Sperring Software Consulting
Sperring Software Consulting

Fractional CTO & delivery constraint specialist for B2B SaaS teams

Find the constraint slowing your SaaS delivery.

I help founders and delivery leaders diagnose why progress has slowed, remove the bottleneck in the product-engineering system, and create a practical 90-day plan to ship value sooner.

Best fit for B2B SaaS teams with engineers already in place, but where releases are slow, roadmap confidence is low, or ownership is unclear.

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First steps with me

Delivery Constraint Audit Sprint

A focused 2-3 week diagnostic that identifies the delivery constraint, maps the surrounding risks and decisions, and gives your team a sequenced 90-day plan.

Duration
2-3 weeks
Pricing
From £7,500 + VAT
See the full Audit Sprint
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Selected outcomes from focused delivery constraint removal

80%
Lead time reduced
Delivery system redesign and release overhaul

Piña Vida: focused constraint removal across release flow and ownership

3-10x
Deploy frequency increased
From a handful of releases per year to multiple releases per week

Piña Vida: pace affected by stakeholder constraints

50%
Ops toil reduced
Fewer handoffs and less operational drag

Nicer Group: platform and delivery improvements reduced operational load

$10k+
Saved per release
Manual release involvement removed

Piña Vida: historical release overhead reduced through automation

Results vary by context. These outcomes came from focused constraint removal, not a generic transformation programme.

Recognise the pattern?

You have capable people. You have a roadmap. You may even have decent process. But delivery still feels harder than it should.

Roadmaps slip and the explanation changes every time.

Releases depend on heroics instead of a reliable system.

Architecture debates keep resurfacing because decisions do not stick.

Product and engineering are busy, but throughput stays flat.

Ownership is unclear across product, platform, delivery, and leadership.

The team is working hard, but the business still lacks confidence.

These are rarely just engineering problems. They are usually system problems: unclear constraints, decision rights, sequencing, ownership, incentives, and technical friction interacting together.

The steps with me

Delivery Constraint Audit Sprint

Before committing to a fractional CTO engagement, start with a short, focused diagnostic. In 2-3 weeks, we identify the constraint slowing delivery, map the risks and decisions around it, and produce a practical 90-day plan your team can act on.

This is not staff augmentation. It is senior technical and operating judgment focused on the system that turns product decisions into shipped software.

Book a fit call for the Audit Sprint Read the full offer

Product summary

Duration
2-3 weeks
Format
Interviews, system review, delivery flow mapping, architecture/process review, executive readout
Output
Bottleneck diagnosis, risk register, decision map, 90-day action plan, recommended metrics
Best for
Teams that know delivery is underperforming but do not know where intervention will create the most leverage

Price

Fixed fee from £7,500 + VAT

Scoped and agreed before work begins, so there are no surprise invoices.

What you get at the end

The Audit Sprint produces decision-ready outputs, not a vague list of observations.

Constraint diagnosis

The primary bottleneck slowing delivery, with evidence.

Delivery flow map

How work currently moves from idea to production, where it waits, and where risk accumulates.

Decision and ownership map

Who needs to decide what, where accountability is unclear, and which decisions are blocking flow.

Architecture and platform risk review

A pragmatic view of which technical constraints matter now, which can wait, and which are distractions.

90-day execution plan

Sequenced actions with owners, expected impact, and suggested metrics.

Executive readout

A clear summary for founders, execs, board, or investors.

When to bring me in

The Audit Sprint fits situations where slow delivery is already affecting the business and you need a clear read on what to do next.

You are missing commercial targets because delivery is unpredictable.

The team is shipping, but not the work that moves the business.

Your CTO, VP Engineering, or delivery lead is too close to the system to diagnose it cleanly.

You are considering hiring, rewriting, replatforming, or reorganising, but are not confident those are the right moves.

You need a credible external view before committing more budget.

You need alignment across product, engineering, and leadership.

Selected work

Before, intervention, and after across agency, product, platform, and founder/operator contexts.

Piña Vida

Agency / product delivery environment

Situation: Multi-day, risky releases and delivery friction were slowing the team.

Intervention: Redesigned the delivery system, simplified release processes, clarified ownership, and automated deployment flow.

Outcome: Moved from roughly 4-5 releases per year to multiple releases per week; reduced lead time by around 80%; removed manual release involvement.

Caveat: Timeline and pace were affected by stakeholder constraints.

Nicer Group

Product/platform modernisation environment

Situation: Platform direction, operational load, and migration choices needed clearer sequencing.

Intervention: Guided the EJS to Next.js migration, supported container-based architecture, and helped the team become more self-sufficient.

Outcome: Reduced operational toil by around 50% and transitioned from fractional CTO involvement to exec advisor once the team could carry the work.

Drive eSource

Founder/operator experience building B2B SaaS from zero

Situation: Fleet procurement workflows needed to connect FMCs, dealers, and data-heavy operational processes.

Intervention: Designed procurement flows, built a modular monolith with NestJS and React, and shaped the integrations model.

Outcome: Built the product and technical foundation for a B2B SaaS venture across workflow, data, and partner integration constraints.

How engagements usually progress

Start with a diagnostic so you know what the real problem is before deciding how much help you need. Longer fractional CTO, advisory, or interim work only makes sense once the diagnosis is clear.

Step 1

Fit call

30 minutes

Confirm whether the problem is likely a constraint/system issue and whether I am the right person to help.

Free

Step 2

Delivery Constraint Audit Sprint

2-3 weeks

Diagnose the bottleneck and produce a practical 90-day plan.

Fixed fee from £7,500 + VAT

Step 3

Lead & Enable

90 days

Help the team implement the most important changes, establish operating rhythm, and make progress visible.

£8,500/month + VAT

Step 4

Fractional CTO / Advisory / Interim

As needed

Ongoing leadership where the risk, complexity, or transition requires senior technology ownership.

Scoped individually

Not sure where you are? Start with the fit call

How I diagnose the constraint

The work combines senior technology leadership with constraint thinking. The goal is not to install a methodology. The goal is to understand how work really moves, where decisions get stuck, and which intervention creates the most leverage.

Flow

Where work waits, loops, or gets reworked.

Ownership

Who owns decisions, systems, outcomes, and trade-offs.

Architecture

Which technical choices are enabling flow and which are creating drag.

Operating rhythm

How product, engineering, and leadership make decisions and maintain momentum.

Metrics

Lead time, deployment frequency, incident load, handoffs, WIP, and business-facing delivery confidence.

Theory of Constraints, Team Topologies, Domain-Driven Design, DevEx, modernization, data, and integrations all inform the diagnosis where they are useful. None of them replace it.

Is this the right fit?

The work only pays off when the organisation is willing to change how decisions, ownership, and delivery actually work.

This works best if…

  • You already have engineers.
  • Delivery has slowed despite capable people and good intentions.
  • You need to identify the highest-leverage constraint, not add more process.
  • You are willing to change decision-making, ownership, or sequencing.
  • You want a senior operator who can challenge assumptions and help execute.

Probably not a fit if…

  • You mainly need extra developers.
  • You are pre-PMF and still searching for the product.
  • You want a generic strategy deck.
  • You want someone to bless decisions already made.
  • No one senior is willing to own the trade-offs.
James Sperring - Fractional CTO and Tech Strategy Consultant

About James Sperring

I'm James Sperring, a senior technology leader who helps B2B SaaS teams turn delivery complexity into operational momentum. I've worked as CTO, fractional CTO, advisor, and founder/operator across agency, product, platform, and SaaS contexts.

My strongest work sits where product, engineering, architecture, and leadership overlap: diagnosing the constraint, clarifying ownership, and helping teams ship valuable work more predictably.

  • Led UK and international engineering teams
  • Built and modernised B2B software platforms
  • Improved release flow and delivery reliability
  • Comfortable with UK and US time zones

Technical context

ReactNodeNestJSTypeScript.NETSQLPostgresAzureCI/CDIntegrationsData-heavy systems
Based in the UK. Comfortable with US time zones and travel.

FAQ

Why start with an Audit Sprint instead of a fractional CTO retainer?

Because the highest-leverage intervention is rarely obvious from the outside. The audit identifies the constraint, the risks around it, and the first 90 days of action before anyone commits to a longer engagement.

What size team is this for?

Usually teams with engineers already in place, where delivery is important enough that slow releases, unclear ownership, or architectural drag are now commercial problems.

Do you write code?

Sometimes, but that is not the default value. The main value is senior diagnosis, technical judgment, sequencing, leadership, and helping the team remove the constraint.

Do you replace our CTO or engineering lead?

Usually no. The aim is to make the existing team more effective. In interim situations I can provide temporary senior coverage, but the work should leave the organisation stronger.

Can you help with AI?

Yes, where AI decisions intersect with product, architecture, risk, and accountability. For deeper AI advisory work, I run a separate practice at Not An LLM.

Visit Not An LLM

How quickly can we start?

After a fit call, an Audit Sprint can usually be scoped quickly if there is a strong fit. I currently have 2 free slots and can start immediately.

Book a fit call

What does it cost?

30-minute fit calls are free. The Delivery Constraint Audit Sprint is a fixed-fee engagement from £7,500 + VAT. Lead & Enable is £8,500/month + VAT. Fractional CTO continuation work is scoped after the diagnostic, usually as fixed-scope or flat monthly engagements.

If delivery confidence is low, start with a focused diagnostic.

If roadmap confidence is low, releases are painful, or your team is busy without enough throughput, the Audit Sprint is a fast, bounded way to find the constraint and decide what to do next.

Book a 30-minute fit call Or use the contact form below.

Signals you’ll benefit

  • Roadmap confidence is falling.
  • Releases depend on heroics.
  • Ownership is unclear across product and engineering.

Contact

Tell me what is slowing delivery. I'll reply with fit-call slots or a clear reason if it is not the right shape of problem.

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Skip the form and reserve an intro call now.

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hello@sperring.software
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On request after intro call