SHANNON
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Product development:
from "outsourcing" to "a team."

SHANNON's engineering team works alongside your product development for a fixed period as an embedded team. We handle the whole arc, from requirements through design, implementation, and entering operation, working as part of your in-house team. It is a third way of engaging, neither "just supplying people" nor "building only what we are told."

Pain points

Does any of this sound familiar?

You want to move a product forward, but neither in-house hiring nor your usual vendors quite fit. This way of engaging is built for cases like that.

You want to accelerate product development, but in-house engineer hiring cannot keep up.
You cannot find an external team to entrust with design, implementation, and operation end to end.
Staffing tends to "just supply people" and contract work to "build only what is asked," so proposals and judgment never surface.
You are looking for a partner to build the product together with, in three- to six-month spans.
You want a team to work alongside your existing developers and lend senior judgment and hands.
You have no one you can entrust with post-release operation design and handover as well.
Why us

We act as "your in-house development team"

Not dispatching individuals, not just building to spec — we work alongside you as a team that owns the output.

  • 01We take responsibility for the output as a team. We work in a structure where the project does not stall if any one person leaves.
  • 02The same members who operate our own products, Security Sign and Kitei Log, take on the client's product. Drawing on operation experience, we judge where design, implementation, and operation each pay off.
  • 03We do not separate design, implementation, and operation. Post-release operation design and handover are in scope, and we choose designs that pay off in the operation phase from the start.
Scope

What we cover

Within working alongside your project, we take on only what each engagement needs. Not everything below is standard scope.

01 Discovery

Requirements and product design

We listen to your business requirements and organize them into product requirements and priorities. We can join even before "what to build" is settled.

  • Business interviews and user research
  • Organizing functional and non-functional requirements
  • Prioritization and roadmap building
  • KPI design and measurement approach
  • User story design

Good fit: launching a new business / before a major overhaul of an existing product / the phase before requirements are settled

02 Architecture

Architecture and tech selection

We select the tech stack and architecture with scale, operation, and hiring in mind, and leave it documented as design records.

  • Architecture diagrams and data model design
  • Tech selection (frontend, backend, infrastructure)
  • Cloud architecture design (AWS / GCP / Vercel / Supabase, etc.)
  • Security and compliance design
  • ADRs and design documentation

Good fit: starting new development / revisiting an existing design / before a replatform

03 Build

Backend, frontend, and mobile implementation

A senior-led team implements features. We own the decisions around implementation, from tech selection through test strategy.

  • Go / Node.js / PHP / Python backend
  • React / Next.js / TypeScript frontend
  • React Native / Swift / Kotlin mobile
  • DB schema and API design
  • Test strategy and automation

Good fit: scaling a product / adding or reworking features / launching a new product

04 Infrastructure

Infrastructure build and CI/CD

We build the cloud architecture, CI/CD, and monitoring suited to the project. You can also commission the infrastructure on its own.

  • AWS / GCP production architecture
  • Terraform / IaC
  • CI/CD and deploy automation
  • Monitoring, logging, and alert design
  • Security, WAF, and IAM design

Good fit: launching a new product / migrating from on-premises to cloud / standing up an SRE practice

05 Operate

Operation design and handover

We design the post-release operation phase and leave it in a form your in-house team can take over. The work does not end at entering operation; reaching operation is the scope.

  • SLI / SLO design
  • Incident response process
  • Operation procedure documents
  • Monitoring dashboard design
  • Gradual knowledge transfer

Good fit: just before release / shifting to in-house operation / improving existing operations

06 Team

How we work as a team

Weekly syncs, sharing in Slack, PR reviews — we work as part of your in-house team. At the start we agree on a way of working that avoids information asymmetry.

  • Weekly or biweekly syncs
  • Sharing via Slack / Notion / GitHub
  • Design reviews with your in-house engineers
  • Sitting in on hiring interviews (as needed)
  • Spreading and handing over know-how internally

Good fit: running alongside an existing team / working alongside you toward in-house capability / an organization without senior engineers

Process

From first conversation to starting development

We start with a free 30-to-60-minute conversation. We confirm the scope and team, then move to a contract.

  • 01Consultation — a free 30-to-60-minute online session where we hear your situation, challenges, and direction. We can sign an NDA.
  • 02Discovery and scoping — over two to four weeks we work out requirements, team, timeline, and budget together. We can start before requirements are fixed.
  • 03Proposal and contract — we present the period, team, and expected output in writing, and contract on a delegation basis.
  • 04Kickoff and start of development — we first set the syncs, workflow, and communication style with your in-house team, then begin building.
  • 05Regular reviews — we share output weekly and monthly, and flexibly decide whether to continue, expand, scale back, or wrap up.
Engagement

Ways to engage

Three formats depending on project size. We present pricing in writing once requirements are fixed.

Project

Fixed-period engagement

  • Projects in three- to six-month spans
  • Handled end to end, from design through entering operation
  • Output from a senior-led team
  • At operation, choose handover or continued engagement
Retainer

Ongoing engagement

  • Regular updates and feature additions in the operation phase
  • Monthly capacity that flexes up or down
  • PR reviews and design consultation included
  • A joint setup with your in-house team
Spot

Spot

  • A one-off design review
  • Sounding-board sessions on tech selection (one to a few)
  • Codebase assessment
  • For work that wraps up in one to two weeks
Comparison

Compared to the alternatives

Neither "just supplying people" nor "building only what is asked" — we take a position where, as a team, we own everything from design through entering operation.

Staffing (dispatch)
  • People show up, but you carry all the decisions in-house
  • No responsibility for design or architecture
  • Operation handover is a separate contract
Contract work (spec-based)
  • Proposals beyond the spec rarely surface
  • The relationship ends at delivery
  • Handover into the operation phase is a separate contract
SHANNON
  • Owns the output as a team
  • Handles everything from design through entering operation
  • Handover is part of the scope
Promises

Our promises

  • 01We own the output as a team. This is not dispatching individual staff.
  • 02We do not separate design, implementation, and operation; reaching operation is in scope.
  • 03At operation we leave things in a state you can take over (operation procedure documents and design documentation). No vendor lock-in.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

We most often take on project engagements over three to six months, but we also handle one-month short projects and 12-month ongoing engagement in the operation phase. A spot design review wraps up in one to two weeks.
That is actually the standard. We work in a mixed setup of your in-house engineers and the SHANNON team, sharing design reviews, PR reviews, and syncs. We settle the communication style (sync frequency, Slack channel structure, PR rules) at kickoff.
Yes — it is part of standard scope. We leave operation procedure documents, design documentation, and ADRs, and release in a state your in-house team can take over. Continued engagement after handover is also possible, but it is your call.
We work fully remote as a rule, combining asynchronous and synchronous work on Slack / GitHub / Notion / Zoom. We come in for kickoff and key in-person meetings. We can also handle projects that require a private VPN connection.
We work under an NDA. We start access permissions at the minimum and confirm the needed scope each time. Code and documents are kept in your repositories as a rule, so only a local cache or so remains on the SHANNON side.
Project engagements are fixed-term; ongoing engagement and spot work renew monthly. Ongoing engagement can be cancelled with 30 days' notice. For fixed-term projects, we agree on early-termination conditions when contracting.

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We reply within two business days of your inquiry.

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