Services
I’m Chris Portela. I run 0xA, a one-man consulting practice focused on cloud infrastructure and software development.
Most teams I work with are talented but stretched thin. Cloud infrastructure has gotten complicated enough that it pulls your engineers away from the work that actually drives your business. They end up spending days debugging deployment issues, untangling networking problems, or figuring out why the cloud bill doubled. That’s time they’re not building features.
I come in for focused periods, assess the situation, work alongside your team to fix the biggest problems, and make sure they can maintain everything after I leave. No long-term contracts. No hourly billing. Just weekly engagements scoped to what you actually need.
What I Do
The specifics vary by client, but most of my work falls into a few areas:
Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps: Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, cloud cost optimization, security hardening, monitoring and alerting. The nuts and bolts of making your cloud environment work well.
Software Development & Architecture: Performance debugging, architecture review, legacy system modernization, feature development. The code-side work that’s often inseparable from infrastructure.
Infrastructure Audit: A focused assessment of your cloud environment that produces a written report with prioritized recommendations. This is where most new engagements start.
Training & Advisory: Hands-on team training tailored to your stack, and ongoing advisory for teams that need occasional expert input.
I’ve built and scaled infrastructure serving millions of users, led microservice migrations off legacy systems, and helped clients cut their cloud spending significantly. I have deep experience with AWS, GCP, Python/Django, React, Rust, Go, and most of the tools in the modern cloud stack.
How It Works
1. Free consultation call. We talk about what you’re dealing with and whether I can help. No commitment, no pitch.
2. Assessment. For most new clients, I start with a focused assessment (usually a week) where I dig into your infrastructure, identify the highest-impact problems, and deliver a written report with specific recommendations. This is a fixed-price engagement so you know exactly what you’re paying for.
3. Implementation. If there’s follow-on work, we continue on a weekly basis. I join your Slack/Discord/Teams, attend relevant meetings, and work directly with your team. Most engagements run 2-6 weeks depending on scope.
Pricing
I bill weekly. My standard rate is $4,000/week.
I typically work with a small number of clients at any given time. Most of this work doesn’t require 40 hours of heads-down time every week. It’s a mix of deep work, async communication, reviews, and being available when your team needs me. I’m straightforward about this: you’re not paying for a seat in a chair, you’re paying for my attention, expertise, and availability throughout the week.
For engagements that need my undivided focus (emergencies, on-site work, time-sensitive migrations) the rate is $8,000/week. At that rate I’m fully dedicated to your project and nothing else.
Assessments are fixed-price so there’s no ambiguity about cost. The specific price depends on scope, but I’ll quote it upfront before we start.
A deposit is required to lock in a start date. Details are covered in the engagement agreement.
Why weekly? I prefer to focus on solving problems rather than tracking hours. We agree on what we’re working on, and I work at whatever pace gets it done well. No squabbling over whether a Slack conversation “counts” as billable time.
Get in Touch
If your team is dealing with infrastructure problems that are slowing them down, or if you’re not sure where to start, reach out. The initial conversation is free and I’ll be honest about whether I’m the right fit.