How we work
A handover you can check at every step.
We take over in stages, the way larger service firms do it, but sized for a single product. Your current people stay involved until we've shown we can run it without them.
The handover
Five stages, each with something you can check.
- Week 1
Assess
A call, then read-only access. You get a written summary of what we found, the risks, and a fixed quote. Free and with no obligation.
- Weeks 1 to 2
Inventory
Every server, domain, account, payment link and dependency listed, with who owns it. Access moves to named accounts you control.
- Weeks 2 to 3
Shadow
Your current team keeps doing the work while we watch and write the runbook.
- Weeks 3 to 4
Take the wheel
We do the work while your team watches. Monitoring, backups and alerts move to us. A test restore proves the backups.
- Ongoing
Run and improve
Day-to-day running against the targets below, the monthly report and a quarterly review.
What we need from you
- A person who knows the product, for a few hours over the first fortnight
- Access granted through your own accounts (we'll show you how), never shared passwords
- Any existing notes, however rough
- Your rules for users, refunds and support tone
What you get at the end of handover
- A runbook: how to deploy, roll back, restore and renew
- A hosting map and an access register
- Monitoring and alerts in place, with a tested restore
- A baseline report to measure the next months against
Service levels
Clear priorities, clear response times.
Every issue gets a priority, and the priority sets how fast we respond. Cover runs 07:00 to 23:00 UK time, seven days a week. Your service schedule confirms these targets, or sets different ones if your product needs them.
| Priority | What it means | We respond within | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1Critical | Down for everyone, data at risk, or a security incident | 1 hour | Work continues until fixed; updates every 2 hours until resolved |
| P2High | A key feature broken for many users, no workaround | 4 hours | Fix or workaround the same day where possible |
| P3Normal | Something wrong for some users, a workaround exists | 1 working day | Scheduled into the next release |
| P4Request | Questions, changes and small improvements | 3 working days | Planned with you |
Response means a person has looked at the issue and told you what happens next. Our monitoring raises P1 issues to us automatically, often before anyone reports them.
Working together
How you'll hear from us.
One named owner
Every asset has one person at Charterstone Tech who answers for it. You always know whom to ask.
Your channel
Email by default, or a shared chat channel if you prefer. Urgent issues have their own route, written in your runbook.
Monthly report
Sent on the fifth working day of each month. Plain English, one page where possible, with the detail attached.
Quarterly review
A short call: what went well, what didn't, what to improve next, and whether the plan still fits.
Changes on record
Every change goes in the change log with the reason. Bigger changes are agreed with you first.
Approvals stay yours
Anything that costs money, touches personal data rules or changes what your users see waits for your yes.
Leaving us
Easy to hand back, by design.
You shouldn't need us any longer than you want us. Because everything sits in your own accounts and is written down, handing back is an exercise, not a rescue.
Your notice period
Monthly agreements end on one month's notice. No long lock-in.
Full handback pack
The latest runbook, access register, hosting map, change log and a fresh backup, handed to you or your new team.
Our access removed
We remove our own access, list everything we removed, and you confirm it.
Start with a free assessment.
A short call and a read-only look. You get a written summary and a fixed quote, and you're under no obligation.