Managed Services & SRE Retainers

Reliable operation of business-critical platforms and software systems — with predictable costs.

Building platforms and software systems is only half the challenge. Operating them reliably, securely, and predictably over time is what determines long-term success.

Acosom provides managed services and SRE-style retainers for organizations running business-critical platforms and custom software systems — in cloud, hybrid, or on-prem environments.

What they all have in common is that failure, instability, or incorrect behavior has real business impact.

What You Gain When We Take Over Operations

Reliable, predictable operation of critical systems — without the operational burden.

Reliable Operation of Critical Systems

Platforms and software systems are operated with a focus on availability, correctness, and resilience — not reactive firefighting.

Clear Ownership & Predictable Cost

Retainers define scope, SLAs, and responsibilities clearly, avoiding ad-hoc support and unclear accountability.

Reduced Operational Risk

Incidents are addressed through root-cause analysis and permanent improvements, not temporary workarounds.

Faster, Controlled Incident Response

Defined on-call models and escalation paths ensure calm, structured response when issues occur.

Continuous Improvement Over Time

Systems are continuously hardened, optimized, and modernized while remaining stable in production.

Focus for Internal Teams

Internal teams spend less time on operational firefighting and more time on delivering business value.

Support Models & Availability

Support models are selected based on business impact, regulatory requirements, operational risk, and internal team coverage.

Business Hours Support

Support during agreed business hours (e.g. weekdays, daytime), incident response and operational support. Typical use cases: internal business applications, analytical platforms, development and test environments.

Night-Time / Extended Hours Support

Support outside standard business hours, including evenings and nights. Defined response times during extended coverage windows. Typical use cases: operational systems used beyond office hours, overnight processing platforms.

24/7 On-Call & Incident Response

Continuous, round-the-clock availability. Defined escalation paths and response times. Typical use cases: production platforms, customer-facing systems, revenue-impacting or compliance-critical applications.

Operational Excellence

Operating Legacy Systems While Enabling Migration

A door manufacturer runs a large-scale event-sourcing system that had become a legacy platform. The internal team no longer wanted to operate it, but the system needed to run reliably for another 3 years during migration to a newer system. We took over full operational responsibility with 24/7 support and 1-hour response time, allowing the internal team to focus entirely on building the new system. We implemented a proxy layer enabling customers to migrate at their own pace — the old API continues to work while the new system operates in the background.

Result: 84 support cases resolved successfully, zero business disruptions, customer base kept satisfied throughout the transition. The internal team delivers the new system while we ensure the legacy system runs reliably. Migration happens in controlled steps without forcing customers to rush.

Discuss Your Operations

Why Managed Services Are Needed — Regardless of Volume

Operational challenges are rarely about volume alone.

Operational knowledge is fragmented, responsibility is unclear, incidents repeat instead of being fixed structurally, upgrades are delayed due to perceived risk, reliability depends on individuals, and internal teams are overloaded with operational work.

This applies equally to high-throughput data platforms, lower-volume but mission-critical systems, and internal services that “must just work.”

Our SRE-Style Operating Model

We apply Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles across platforms and software systems.

Reliability Is Engineered, Not Assumed

We build reliability into systems through proper fault tolerance, monitoring, and controlled change management.

Incidents Are Learning Opportunities

Every incident is analyzed for root causes, leading to permanent fixes rather than temporary workarounds.

Automation Where It Reduces Risk

We automate repetitive operational tasks and deployments, reducing human error and improving consistency.

Change Is Observable and Controlled

All changes are tracked, tested, and rolled out with proper observability to detect issues early.

Ownership Is Explicit

Clear responsibilities and escalation paths ensure everyone knows who owns what and when to escalate.

Volume Is Not the Deciding Factor — Criticality Is

SRE principles apply to any business-critical system, regardless of throughput or data volume.

What We Manage

Our managed services cover entire systems, not just infrastructure.

Platforms

Data and analytics platforms, streaming and event-driven systems, reporting and decision systems, and AI and LLM platforms.

Software Systems

Custom backend services, internal business applications, data-driven microservices, APIs and integration layers, and AI-enabled applications.

Infrastructure & Runtime

Kubernetes and container platforms, cloud, hybrid, and on-prem environments, and storage, networking, and security layers.

Reliability & Observability

Monitoring and alerting, SLO/SLA definition and tracking, and performance and capacity monitoring.

What a Managed Services Engagement Includes

Comprehensive operational support covering all aspects of platform and system reliability.

System & Platform Onboarding

Architecture and dependency analysis, identification of critical paths and risks, definition of reliability objectives, and clarification of ownership.

Outcome: Shared, documented operational baseline.

Monitoring, Alerting & Incident Response

Operation of monitoring and alerting, incident response under agreed SLAs, coordinated escalation and communication, and documentation of incidents.

Outcome: Predictable, transparent incident handling.

Reliability & Performance Engineering

Analysis of recurring issues, fault-tolerance improvements, performance and scalability tuning, and removal of structural bottlenecks.

Outcome: Fewer incidents and higher confidence.

Patch, Upgrade & Change Management

Planned and controlled upgrades, risk reduction during changes, security and lifecycle management, and coordination with stakeholders.

Outcome: Systems that evolve safely over time.

Cost & Capacity Management

Monitoring of usage and growth, capacity forecasting, optimization of scaling behavior, and prevention of cost surprises.

Outcome: Controlled and predictable operating cost.

Continuous Improvement & Reporting

Regular operational reports, incident and trend reviews, proposal of structural improvements, and alignment with business priorities.

Outcome: Long-term stability and trust.

How This Relates to Consulting & Engineering

Managed Services complete the lifecycle.

Consulting defines architecture, governance, and operating models

Engineering builds and evolves platforms and software

Managed Services ensure everything runs reliably over time

We can also take over existing systems built by other teams, following a structured onboarding phase.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes your managed services different from standard MSP offerings?

Traditional MSPs focus on infrastructure and ticket volume. Our SRE-style managed services focus on system reliability and continuous improvement.

The difference:

We manage entire platforms and software systems, not just infrastructure
We treat incidents as learning opportunities leading to permanent fixes
We focus on reliability engineering, not ticket counts
We work at the system level, understanding dependencies and architecture
We apply SRE principles regardless of system volume

Support is part of continuous system improvement, not just reactive assistance.

Do you only manage high-volume systems?

No. Volume is not the deciding factor — criticality is.

We manage:

High-throughput data platforms
Lower-volume but mission-critical systems
Internal services where reliability is essential
Systems with strict correctness or compliance requirements

If failure has business impact, the system benefits from SRE-style management — regardless of its throughput.

Can you take over systems we didn't build?

Yes. We can take over existing systems built by internal teams or other vendors, following a structured onboarding phase that includes:

Architecture and dependency analysis
Identification of risks and operational gaps
Definition of reliability objectives
Documentation of current state
Transition planning with your team

We establish a solid operational baseline before taking full responsibility.

What happens if you can't solve an issue within SLA?

Transparency is key. If an incident cannot be resolved within agreed SLA:

We communicate proactively about the situation
We escalate according to defined procedures
We provide regular status updates
We document what happened and why
We implement improvements to prevent similar situations

SLAs are not just targets — they’re part of a reliability contract that includes continuous improvement when targets aren’t met.

How do you charge for managed services?

We offer predictable, retainer-based pricing that includes:

Monthly retainer covering agreed scope and SLA
Defined number of on-call engineers
Agreed support hours and availability
Operational improvement work included
Transparent pricing for out-of-scope work

No surprise bills, no per-ticket charges. You know what you’re paying for reliable operations.

Do you require exclusive responsibility or can we share operations?

We’re flexible. Options include:

Full operational responsibility: We own day-to-day operations
Shared responsibility: We handle specific areas (e.g., production, nights, weekends)
Backup/escalation: We provide second-level support when your team needs help

The model depends on your internal capacity, system criticality, and operational risk.

Ready to make your critical systems dependable? Let’s talk about your operational challenges.