PDS Consulting / Bundles / Managed Transformation
Managed Transformation Bundle
Strategic enterprise architecture and operational integration support, running concurrently as one managed relationship — not two separate retainers you coordinate yourself. Most mid-market firms can't justify a full-time enterprise architect and a full-time integration operations team. This bundle gives you both as fractional PDS engagement, without the headcount and without the per-engagement procurement cycle every time a question surfaces.
At a glance
- Includes
- Digital Transformation Advisory retainer + Integration Support managed services — running concurrently
- Best for
- $20M–$200M firms with ongoing transformation activity and a production integration footprint — no full-time architect or integration ops team in-house
- Three tiers
- Light · Standard · Plus — scoped to your integration footprint and transformation cadence
- Sponsors
- CIO, CTO, COO, or CFO with budget authority for ongoing managed services
- Pricing
- Quote — a tiered monthly retainer, scoped to your needs.
An extended architecture team for firms that can't yet justify a full-time one.
The problem isn't usually a single project that went sideways. It's the gap that opens between projects — when architectural decisions get made informally, integration health drifts without anyone catching it, and every new question requires scoping a new engagement. The Managed Transformation Bundle closes that gap with a standing relationship: strategic oversight on one side, operational integration coverage on the other, both held together by one PDS lead and one quarterly executive readout.
Does any of this sound familiar?
- You make architectural decisions every quarter — platform choices, vendor selections, integration designs — but no one on the team owns that role full-time.
- Your last consultancy was excellent during the project. The day they went live, the relationship ended. Six months later, something only they understood broke.
- You have production integration flows that matter operationally — but no one is monitoring them with architectural awareness, only ticket-level MSP response.
- You just finished a major transformation program and want continuity from PDS — but there's no obvious next project to procure.
- Your M&A pipeline is steady. Each acquisition brings new integration questions and new architectural decisions. You need someone holding the memory of your environment.
Two retainers, one relationship.
Strategic and operational coverage running concurrently — designed so the same architect informing your transformation decisions is also watching your integration health.
Strategic side
Digital Transformation Advisory
Ongoing architectural decision support, technology roadmap maintenance, vendor recommendations, and transformation governance. Your outside enterprise architect on retainer — available for the questions that don't justify a full project engagement but do require real architectural judgment.
Operational side
Integration Support & Managed Services
Daily monitoring, incident response, performance management, and change management for your production integration flows. When an incident surfaces an architectural issue, it routes directly to the advisory side — no coordination required because the same PDS lead holds both.
PDS is platform-independent — no software reseller tier, no licensing margin at stake. The advisory side recommends what fits your environment; the operational side supports what you run.
How the retainer works.
Not a project with phases and go-lives. Both retainers run concurrently from month one — the onboarding sprint is the only one-time element.
01 · Onboarding sprint
PDS meets your stakeholders, reviews the current architecture state, takes inventory of production integration flows, establishes the monthly cadence, and defines escalation paths and quarterly objectives. One-time, before retainers commence.
02 · Ongoing advisory cadence
Monthly architecture review — decisions documented as they're made, roadmap updated, vendor and platform questions answered. Architectural memory builds with each session rather than resetting when a project closes.
03 · Integration ops coverage
Daily monitoring and incident response for production flows, alongside monthly health review. Incidents with architectural root cause route to the advisory side without a separate engagement; performance and capacity trends are tracked across quarters.
04 · Quarterly executive readout
One joint readout covers both retainers — transformation strategy and integration operations together. CIO, CFO, or COO gets a single narrative rather than coordinating two separate retainer updates. Roadmap refresh and bundle health review run annually.
Three tiers, same structure. Light pairs an Advisory Retainer with Managed Light integration support — best for smaller mid-market firms with occasional architectural questions and limited integration scope. Standard pairs a Fractional Enterprise Architect with Managed Standard — for firms transforming actively with an ongoing integration footprint. Plus pairs an Embedded Program Lead with Managed Plus — for larger firms running multi-year transformation programs with high-criticality integration operations. Tier transitions are negotiable at any quarterly review.
What the bundle delivers that separate retainers don't.
- One relationship covering strategic and operational — no coordinating two separate retainers or two separate quarterly updates.
- Continuity of architectural context — the same architect informs transformation decisions and watches integration health, so each side informs the other.
- Bundled retainer pricing — multi-retainer discount applies for as long as both retainers are active.
- Reduced procurement overhead — most architectural questions and most integration incidents don't require a new SOW.
- Effective enterprise architecture and integration operations capability at a fraction of the cost of equivalent in-house headcount.
What you're aiming at.
- Architectural decisions documented as they happen — no "wait, why did we do this" gaps six months later.
- Integration health metrics — uptime, incident response time, silent-failure catch rate — trending in the right direction.
- Transformation roadmap maintained and updated quarterly rather than annually or when a project forces it.
- Vendor and platform decisions made with documented rationale, not by default to the incumbent.
- Audit-readiness on transformation governance maintained on an ongoing basis — not a scramble before each review.
Outcomes are what this bundle is built to deliver, grounded in the constituent retainer services. PDS has no closed Managed Transformation bundle engagements yet — this section will be updated with measured numbers as the first engagements close and retention and performance data accumulates.
Who it's for.
- $20M–$200M firms with ongoing transformation activity — multi-year roadmaps, M&A pipeline, continuous platform evolution — rather than a single one-time project.
- An integration footprint that's operationally meaningful — multiple production flows with real incident risk and real performance management need.
- No full-time enterprise architect or integration operations team in-house — or one that exists but is over-extended.
- Relationship-shaped buyer: you want PDS-as-extended-team over the long term, not PDS for a specific defined project.
- Executive sponsor — CIO, CTO, COO, or CFO — with budget authority for a monthly managed services commitment.
When it's not the bundle.
- One-time project buyers — a project bundle (Quote-to-Cash, Service Operations) is the right fit; the Managed Transformation Bundle is structurally different.
- No production integration footprint — if there are no integrations to monitor, Integration Support doesn't compute. We'll sell the DT Advisory retainer alone.
- No active transformation roadmap — if architectural decisions aren't being made on an ongoing basis, DT Advisory retainer doesn't compute. We'll sell Integration Support alone.
- Internal teams that resist outside architectural review — a political mismatch the bundle can't overcome.
- Procurement cultures that fight monthly retainers in favour of project SOWs — project bundles will be easier for everyone.
Unsure which shape fits — project or retainer? A short scoping call is usually enough to tell. If the bundle isn't the right fit, we'll say so and point to the right service.
No pitch, no pressure
One managed relationship, not two retainers to coordinate.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell whether your environment is bundle-shaped — and which tier fits your integration footprint and transformation cadence.
Book a call →Or explore the other bundles or individual services.