How We Work → Billing Options → Sprint Pod (Time-and-Materials Cap)
Predictable agility.
A Sprint Pod gives you a reserved, cross-discipline squad that works in fixed-length sprints while never billing above a pre-agreed ceiling. It’s perfect when your Feature Clarity Index (FCI) is 5–8: you know the direction, but details still evolve.
Why Choose a Sprint Pod?
| Your Situation | What the Pod Delivers |
|---|---|
| Scope is moving but roadmap is clear | Continuous delivery in two-week slices with demoable increments. |
| Budget holders need guard-rails | Hard weekly cap prevents runaway spend; burn-up charts prove value. |
| You need velocity fast | Pre-gelled team drops in with CI/CD, BDD and BPMN playbook ready to go. |
| Future may require Fixed or DaaS | Easy up-switch to Fixed-Scope Pack (when FCI ≥ 8) or roll into Full DaaS without contract churn. |
Pod Composition & Capacity
| Role | FTE Range | Key Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Product / Delivery Lead | 0.5 | Backlog, sprint cadence, reporting |
| Solution Architect | 0.3 | Data, integration, non-functional design |
| Front-End Dev | 0.8–1 | Svelte/LWC components, UX tweaks |
| Back-End / Apex Dev | 0.8–1 | Django services, Apex logic, APIs |
| QA / BDD Engineer | 0.3 | Test automation, quality gates |
| DevOps / SRE | 0.2 | CI/CD, observability hooks |
Typical pod size: 3.0 – 3.5 FTE. Scale ±1 FTE with one-sprint notice.
Cadence & Ceremonies
| Cadence | Event | Outputs |
|---|---|---|
| Every 2 weeks | Sprint Planning → Demo → Retro | Committed backlog slice • Working increment • Improvement actions |
| Monthly | Steering Day | FCI re-score, budget burn, risk heat-map |
| Daily | Stand-up (15 min) | Blocker surfacing, plan sync |
| Continuous | CI/CD Pipeline | Static analysis, unit + BDD, deploy preview |
All meetings are open to your stakeholders or recorded for async review.
Cap Mechanics & Budget Control
Weekly Hours × Rate → Cap
(cannot be exceeded without signed change note).
10% Flex Buffer
pre-approved in case of hot fixes; unused buffer rolls one sprint.
Real-Time Burn-Up
dashboard shows hours vs. cap, story points vs. plan.
Variance Alerts
Slack/Teams ping if forecast may breach 80% of cap.
Deliverables & Evidence
| Category | Evidence You See |
|---|---|
| Working Software | Deployed preview URL every sprint |
| Documentation | BPMN L3 diagrams & in-repo ADRs |
| Quality | Coverage %, static-analysis score, performance bench |
| Forecasts | Velocity trend, budget burn, risk heat-map |
All artefacts migrate unchanged if you switch to Fixed or DaaS.
Governance & Transparency
- Open Backlog — Jira/Linear access with comment rights.
- Decision Log — scope & budget changes stamped at Steering Day.
- Quality Gates — merge blocked if tests/coverage below threshold.
- FCI Trend — visible chart drives model switch decisions.
Switching Pathways
| Trigger | Recommended Move | Why |
|---|---|---|
| FCI ≥ 8 & scope frozen | Fixed-Scope Pack | Lock price for remaining features. |
| Roadmap extends > 6 months | Full DaaS | Cheaper blended rate, ops included. |
| Volatility ↑ (> 15 %) | Stay in Pod or revert to Mini-DaaS | Keeps agility without renegotiation. |
Switch = new forecast, no penalty; contract umbrella already covers all models.
Commercial Terms
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Billing | Weekly in arrears or twice-monthly, matching cap |
| Notice | 1 sprint (2 weeks) to up/down-scale or pause |
| IP Ownership | Transfers on payment; repo can live in your GitHub |
| Holiday / Downtime | Not billed; schedule aligned with sprint calendar |
| Rate Review | Every 6 months or CPI > 6 % |
Sample 3-Sprint Timeline
| Sprint | Focus | Key Win |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set up CI/CD, baseline UX shell | Preview link + smoke tests live |
| 2 | Core entity CRUD + auth | Demo handles real data end-to-end |
| 3 | Integration spike + perf test | API round-trip proven < 300 ms |
After Sprint 3 the project moved to a Fixed-Scope Pack for a hard launch date.
Mini Case
Insur-Tech MVP — Sprint Pod delivered three customer journeys and two system integrations in 6 weeks, holding spend 3 % under cap. FCI climbed from 5.4 → 8.2, enabling a smooth shift to a Fixed-Scope release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need sprint-level agility without budget anxiety?
Book a 30-minute Sprint Pod consult—get a squad lineup, cap figure and start date within 48 h.
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