Our Services
Three Engagement Types, Each Built for a Specific Planning Moment
Kern Labs doesn't offer an all-purpose consulting retainer. Instead, three clearly scoped engagements address the situations teams most commonly face when working through compute capacity.
Back to HomeOur Approach
How Each Engagement Is Structured
Scope Agreement
Before any engagement begins, Kern Labs confirms the scope in writing — what sessions are included, what deliverables will be produced, and any data or preparation needed from your team.
Working Sessions
Sessions are structured working meetings, not open-ended conversations. Each has a defined agenda, a set of questions to work through, and a clear output expected at the close.
Deliverable Handover
Every engagement closes with documented deliverables your team can hold onto, share with stakeholders, and update independently — no ongoing subscription or return engagement required.
Capacity Forecast Session
A half-day working session to estimate near-term accelerator capacity needs based on your team's expected workloads. The session translates ambitions and pipeline expectations into rough numbers — with all the maths shown and every assumption stated explicitly.
This engagement is suited to leads who are sketching a first capacity plan and need a structured starting point rather than a back-of-envelope figure. It produces a forecast worksheet that the team can update as expectations develop.
What's included:
- One half-day working session (in person or remote)
- Forecast worksheet with named assumptions and variable inputs
- Monitoring variable list — indicators to track as plans evolve
- Session notes with key decisions and open questions
Process steps:
- 01Pre-session prep: Kern Labs sends a short information request to understand workload context
- 02Half-day session: work through capacity model together, naming each assumption as it's entered
- 03Deliverable handover: worksheet and variable list sent within two business days
Utilisation Review & Right-Sizing
A review of current compute usage to find where resources sit idle and where they run consistently tight. Right-sizing suggestions are drawn directly from your own utilisation figures rather than industry benchmarks, which means recommendations reflect your actual situation.
Best suited to platform owners with existing accelerator infrastructure who want a clear view of how well it's being used before committing to more capacity or making changes to how workloads are scheduled.
What's included:
- Two working sessions — data review and recommendations discussion
- Written utilisation report with analysis of usage patterns
- Prioritised adjustment list — changes ranked by expected impact
- Summary of findings suitable for sharing with technical leadership
Process steps:
- 01Data intake: agree on which utilisation metrics to share and how to export them
- 02Session one: walkthrough of usage data, identification of idle and tight zones
- 03Session two: review of draft recommendations, clarification of priorities
- 04Deliverable handover: written report and adjustment list within five business days
Multi-Phase Capacity Roadmap
A longer engagement that builds a phased capacity roadmap across several planning horizons, aligning growth expectations with budget cycles and accelerator procurement lead times. Kern Labs acts as an independent planning partner throughout the three-month engagement.
Suited to organisations that are scaling steadily and need a plan that can be handed to finance and procurement teams as a credible, reviewable document rather than a rough estimate.
What's included:
- Three-month engagement with milestone review sessions
- Multi-horizon roadmap document with phased capacity targets
- Budget and procurement timeline alignment analysis
- Revision support within the engagement window
- Final roadmap document formatted for stakeholder review
Process steps:
- 01Intake: establish planning horizons, growth assumptions, budget constraints
- 02Month 1: workload modelling and first-phase capacity targets
- 03Month 2: mid-range horizon analysis and procurement timeline mapping
- 04Month 3: long-range scenarios, roadmap finalisation, revision support
Choosing the Right Engagement
Which Engagement Fits Your Situation
The right starting point depends on where a team currently stands, not on what sounds most comprehensive.
| Feature | Forecast Session RM 470 |
Utilisation Review RM 1,790 |
Capacity Roadmap RM 3,040 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | Half-day session | Two sessions (~2 weeks) | Three months |
| Planning horizon covered | Near-term (3–6 months) | Current state analysis | Multi-horizon (1–3 years) |
| Needs existing infra data | |||
| Forecast worksheet | |||
| Utilisation report | |||
| Roadmap document | |||
| Revision support |
Best for
Leads sketching a first plan with no established infrastructure baseline
Best for
Platform owners with existing compute who want to understand how it's being used
Best for
Organisations with sustained growth expectations that need a multi-horizon plan
Shared Across All Engagements
Technical Standards We Apply
Data Handling
Usage data shared during engagements is handled with discretion and not retained beyond the agreed scope.
Explainability
Every figure in a forecast or report has a traceable source. No black-box outputs that teams can't interrogate.
Vendor Neutrality
No commercial relationship with any hardware or cloud provider. Outputs reflect the plan requirements, not purchasing preferences.
Written Scope
All engagements begin with a written scope document. What's in and out of scope is clear before work begins.
Delivery Timelines
Agreed delivery dates for written outputs are commitments, not estimates. Changes are communicated in advance.
Usable Outputs
Deliverables are formatted for the people who need to act on them — finance, procurement, engineering leadership.
Pricing
Fixed Prices for Every Engagement
Engagement 01
Capacity Forecast Session
RM 470
per engagement
- Half-day working session
- Forecast worksheet
- Variable monitoring list
Engagement 02
Utilisation Review
RM 1,790
per engagement
- Two working sessions
- Written utilisation report
- Prioritised adjustment list
Engagement 03
Multi-Phase Roadmap
RM 3,040
per engagement
- Three-month engagement
- Roadmap document
- Revision support included
Not Sure Where to Start?
A Short Message Is Enough
Describe where your team currently stands in a few sentences and we'll come back with a clear view of which engagement would be the most useful starting point.
Get in Touch