Hosting Models
The three H's.
Every Forge engagement and Acçodus™ migration ends in a live, working platform — but how it gets hosted and managed after launch is a choice. We support three models, each suited to a different shape of business.
Model 1
Hand-Over
You own and run everything.
We deliver the complete build — source code, infrastructure-as-code, deployment scripts, runbooks, and the AI context packs your internal team (or successor agency) will use to maintain and extend the system afterwards. Then we step back.
What's included
- → Complete source code repository with full git history
- → Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform / Bicep / AWS CDK as applicable)
- → Documentation: architecture decisions, deployment runbooks, troubleshooting
- → AI context packs — structured knowledge for your AI assistants to support ongoing development and operations
- → Handover sessions for your team or chosen agency
Right when
You have an in-house technical team, an existing managed-services partner, or you want to keep full control of the stack and the running costs. Predictable, no monthly fee to DS post-launch.
Model 2
Hybrid
Your environment, our management.
The platform lives in your environment — your AWS / Azure account, your domain, your data. DS provides selected management services on top: monitoring, security patching, backup verification, change requests, version upgrades — whatever subset matters to you, at a pre-agreed monthly service fee.
Common service packages
- → Monitoring + on-call response (uptime, error budgets, paging)
- → Security patching + dependency updates
- → Backup verification + disaster-recovery drills
- → Change-request retainer (hours/month for ongoing development)
- → Quarterly platform review + capacity planning
Right when
You want to own the infrastructure (data sovereignty, existing cloud accounts, compliance reasons) but don't have the in-house bandwidth to run it well. DS picks up the specific services where the depth-of-platform-knowledge pays off — you keep ownership.
Model 3
Hands-Free
We run everything.
DS hosts and manages the entire platform on your behalf, built to the resilience and redundancy specification we agreed during discovery — appropriate to how mission-critical it actually is for your business. You see a service, not infrastructure.
Resilience tiers (discussed during discovery)
- → Single-region, single-AZ — typical SME web app; daily backups; ~99.9% uptime
- → Single-region, multi-AZ — operational systems where extended outage hurts; ~99.95% uptime
- → Multi-region active/standby — finance, dealer-facing, ecommerce; sub-15-minute RTO on regional failure
- → Bespoke — defined to your specific recovery objectives and compliance posture
Right when
You want a working platform, not a hosting bill, an on-call rota, and a list of vendors to manage. Predictable monthly fee, defined SLA, single point of accountability.
Which model is right for you?
Some honest signals to help the decision:
Pick Hand-Over if
- ✓ You have an in-house engineering team
- ✓ You have an existing managed-services partner
- ✓ Predictable ongoing cost matters more than convenience
- ✓ You want zero vendor lock-in after delivery
Pick Hybrid if
- ✓ Data sovereignty requires your cloud account
- ✓ You want ownership without owning the operational chore
- ✓ You'd like DS for change requests but want infrastructure under your control
- ✓ Your compliance posture mandates your accounts
Pick Hands-Free if
- ✓ You want a single accountability for the platform
- ✓ Defined SLA + monthly fee suits your budget model
- ✓ Your team should focus on using the platform, not running it
- ✓ Higher-resilience tiers matter (multi-AZ / multi-region)
Common questions.
Can we change model later?
Yes. Hands-Free → Hybrid → Hand-Over is a natural maturity path as your team grows. Hand-Over → Hybrid is also common when an internal team realises managing the platform isn't where their time pays off. Each direction needs a defined transition plan, not a flip of a switch — but the source code and infrastructure-as-code we delivered support it cleanly.
Is Hand-Over really "free"? What's the trade-off?
No DS monthly fee, but you still pay your own hosting bills (AWS, Azure, etc.), and your team or chosen partner picks up the operational work — monitoring, patching, backups, on-call. For some businesses that's already in-place capability; for others it's a real cost. We're upfront either way.
What's an "AI context pack" and why is it specific to Hand-Over?
A structured set of documents — architecture, code conventions, deployment recipes, troubleshooting playbooks — written for AI assistants (Claude, Copilot, etc.) to consume as context when your team needs to extend or maintain the platform. It accelerates the productivity of your successor team enormously. Hybrid and Hands-Free customers don't need it because DS retains the operational knowledge.
Does DSX work across all three models?
Yes. DSX is its own SaaS subscription regardless of which hosting model you pick for the platform itself.
Not sure which model fits?
It's a discovery-stage conversation, not a launch-day decision. Tell us about your business, your team, your compliance posture — we'll recommend the right shape.
Talk about hosting models