Question 1

What does ongoing Kubernetes consulting cost, and why are no prices shown here?

Accepted Answer

A fair question with an honest answer: because a serious figure depends on your environment, not on a table. How many clusters, what criticality, which response time you need decides more than any list price. A flat rate would either overpromise or under-plan. Mamori runs as a fixed monthly fee per tier , Base, Advanced or Strategic, not an hourly quota. Which tier fits, you can see under the support tiers . After the free consultation you receive a written offer with a fixed monthly fee , including scope, response times, term and notice period. That way both sides know what they are committing to beforehand.

Question 2

Do you take over running our clusters, or do you support our team?

Accepted Answer

We support your team; we do not take over. Operations, responsibility and control stay with you : your team makes the changes, while we add senior experience, review decisions and transfer knowledge. That makes Mamori not a managed Kubernetes service that runs your clusters remotely. We also replace neither your internal team nor your existing providers. We fit into what you already have and reinforce it where senior expertise is missing. You keep your hands on the wheel throughout and decide how deep the support goes.

Question 3

Do we build our own Kubernetes knowledge in the team, or do we become dependent on you?

Accepted Answer

Mamori is built for enablement instead of dependency : we transfer knowledge, mentor your engineers and gradually make ourselves obsolete. Depending on your tier, knowledge transfer happens directly in the sparring sessions, through focused deep dives or as a structured program. Runbooks are created and reviewed together with your team, and the documentation stays with you . Regular reports and a roadmap make your team more self-sufficient every month. If you want to broaden this knowledge build-up, our workshops complement the ongoing engagement in a targeted way.

Question 4

How fast do you respond when something fails in production?

Accepted Answer

A production outage or an acute security incident counts as critical. The agreed response time depends on your tier: next business day on Base, 4 hours on Advanced and 1 hour on Strategic , which also includes a 24/7 hotline. This means the first qualified reply from an engineer with Kubernetes experience, not an automated acknowledgement. From there we support the analysis and decisions during the incident, while implementation stays with your team. You can find the exact figures per tier in the comparison table .

Question 5

Do you get direct access to our clusters, and how is it secured?

Accepted Answer

Only as far as you grant it. We agree the access model before we start and set it down in writing, together with confidentiality, in the agreement. Blanket admin access is deliberately not part of it: the scope and route of access follow the concrete need and your approval. Operations, responsibility and control stay with you. We support analysis and decisions, while implementation is carried out by your team on your platform. You keep full authority over your environment at all times, and we contribute senior experience. An NDA is a fixed part of the agreement , not an informal promise. We are familiar with air-gapped and sovereign environments from regulated organizations.

Question 6

Which environments does Mamori cover: AWS EKS, Azure AKS, GKE, on-premise or Hetzner?

Accepted Answer

Mamori supports Kubernetes regardless of where your clusters run. We cover managed offerings such as AWS EKS, Azure AKS and GKE as well as self-managed setups on Hetzner , in your own data centre or fully on-premise, for example based on kubeadm . What matters is not the provider but the operations: upgrades, GitOps with ArgoCD , observability and hardening follow the same principles. The covered stack spans 43 technologies, and all three tiers cover the same stack , whatever your environment.

Question 7

Which of the three tiers fits us, and can we switch later?

Accepted Answer

As a rough guide: Base is aimed at self-sufficient platform teams, Advanced (recommended) at growing teams, and Strategic at business-critical platforms. All three cover the same stack and differ in availability, response time, and level of support. We pin down the right fit in the technical intro call: afterwards both sides know which tier is the right place to start. Moving up a tier is always straightforward, and moving down is possible by arrangement. If short-term needs arise, for instance during a migration, we agree them upfront in a written add-on offer, with no hidden extra costs. The support tiers give you an overview.

Question 8

How is the engagement regulated by contract: contract term, notice period and scope of services?

Accepted Answer

A fixed contract term means we commit just as you do. For the agreed period we reserve capacity and a named point of contact for your team, and turn down other requests to do so. This mutual commitment is what lets us offer a fixed monthly rate instead of fluctuating hourly billing. Month-to-month options exist on the market, but they cost exactly that: no reserved person, no fixed price, just an interchangeable ticket pool. Fixed minimum terms are the norm for retainers, because continuity only takes effect over several months. Everything stays transparent: contract term, notice period, scope of services and the named stand-in for absences are set out in writing in the agreement before you sign, with no hidden costs. The specific term for your tier we clarify in the first call and record in the offer.

Question 9

How does Mamori differ from Shogun?

Accepted Answer

Shogun is a time-boxed enablement program with a clear end: across four phases (analyze, design, implement, hand over) we enable your team to run the platform independently, on a daily-rate basis. By the end, we have made ourselves redundant. Mamori is the ongoing engagement in a monthly retainer : a fixed contact, defined response times and proactive reviews, rather than a finished project. Operations stay with your team while we add senior experience for the long run. The two combine well: many clients start with Shogun and then move into an ongoing Mamori engagement.

Question 10

How does the consultation work, and will it pull me into a sales process afterwards?

Accepted Answer

The consultation takes 30 minutes and is a technical stocktake, not a pitch. We get to know your platform, your team and your goals, and clarify which tier fits your criticality and required availability. Afterwards both sides know whether Mamori is a fit at all. If you want to continue, you then receive a written offer with a fixed monthly fee that sets scope, response times and term in writing. Whether you accept it is your decision, taken at your own pace. A kick-off happens only once you say yes. There is no follow-up chain and no funnel, just a clear next step that you choose yourself.

Kubernetes consulting: senior expertise without a full-time hire

Your team is fighting on too many fronts at once

Missing expertise

Expensive trial and error

Compliance pressure

Late mistakes are the most expensive mistakes

Senior expertise on your team. Without a full-time hire.

Direct access

Proactive support

Enablement instead of dependency

Mamori is a fit if …

Mamori is not the right fit if …

How Mamori works with your platform team

Kick-off and ground rules

Sparring, support and reviews

Reports, roadmap and knowledge transfer

Kubernetes support for your entire DevOps stack

Kubernetes

Kubernetes experience that prevents mistakes before they get expensive

The decision

The incident

The audit

Which Mamori tier fits your team?

Your safety anchor

Your growth partner

Your senior engineer

Clearly agreed before we start

Vincent Sturm

Which engagement fits your platform?