MeryttWhat a technology roadmap costs, and what you should get for it.
You know something in your technology is wrong. Before you pay to fix it, you want a plan and a price. Here is what that plan should cost and contain.
Most owners we speak to have the same worry. They know something in their technology is wrong. They do not know what it is, what fixing it costs, or who to trust to tell them.
A technology roadmap is meant to answer all three. Here is what one should cost, what it should contain, and how to tell a good one from a bad one. We use our own prices as the example, because they are the ones we can stand behind.
How much does a technology roadmap cost?
At Merytt, a Roadmap starts from €3,500, priced by the size of your business and fixed before we start. For that you get a written plan: what is wrong with your technology, one recommended build, its price, and what it costs each month to keep it running. The plan is yours whether you go ahead or not.
Other firms price this work in very different ways. Some give it away and make their money on the build. Some charge by the day and stop when the days run out. Whichever you choose, get the price in writing before anyone starts, and ask what you get to keep at the end.
If your business has more than 50 staff, we size the Roadmap on a call. A number on a page would be made up.
What should a technology roadmap include?
A good roadmap names what is wrong in plain words, recommends one fix rather than a menu, and puts a price on that fix. It should also say what the fix costs to run each month once it is built. If any of those four is missing, you cannot act on it.
Ours has four parts:
- What is really in the way. The tools, the data, and how work moves through your team, written down in words your team would recognise.
- One recommended build. One fix we think is right, with up to two alternatives if they are worth knowing about.
- Its price. What the build costs, in euro, with how it is paid.
- The monthly. What it costs to keep it running, named in the plan rather than left for a later conversation.
What a roadmap should not be is a slide deck of ideas. A plan you cannot price is a wish list.
Why pay for a roadmap when some firms offer one free?
A free plan is usually a sales pitch with a plan attached. The person writing it only gets paid if you buy the build, so it tends to recommend a build. A paid roadmap is the work itself. You own it, and you can take it to anyone you like.
That is why we charge for ours. Being paid for the plan lets us tell you the truth, including when the right answer is a small fix, or no fix at all.
Does the roadmap fee come off the build?
At Merytt, yes, if you move while the plan is fresh. Go ahead with the build within 14 days of getting your Roadmap and the full Roadmap fee comes off it. Go ahead within 45 days and half of it comes off. After that the plan is still yours, but there is no credit.
We set it up this way because a plan goes stale. Your business keeps moving, and so do your suppliers. The sooner you act on a plan, the more of it still holds.
What does the build cost after the roadmap?
Your Roadmap prices the build and the monthly. For a business of 10 to 50 staff, builds start from €12,000 and the monthly starts from €3,000 a month. Your Roadmap gives you the exact price for your business before you decide anything, with the monthly named inside it.
The build is paid in three parts: 40% when you sign, 30% at a midpoint we agree, and 30% on acceptance. Acceptance means it works. The points we agreed are hit, not a date passing.
The monthly is what keeps it running. It includes us running Pulse, the AI inside the engines we build, for you. It starts at kickoff and is paid in advance. There is a three-month minimum, then 30 days’ notice. Pay a year up front and it costs eleven months.
Two guarantees sit behind it. Under the Acceptance Guarantee, we keep working until the agreed points are hit, and your final payment waits until they are. With the Day-90 release, on a 12-month monthly you can leave at day 90 if the outcomes we agreed are missed.
How do you tell a good technology roadmap from a bad one?
Ask three questions. Does it say what is wrong in words your team would recognise? Does it recommend one thing and put a price on it? Could you hand it to another firm and have them build it? A good roadmap passes all three. A bad one only works if you hire the people who wrote it.
Then watch for three warning signs:
- Vague findings. “Improve your digital maturity” is not a finding. “Your enquiry form stopped sending in June” is.
- A menu with no choice. A long list of options with no recommendation hands the hard part back to you.
- A price for the first step only. If the plan prices the build but not what it costs to run, the real cost arrives later.
Whoever you choose, hold them to the same test. You are paying for a decision you can act on, not for reading.
Questions
How much does a Roadmap cost?
From €3,500, priced by size: €3,500 for a business of 10 to 50 staff. Larger businesses get a fixed quote on the first call.
Is the Roadmap fee taken off the build?
Yes. Go ahead within 14 days of getting your plan and the full fee comes off the build. Within 45 days, half of it does.
Do I have to go ahead with the build?
No. You pay for the plan and the plan is yours. Go ahead with us, with someone else, or not at all.