Compared
An install, a hire, a large firm, or DIY tools.
The same question, four answers. Here is how an Echelon install compares with hiring in-house, bringing in a large firm, or wiring up tools yourself, on the things that decide whether the work actually gets done.
The short version
A hire brings judgment. A firm brings a report. Tools bring features. An install brings a system that runs inside your tools, with your approvals in place, a named owner, and a weekly report.
Side by side
Seven questions, four answers each.
No figures, because the honest ones depend on your company. The shape of each option does not.
| Question | 01An Echelon install | 02An in-house hire | 03A large firm | 04DIY tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the mapping | Echelon, with the people doing the work, before anything is scoped. Your team reviews the map and the scope comes out of it. | The new hire, once they have learned the company. The map usually arrives months after the start date. | A discovery phase, run by a team that rotates off once the report is delivered. | You, one tool at a time, usually after hours. |
| Who does the building | A pod sized to the build from Echelon's engineering bench, two engineers for a focused system up to a programme team, with a development manager on your direct line and Yadel accountable throughout. | One person, for everything, at the pace one person has, and the gap when they are out. | A team assembled for the engagement and rotated as the firm's staffing changes. | You, with the vendor's support queue. |
| Who owns the decisions | You. Every consequential action waits for your named owner, and the system never moves money. | The hire, on their own judgment, inside whatever process exists when they arrive. | The recommendations are the firm's. Execution usually falls to your team once the engagement ends. | You, and the defaults each tool ships with. |
| How the price is set | One set price in writing after mapping, changed only by a scope change. Ongoing operation is a separate monthly line, disclosed with the build price. | Salary, benefits, recruiting, and the tools they need, open-ended. | Time and materials, or a retainer that grows as the scope does. | Per-seat subscriptions that stack as the number of tools does. |
| Time to a first system | First working build in two weeks. Launch between day 30 and day 90 by scope, with the date in writing. | Recruiting, a notice period, onboarding, and then the first build. | Discovery, a proposal, a build phase, and then your team takes it on. | Fast to switch on, slow to make reliable across tools. |
| What happens after launch | Echelon stays on: monitoring, a weekly report on what ran and what is waiting, improvement, and the next system on the same layer. | Depends on whether the hire stays, and on who covers the system when they are out. | The engagement ends. A maintenance contract may follow. | You maintain the connections and the prompts when they break. |
| What you own | The outcomes, the data, and the documentation. Every result is yours. | The code, if it was documented. The knowledge leaves with the person. | The deliverables and the report. | Your data, inside someone else's tool, on their terms. |
Where we start
Where the first system goes.
The mapping call decides it. These are the starting points we see most.
- 01If your process still changes every week, we start by making it repeat.
- 02If the bottleneck is getting customers, we start with the system that answers and follows up with every lead.
- 03If nobody inside owns the work yet, we name the owner in the map.
- 04If one small tool already solves it, we tell you, and build what sits between the tools.
Questions
What people ask before they decide.
Why not just hire someone?
Sometimes that is the right call, and we tell you on the mapping call. An install is for work that already repeats: it goes live in weeks, runs inside the tools you have, and comes with a named owner and a weekly report. A hire brings judgment. Many companies run both, and the hire spends their time on the exceptions.
Do we end up dependent on Echelon?
You own the outcomes, the data, and the documentation. We run the system because that is what keeps it working, not because you are locked in.
What does it cost?
We do not publish fees. After mapping you get one set price in writing, changed only by a scope change. Ongoing operation is a separate monthly line, disclosed with the build price.
Your first department
Bring the process you still run by hand.
One mapping call. You leave with the system design, the price in writing, and the date it goes live. The first build lands in two weeks.
Pricing
How the set price is built.
The drivers, what is included, and the separate monthly operating line, with no fees published.
See how pricing works