Having a full-time dedicated DevOps engineer could be costly and may not be suitable for your budget or planning, but you may want to consider getting on-demand DevOps help because:

DevOps is a specialized field that requires knowledge of various tools, config languages, and best practices. Your existing tech team members may not have the expertise or may take a long time to set up or troubleshoot the systems correctly and in a secure way.

The team may have to split their time between writing code and managing infrastructure. This can lead to a reduced focus on core development tasks, potentially slowing down the development process. The backend engineer taking up the majority of DevOps tasks willingly may still gradually lose interest in his work.

When you scale up, the burden of DevOps increases, such as the need for monitoring and process automation. Your current arrangement could lead to a lack of standardization, potential downtime, and operational issues in the future.

If you do manage well with your current arrangement, you may want to invest in optimizing your infra and cloud usage, and modernizing the current DevOps process so that you can continue to do well in the future.

I have primarily worked with companies that use public cloud such as AWS, GCP, and Digital Ocean, and open-source technologies such as Kubernetes. The majority of my clients develop and sell data-intensive solutions for B2B businesses.

Currently, I work solo as a consultant (sole proprietorship).

EDIT: I am currently starting a community initiative to distribute gigs for local tech workers affected by downtown. If you have agreed to contribute gigs, you may be linked up with devs interested in your gigs. All devs forwarded are vetted personally by me.

My current availability: 30hrs/week.
My typical response time to emails: within 2 hours during working hours.

Remote. DevOps tasks in general can be performed fully remotely. If needed, the onboarding phase can be spent on-site (for SG clients only).

Yes. I am open to that proposal from employers who can accord flexible work arrangements.

I am happy to discuss the details of your long-term project over a chat or Zoom call.

a. initial meeting to discuss your needs. Gather information about your current infrastructure, challenges, and goals.

b. assess the scope, complexity, and feasibility of the project.

c. If I have the expertise to meet your requirements, send a proposal that outlines the scope, deliverables, timeline, and cost, and a contract containing the payment and confidentiality terms for your review.

d. once the agreement is finalized and made, begin working on the project according to the plan. Access credentials to different environments are required at each phase such as troubleshooting, testing, and final prod rollout.

e. regular communication via chat or Zoom call to provide updates if necessary.

f. I track my time with Toggl. You may request a review if you wish to.

g. you will be invoiced according to the payment terms.

h. write documentation and provide training if required.

i. final delivery, client acceptance, and balance payment.

Please take a look at my confidentiality and data security policy.

This is usually not an issue as long as I have availability to take on the extra work. You will be billed for the extra hours or timeline extension according to the ad hoc hourly rate or any agreed-upon terms.

Unless otherwise agreed upon, all engagements can be canceled or terminated at any time. You will be invoiced on the work up until before the cancellation. For retainers, any paid unused hours are not refundable.