Updates, monitoring, fixes, a backlog of improvements, response commitments in writing, and a monthly report — exactly the list above. Be suspicious of retainers that promise "unlimited" anything.
Can we start on a retainer without a sprint?
No. We need to have stabilised the application first; otherwise the first three months of the retainer are a sprint in disguise, priced wrong for both of us.
What if we need more hours one month?
Upgrade for that month, or buy a one-off block at the tier rate. You are told before the limit is reached, never billed by surprise.
Do you offer 24/7 support?
Not yet. We publish the hours we cover and keep to them; an out-of-hours option will be added when it can be staffed properly.
Can we cancel?
After the three-month minimum, with 30 days' notice. Everything — code, docs, accounts — is already yours.