About
The person quoted is the person doing the work.
I'm Robert Boniface, an independent technology consultant in Dorset & Hampshire with over ten years across development, IT and infrastructure.
How I got here
I started on an IT helpdesk about a decade ago, the place where you learn, quickly and permanently, that technology only matters when it works for the people using it. From there I moved through systems administration into web development, then spent years building and running production software as a developer and, later, a lead developer.
Along the way I kept doing the other half of the job too: migrating email systems, untangling DNS, setting up Microsoft 365 for small organisations, and looking after the servers everything runs on. Most consultants do one of these things. The reason clients keep me around is that I do all of them, so when your website, your email and your hosting need to work together, there's one person responsible rather than three suppliers pointing at each other.
Now I work independently with SMEs, charities and startups across Dorset, Hampshire and beyond. No account managers or agency margin. You deal with me from the first call to the final handover.
Discretion comes with the territory
A good part of my career has been spent on systems where formal background checks are a condition of the work, including in government settings. The specifics aren't something I publish, that's rather the point, but I'm happy to say more privately where it's relevant.
What it means for you is simple: I'm used to handling confidential data and systems with the care they deserve. If your work involves sensitive information, casework, donor records, anything commercially confidential that matters. NDAs are always welcome, and discretion is the default.
How I work
- Plain English, always. You'll never need to translate what I tell you for your board, your team or your funders.
- A written scope and a fixed quote before any paid work starts, no surprises on the invoice.
- Honest fit. If I'm not the right person for the job, I'll say so on the first call and point you towards someone who is.
Who I'm not right for
I'd rather you found this out here than three weeks into a conversation. If any of these sound like you, I'm probably the wrong call, and I'm happy to point you towards the right one.
You need a team, not a person
Some projects genuinely need several people working in parallel to hit a date. I'm one engineer; if that's the shape of the work, you want a small agency, and I can suggest ones I rate.
You need the cheapest possible quote
I'm not the cheapest and I don't try to be. If price is the deciding factor rather than one of several, you'll find someone cheaper, and for some jobs that's genuinely the right call.
You need round-the-clock cover
I reply within one working day and retainers get priority, but I'm not a 24/7 helpdesk. If you need same-hour response overnight or a service desk for a large team, you want a managed service provider.
You want a decision rubber-stamped
If you've already chosen the approach and need someone to agree with it, I'll be an expensive disappointment. I'll tell you what I actually think, which is the thing you're paying for.
What I build with
The tools below are the supporting text, not the headline. You don't need to know any of them for us to work together. But if your technical people want to check, this is the stack:
Development
Infrastructure
Platforms
Next step
Sound like the right fit? There's one way to find out.
A free half-hour call, in plain English, about what you're trying to achieve. If I can help, I'll tell you exactly how and what it will cost. If I can't, I'll tell you that too.