Engineering Support Hours
Purchase time for technical work without creating a separate project.
The hours can be used for maintenance, investigation, correction, improvement, and advisory work across agreed applications, integrations, platforms, and infrastructure.
Discuss the Required Work
Use block hours where the work can be clearly defined and priorities may change
Some technical work is too small or intermittent for a separate project but still needs a methodical approach. Examples include a recurring defect, a configuration change, targeted maintenance, an integration issue, performance investigation or advice before an internal decision.
Engineering Support Hours are available for that work. Hours are purchased in advance, requests are raised through the support portal and time spent on each agreed task is deducted from the balance. The service does not assign a named individual or replace the organisation's normal ownership arrangements.
Suitable work can include:
- Planned maintenance and controlled updates across agreed applications, platforms, or infrastructure
- Defect investigation and correction where the issue is specific enough to make useful progress within the purchased time
- Performance and capacity investigation based on evidence from the affected service and its dependencies
- Configuration and deployment improvements to reduce manual variation and make change easier to review or reverse
- Technical risk review covering dependencies, unsupported components, access, or operational failure modes
- Practical technical advice for a specific architecture, migration, integration, or implementation decision
- Integration and internal tooling changes where scope can be agreed and delivered within the available hours
If the work is broader, uncertain, or crosses several operational boundaries, technical investigation and operational diagnostics may be a better starting point. We will say which model fits before hours are purchased.
At a Glance
Current advertised commercial terms and delivery arrangements.
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Block Price
£1,000 for five hours (£200 per hour)
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Scope
Maintenance, bug fixes, configuration support, performance work, platform and infrastructure improvements, integration support, and technical advisory
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Minimum Purchase
Blocks of 5 hours
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Billing Increments
30-minute increments
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Validity
12-month term
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Response Time
One working day
Technical work suited to purchased engineering hours
The model is intended for specific tasks in environments that are already live and where the organisation retains operational ownership.
How the commercial model works
Requests are prioritised with the organisation, delivered remotely, and recorded through the support portal. Purchased time provides flexible access to engineering capacity within an agreed scope; it does not reserve a named individual or create an SLA beyond the stated response term.
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Published Block-Hours Pricing
Five-hour blocks cost £1,000 (£200 per hour). Larger allocations are priced separately where the expected work justifies a different arrangement. Hours are used in 30-minute increments, with no retainers or bundled services. -
Technical Work Across the Existing Environment
Hours can be used for agreed maintenance, defect correction, configuration, performance, integration, platform, infrastructure, and technical advisory tasks. -
Requests & Time Recorded in One Place
The support portal is used for requests, progress, session notes, outcomes, and the remaining balance, providing a clear record of how purchased time is used. -
Remote Delivery & Stated Response
Work is delivered remotely, with a guaranteed response within one working day. Scheduling then reflects priority, access, complexity, and available engineering capacity. -
Twelve Months to Use the Hours
Purchased hours remain valid for 12 months, allowing the organisation to apply them to suitable work as priorities arise during that term. -
Change Within Existing Controls
Access, testing, approval, deployment, validation, and rollback follow the organisation's operating arrangements and the limits agreed for each request.
Additional Technical Capacity, Not Generic Managed IT
The organisation retains normal ownership
Engineering Support Hours add capacity for agreed tasks. Internal teams continue to own priorities, routine operation, user support, access decisions, and change approval unless a separate scope states otherwise.
Suitability is confirmed before work begins
A request needs a clear objective, sufficient access, and a reasonable route to progress within the available time. If investigation or delivery is likely to require a project, we will identify that rather than consume hours indefinitely.
A block-hours option alongside project work
Organisations primarily engage Onyxsis for systems integration, bespoke operational tooling, data engineering, infrastructure work and other difficult technical requirements. The block-hours model provides a commercially proportionate way to handle smaller follow-on or standalone tasks.
For contracted response, coverage, escalation, and service obligations, use SLA-Based Technical Support. For a defined new capability, bespoke operational systems and tooling or systems and API integration may be more appropriate.
We can review the task, available evidence, dependencies, and expected next step before confirming whether purchased hours are a suitable commercial model.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need to confirm whether a task fits this model? Tell us what work is required.
Purchase time for a specific technical task
Tell us what needs attention, which systems are involved, and what operating constraints apply. We will confirm whether Engineering Support Hours are appropriate before work begins.
