How Engagements Start

From First Call to Clear Plan \u2014 No Surprises, No Pressure

Every Forged engagement starts the same way: a short conversation to determine if there\u2019s a fit, followed by a structured discovery to define the scope, followed by a clear recommendation you can act on or walk away from.

No open-ended retainers. No discovery phases that quietly become billable projects. No pressure to commit before you understand what you\u2019re getting.

01

Discovery Call

15 MinutesCost: FreePrep: None — just know your situation

A 15-minute phone call to determine if Forged is the right fit for your situation.

What We Ask You
What’s driving the project or the urgency?
How many locations are involved?
What vendors are you currently managing?
What’s your timeline and budget range?
What We Tell You
Whether your situation falls within Forged’s scope
Which capability areas are relevant (physical infrastructure, network/IT, security, procurement, or a combination)
Whether a scoped discovery is warranted or whether a simpler solution exists
What Happens If It\u2019s Not a Fit

We tell you directly. If your need is better served by a standalone MSP, a general contractor, or a security consultancy, we’ll say so and, where possible, point you in the right direction. The call ends cleanly. No follow-up pressure.

02

Scoped Discovery

1–3 WeeksCost: Scoped and quoted before discovery beginsPrep: Access to existing vendor contracts, infrastructure documentation (if any), and key stakeholders for brief interviews

A structured assessment of your infrastructure environment — physical and digital — to define the engagement boundary before any work begins.

What Forged Does
Reviews your current vendor landscape, infrastructure inventory, and documentation state
Identifies gaps, risks, and coordination failures across physical and digital systems
Maps your situation against Forged’s frameworks: the 20-Point Rapid Qualification for opportunity assessment, and the Vision Alignment Gate to confirm scope, timeline, and expectations are aligned
Defines the engagement boundary: what’s in scope, what’s out, and why
What You Receive
A written assessment summarizing current state, gaps, and risks
A recommended engagement scope with defined deliverables
A timeline with milestones
A cost estimate — not a range, not “it depends,” a number tied to defined work
A clear decision point: proceed, modify, or walk away

Discovery is a defined step with a defined output. It does not silently convert into an ongoing engagement. You review the recommendation, ask questions, and make a decision with full information.

03

Recommendation & Decision

Your timelineCost: No charge for revisionPrep: None

Forged presents the engagement recommendation. You decide.

What the Recommendation Includes
Engagement scope: exactly what Forged will deliver, at which locations, over what timeline
Deliverables list: every document, deployment, and handoff item defined in advance
RACI matrix: who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for each workstream
Cost structure: fixed-scope pricing where possible, with any variable elements clearly identified and capped
Success criteria: how both sides will know the engagement delivered what it promised
Proceed

Forged begins execution against the defined scope. No scope changes without mutual agreement and documentation.

Modify

If the scope needs adjustment, Forged revises the recommendation and re-presents. No charge for revision.

Walk away

No obligation. The discovery output is yours to keep regardless. If you use it to hire someone else or execute internally, that’s fine.

After the Project

Ongoing Support Is Optional, Not Assumed

Not every engagement leads to an ongoing relationship. Some are one-time projects and they end cleanly with a documented handoff. For clients who want ongoing support:

Quarterly Operational Reviews

Infrastructure health check across all locations, vendor performance review, and proactive identification of emerging gaps or risks.

Vendor Coordination

Forged continues to serve as the single point of contact for cross-domain infrastructure issues. One call instead of six.

Expansion Playbook

When you open the next location, the design, procurement, and deployment process is already defined. Site 2 (or 12) takes weeks instead of months.

Commitments We Make to Every Client
No scope creep.

The engagement boundary is defined in writing before work begins. Changes require mutual agreement and a documented scope amendment.

No surprise billing.

If something emerges during execution that wasn’t anticipated, Forged flags it, scopes it, prices it, and presents it for your approval before proceeding. You never receive an invoice for work you didn’t authorize.

No vendor lock-in.

Every deliverable — documentation, configurations, network diagrams, asset inventories — is yours. If you decide to move to a different partner after the engagement, everything transfers cleanly. Forged does not hold deliverables hostage.

No inflated timelines.

If a project can be done in 6 weeks, we don’t stretch it to 12 to justify more hours. Our reputation depends on efficiency, not on billing duration.

See It In Action

A Commercial Buildout, Start to Finish

A 40-desk office with a 200-amp server room, badge-controlled entry, and SOC 2 compliance. Here is how Forged coordinates it as one engagement.

01
ScopeWeeks 1–2

Forged walks the space with the client’s leadership team. Raw walls, exposed ceiling, empty electrical panels. Instead of calling seven separate contractors, Forged documents every objective in one session. Forty desks. A 200-amp server room. Badge-controlled entry. VoIP on every desk. SOC 2 compliance by Q4. The entire scope is captured and locked before a single dollar moves.

02
DesignWeeks 2–4

Physical and digital blueprints designed together. HVAC zones mapped alongside wireless coverage. Structured cabling planned with electrician conduit paths. The server room gets dedicated cooling sized to actual rack load. Materials and technology sourced at wholesale through distribution partnerships. One RFP. One approval cycle.

03
ReviewWeek 4

Good / Better / Best options presented for every system. The client picks their path with full cost transparency. Compliance requirements mapped to the build: badge readers for SOC 2 physical controls, encrypted wireless for data-in-transit, segmented VLANs for guest isolation. Every deliverable assigned a RACI owner with a name — not a department.

04
BuildWeeks 5–12

Construction and IT deployment on parallel tracks. HVAC during weeks 5–7 while cabling teams pull runs behind walls. Week 9: the electrical panel can’t support server room cooling. A typical project stalls two weeks. Forged coordinates a panel upgrade through its contractor and distribution network, adjusting the timeline by three days — not three weeks.

05
TestWeeks 12–13

Before employees move in, Forged runs a penetration test — external, internal, and wireless. Two medium findings: a misconfigured switch port and a default credential on the badge reader console. Both remediated same day. SOC monitoring activated. Endpoint protection deployed to all 40 workstations. Compliance evidence package compiled for the auditor.

06
OperateWeek 14+

Client moves in on schedule. Forged manages IT, monitors security 24/7, handles vendor warranties, and schedules the first QBR for day 90. When the HVAC compressor trips a fault six weeks later, the client calls the same team that specified, sourced, and installed it.

Ready to Start?

15 minutes. No commitment. We\u2019ll determine if Forged is the right fit for your situation \u2014 and tell you honestly if it\u2019s not.

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