DevOps Services

When did your servers last get updated?

Security updates applied on a schedule, tested on a copy before they reach your live app, with a way back. Expiry dates watched for you.

Free AWS bill check See pricing

Most teams start with the free AWS bill check. Once the bill is down, we review the rest of your setup for free, and this is one of the things we can take on. How the steps work

Updates left to memory

Your servers were set up properly once. Since then, updates happen when someone remembers, or when something forces the issue. Nobody wants to be the one who runs an update on a Friday and takes the app down, so it gets pushed to "next sprint." Months go by.

The same goes for the small things with a date on them: the security certificate that puts the padlock in the browser, the domain name renewal, the database version your provider is about to stop supporting.

Patching means installing the fixes software makers publish for known problems, most of them security holes.

What could happen

A known hole stays open. When a security problem in common server software is announced, automated scanners start looking for servers that haven't been fixed. A server that is six months behind is on that list.
A forced upgrade at the worst moment. Your provider ends support for an old database version and gives you a deadline. Now the upgrade happens on their schedule, during your busy month.
An update breaks the app. Someone finally runs all the pending updates at once, and two of them don't get along with your code. The site is down while the team works out which one.
The padlock disappears. An expired certificate shows a full-page security warning to every visitor. Most leave. The fix takes minutes once someone notices.
The domain lapses. A renewal card expired, the reminder went to an old email address, and your website and email stop working (example).

What we do, step by step

We update on a schedule, test before it goes live, and watch certificate and domain expiry dates for you.

Take stock. Software lists every server, operating system, database and main software package, with its version and how far behind it is. It also lists every certificate and domain with its expiry date.
Rank what's pending. Our tooling matches pending updates against published security notices. A senior engineer decides what needs to happen this week, what can wait for the monthly window, and what needs a closer look because it could change how your app behaves.
Agree a window with you. Regular updates go into a fixed, quiet time slot you approve. Urgent security fixes get their own short window, and we tell you why it can't wait.
Test on a copy first. Where your setup allows it, updates go to a test server or staging copy before the live one. We check that the app starts, key pages load and background jobs run.
Apply with a way back. Before each update on a live server we take a snapshot or confirm a recent backup, so it can be rolled back if something goes wrong.
Report. A short monthly note: what was updated, what was postponed and why, and any upgrade that is coming with a deadline.
Watch the dates. Certificates, domains and end-of-support dates are tracked, with alerts weeks ahead, not on the day.

What you can do yourself today

Log into your main server and check when updates were last installed. On most Linux servers your package manager can show pending updates in one command.
Turn on automatic security updates for the operating system on servers where a restart won't hurt.
Find out which database and language versions you run, and check when they reach end of support.
Write down the expiry date of your domain and certificate, and check the renewal card on file is still valid.
Make sure renewal emails go to a shared address, not one person.

What's included in which plan

	Guard $700/mo	Watch $1,200/mo	Operate $2,800/mo
Software updates, tested before they go live	Yes	Yes	Yes
Certificate and domain expiry watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Locked-down servers and network rules	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk and database capacity watch	No	Yes	Yes
Larger version upgrades (database, language)	Planned with you, priced up front	Planned with you, priced up front	Included as changes on request

Guard and Watch start with a one-time setup of $1,500. Operate setup is quoted after the free review. Month to month, no exit fee. See all plans.

Updates are the core of Guard. If you want someone to keep the doors locked and the software current, it is the plan built for that.

Questions about updates

Will updates cause downtime?

Most security updates don't. Some need a restart of a service or a server, which usually takes seconds to a few minutes. Those go into the window you approved, and we tell you beforehand which ones need a restart.

We don't have a test environment. Can you still test updates?

Often, yes. We can create a temporary copy of a server for testing and remove it afterward. Where that isn't practical, we update the least critical server first and wait before doing the rest.

What about updates to our own app's code libraries?

Those live in your code and are your team's call. We flag known security problems in the libraries you use and tell you which ones are urgent. On Operate, we can prepare the change for your team to review.

What if an update breaks something?

We roll back to the snapshot or backup taken just before, then work out what went wrong before trying again. You hear from us in plain words, with what happened and what we did.

How we work with your systems

You stay in control

Read-only access first
The free bill check needs read access and nothing else. Nothing in your systems changes.
You approve every change
Each change comes as a short written note first: what, why, and how to undo it.
Your data and billing stay yours
Everything stays in your own account. We never become your billing contact.
Every action logged
Every action we take is logged, and the log is visible to you.
One-click access removal
Delete the access role and our access ends at once, with no penalty.
Month to month
There is no minimum term and no exit fee. Stop at the end of any month.