Questions owners actually ask.
Straight answers about how Cooper Agile works — what a FORT costs, who shows up, how we fit alongside your team or vendor, and how engagements end.
What exactly is a FORT?
A FORT is a focused delivery cycle — the name comes from fortnight, because it typically runs two weeks. Inside the cycle we Frame the problem and acceptance criteria, Orchestrate the people and systems, Realise the agreed capability, and Transfer it with documentation and training. If you know Agile: a FORT is a sprint with that discipline inside it. How FORT works
How much does a FORT cost?
Published regional prices give you a starting point. Focused and Core FORT fees are fixed for the published standard scope; broader work needs a fixed written quote. Advanced work is individually scoped and priced from the stated anchor. You approve the scope and our fee before work starts; taxes and third-party charges are separate. Start with a review
Do you replace our developer or agency?
No. Most of our work sits alongside existing teams and vendors: a bounded piece of delivery, an integration they don't have capacity for, or independent oversight of the work being done. If you need external technical expertise, we can agree a suitable scope and team without assuming that every existing relationship needs to change. Technical oversight
Who actually does the work?
Senior engineers — the people who scope your work are the people who do it. Our Foot Soldier standard means the engineer arriving can read an unfamiliar stack quickly, work in event-driven and microservice environments, and respect the conventions of the environment they land in. Reserved Capability
Our systems are old and messy. Is that a problem?
It's the norm, not the exception. We specialise in the systems businesses already depend on. The technical review exists precisely to map what's actually there — dependencies, risks and the highest-value seam to improve first — before anyone proposes change.
How do we know the work is working?
Three ways: acceptance criteria agreed before work starts, evidence as the work lands (not activity reports afterwards), and a baseline measured before change so improvement is provable. Oversight clients get the same evidence in plain language, monthly.
How quickly can you start?
We confirm availability after agreeing the scope, access and decision-maker readiness. A short free fit check can establish whether a paid Technical Review is the right first step. The written proposal sets out the delivery schedule before you commit.
Where are you based? Do you work remotely?
Cooper Agile is based in St Helena Bay on South Africa's West Coast and works remotely with clients across regions. FORT delivery is designed for remote execution from the ground up — evidence and handover don't depend on being in the same room.
What happens when an engagement ends?
A clean handover by design: documentation, walkthroughs, trained people, and systems your team or vendor can operate without us. Continuity is part of the acceptance criteria — a capability only we can run isn't a finished FORT.
What do your terms mean? (FORT, foray, Foot Soldier, phalanx, PHAT)
FORT means Frame, Orchestrate, Realise, Transfer: a focused delivery cycle, typically two weeks. A foray is one engagement with an agreed outcome. Foot Soldier means a senior engineer on an agreed assignment; Phalanx means specialists working together as a team. PHAT (Precision, Heuristic, Analytical, Tracking) is our measurement discipline. Each name describes a delivery practice. The full story
What exactly is fixed, and what can change the price?
The scope is fixed: a written set of deliverables with acceptance criteria you approve before work starts, plus a fixed delivery fee. The price only changes two ways — an agreed fixed add-on quote, or a new FORT. Third-party costs and usage ceilings are itemised and agreed up front, so they never hide inside the fee.
Is a FORT two full-time weeks of a whole team?
No. The two-week window is a cadence, not a staffing promise — roles inside a FORT can be combined or filled fractionally, depending on what the scope needs. If the work can't fit safely into one cycle, we quote multiple FORTs with distinct milestones rather than squeeze.
What happens if our access or decisions are delayed?
Your access, data and decision-maker readiness are start gates — we confirm them before reserving a cycle. If a delay happens anyway, the honest consequence is a revised schedule, not silent absorption into evenings or an invisible stretch of the fee. We'd rather re-plan openly than let a FORT quietly drift.
What counts as a defect versus a new request?
A defect is a reproducible issue measured against the acceptance criteria agreed in writing, and it's covered within the 30-day correction window. A new requirement — including changes forced by a third party — is separate work: a fixed add-on quote or a later FORT, agreed in writing before anything changes.
What does Garden Care include — and what doesn't it?
Garden Care covers one agreed application or workflow: scheduled health checks, routine compatible patches, a monthly status report, and bounded adjustments inside the plan's allowance. It does not include unlimited support or an unlimited backlog — new features are scoped as FORTs, and anything beyond the allowance is agreed before it happens.
Who pays for hosting, AI usage and ad spend?
You do, wherever feasible — third-party services run on client-owned accounts that you fund directly. Variable usage is capped or estimated and shown separately from our fixed fees, never blended in. We notify you before a usage limit is reached so you can decide whether to pause or top up.
Can you work with the tools we already use?
Yes — we assume your existing tools are there for a reason and keep them where that's proportionate. If consolidation would genuinely help, we propose it as a bounded, agreed change with its own scope — never an automatic rip-and-replace.
Can we leave with our data, documentation and accounts?
Yes — portable handover is the default, not a favour at the end. You leave with the service register, runbooks, data exports and trained people, and access is returned or removed at exit. A system only we can operate is, by our own definition, not finished.
Are savings or results guaranteed?
Savings and business results are not guaranteed. We establish a baseline before change, then review actual results at 30, 60 and 90 days, separately from projections. Time saved is capacity released; it counts as cash saved only when spending falls.
Is emergency or out-of-hours support included?
No — care plan support runs weekdays 09:00–17:00 in your contracted timezone, with acknowledgement within one business day. It is not a 24/7 incident service, and automated monitoring doesn't imply round-the-clock human response. Business-critical needs that demand faster response are scoped and priced separately.
What are the care contract terms?
Care is optional and paid monthly in advance. It starts with an initial three-month term, then continues with 30 days' cancellation notice. You can move tier or exit at the notice point — the service register, runbooks and access handover are yours throughout.
What happens if something breaks after a FORT?
Every FORT carries a 30-day correction window for reproducible defects against the agreed acceptance criteria — corrected at no extra charge. New requirements, changed expectations and third-party changes are separate, quoted in writing before work starts.
How does Reserved Capability differ from Garden Care?
Garden Care maintains an agreed asset and service register inside a monthly boundary — health checks, patches, reporting, bounded adjustments. Reserved Capability is a separate, larger commitment for continuing roadmap delivery. A care subscription keeps an asset healthy; it does not buy you a full fractional technology department.
Are your prices final?
Yes for the published structure: the prices shown on this site exclude taxes and third-party charges, and SA and UK figures are separate regional proposals, not currency conversions. Focused and Core are fixed for the published standard scope — anything broader gets a fixed written quote — while Advanced and Operations are 'from' prices because they're individually assessed. Outside South Africa and the UK, including the US, pricing is quoted per region on request. See the pricing
What are MARCH, BASTION and CITADEL?
They are three separately quoted capability horizons. MARCH (Measure, Automate, Reinforce, Convert, Hand over) is a six-month momentum programme. BASTION (Build, Automate, Secure, Transform, Integrate, Operate, Nurture) runs twelve monthly missions across the whole base. CITADEL (Continuous Intelligence, Technology, Assurance, Delivery, Enablement, Leadership) is a five-year framework with annual scopes and quarterly executive governance. Delivery still runs through bounded FORTs. Compare the programmes
What are Legionnaire, Phalanx and Musk’Teer?
They are formations you choose inside a programme, not new care prices. Legionnaire is one senior embedded operator; Phalanx is a multidisciplinary delivery formation; Musk’Teer is the AI-forward flagship for private AI, local inference, agents, automation and model strategy. Its line — 'Your data stays grounded. Your ambition doesn't.' — is our own playful brand, not an affiliation with Elon Musk, xAI or SpaceX. Choose a formation
What acknowledgement targets and contract exits apply?
MARCH acknowledges within one business day, BASTION within four business hours and CITADEL within two business hours, during weekdays 09:00–17:00 in the contracted client timezone. These are acknowledgement targets, not resolution or 24/7 guarantees. MARCH and BASTION are fixed for their stated terms; CITADEL has annual scopes and a 90-day anniversary exit. Uncured-material-breach, remediation, handover and review rules are published in the framework; uptime, credits and custom on-prem targets belong in signed schedules. Read the service & SLA framework
What are Stable Buoys?
Stable Buoys is CITADEL's reserved human support. Applied-AI operators, support staff, trainers, remote call agents, private-cloud operators and applicable on-site extras are available only where the signed CITADEL scope and SLA name them. It does not include unlimited staffing or an open-ended call-out service. Explore CITADEL
Do you provide cyber, CCTV and full physical-security operations?
Yes, with explicit technical, legal and provider boundaries. We scope cyber hardening, private recording, CCTV architecture, AI-assisted alerts and human review. Guarding, armed response and other licensed activities are delivered only by appropriately licensed providers under separate jurisdiction-specific contracts. Surveillance requires lawful use, retention and access controls; AI alerts are not infallible detection or a safety guarantee. Cyber & physical security
Does working with you make us POPIA, GDPR, FICA or PCI DSS compliant?
No provider can honestly make that automatic. We map the applicable responsibilities and implement agreed controls, evidence and data terms. POPIA/GDPR roles, FICA duties for accountable institutions, PCI DSS scope, international transfers and CCTV lawful-use duties remain allocated between the client and relevant providers. Certification or legal compliance is never implied merely by buying a programme. Read the compliance responsibilities
How do I apply for an in-house role?
Twelve Seats is the in-house team we are building across sales, account management, front-of-house, AI, platform, data/M&E, automation, content, field work, cyber, Applied-AI support and service coordination. Submit an expression of interest with a portfolio or CV link. Roles are not claimed as active vacancies unless marked open, and selection is skills-based and human-reviewed — never astrology-based. Explore Twelve Seats Careers