Answer Hub
How Does Blue Octopus Scope and Price an Engagement?
Discovery call first. We map the workflow you want changed, the systems it touches, what success looks like, and what the data substrate looks like. Then we scope the work and propose a structure — fixed-price for well-defined builds, ongoing-relationship pricing for systems we're operating against your data over time.
What the Discovery Call Covers
Forty-five minutes. We ask about the workflow that's eating the most office time, the systems it currently touches (PM software, ERP, CRM, vendor portals, paper, email), the role of the person who runs it today, and what 'this works' would look like a year from now. We don't pitch — we map. By the end of the call we know whether the engagement is real, whether the data substrate supports it, and what shape the next conversation should take. If the answer is 'we're not the right fit,' we say so on the call.
What 'Scope' Means
Scope is the bounded statement of what's being built or operated. For a fixed-price build (one agent, one workflow, one integration), scope is the deliverable, the data inputs, the acceptance criteria, and the timeline. For an ongoing-relationship engagement (a configured Box, multi-role agent stack), scope is the role configuration, the maintenance envelope, the cloud-API budget, and the engineering bench. We write the scope before any contract gets signed. The first deliverable is the scope document, not code.
Why We Don't Publish Package Pricing
Because the right number depends on the role, the existing data substrate, the systems we're integrating against, and whether the engagement is one box or a fleet of boxes. A 'starter' price published online would either be way too high for a small focused build or way too low for a real engagement — both of which mislead you and waste a discovery call. We'd rather you know we exist, see what we ship, and let us scope your specific situation. You'll know the number before you commit to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you do free discovery calls?
Yes — the first call is free and we do not pitch on it. If we end up the right fit, we'll propose next steps. If we don't, we'll tell you why and what kind of firm would be the right fit instead.
How long until we see something working?
Focused builds (a single agent, a workflow automation, a targeted integration) typically take 4-8 weeks from kickoff to production. Multi-component engagements run longer because they're meant to. We ship working software in short increments — you see progress every couple of weeks, not at the end of a six-month black box.
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