What is Forward Deployed Engineering?

FDE compared with consulting and software seats

• Consulting usually ends at a recommendation; the client builds it.
• Software seats give people access to a standard tool, without implementation in your systems.
• Forward Deployed Engineering scopes the work around your process, people, permissions and approvals, then builds and maintains the agreed system.

Oruanyi’s three stages

• Discovery — Process Mapping: $2,000 kickoff + $500/month keep-alive. Process map, ROI ranking, privacy and SecOps gap analysis, architecture blueprint and brand audit. The keep-alive retainer is not Engine.
• Engine — Build & Deploy: $24,500–$48,000 one-time, typically six to eight weeks, inside your environment, with docs and 30-day hypercare.
• Governance — Maintain & Evolve: $3,500–$8,500/month, usually after Engine hypercare or a written review of an existing system.

Do I have to buy every stage?

No. Discovery alone is a valid engagement. Engine is a separate written decision, and Governance can begin after a review of an existing system. Catalog modules, including redesign of an existing site, are add-ons outside the $2,000 Discovery kickoff.

Sources

1. Oruanyi pricing: every public price in one table
2. Oruanyi llms.txt: the same figures for AI readers