Socio-Tech SRE Terms (Non-Advisory)
Systemic, coaching, facilitation, or advisory work is excluded by design.
This Services Agreement (“Base Terms”) is entered into between:
Client:
[Legal entity name]
[Address]
represented by [Name, Title]
and
Provider:
Alex Wolf (“Provider”)
📧 alex@systemic.engineer
Effective date:
[YYYY-MM-DD]
These Base Terms govern the provision of socio-technical Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) services.
All other services are expressly excluded unless agreed in a separate written agreement.
For purposes of these Base Terms, “socio-technical” refers solely to the operational context in which technical systems are embedded within an organization, and does not include organizational, coaching, facilitation, or advisory services.
1. Purpose and Scope
The Provider delivers socio-technical Site Reliability Engineering services to the Client.
Services may include, subject to written task assignment:
- incident response and operational troubleshooting during agreed hours
- reliability improvements to software systems and infrastructure
- monitoring, alerting, and observability setup or tuning
- automation of operational or reliability-related tasks
- performance, stability, and capacity investigations
- follow-up work after incidents (e.g. fixes, hardening)
The Provider performs services against explicitly assigned tasks or problem statements.
The Provider does not assume an internal role, reporting line, or team membership within the Client’s organization.
The Provider does not hold decision authority and does not participate as a decision-maker within the Client’s organization.
2. Explicit Non-Services
The following are not part of these Base Terms:
- organizational observation or diagnostics
- ambiguity resolution, role clarification, or decision facilitation
- emotional, interpersonal, or organizational regulation work
- coaching, mediation, facilitation, or advisory services
- autonomous system observation or independent analysis outside assigned tasks
- production of narrative reports, insights, or recommendations beyond baseline technical documentation (what is reasonably required to operate the delivered changes)
Any such services require a separate written agreement titled “Systemic Engineering Terms”.
Any regulatory work primarily concerned with containing human affect, resolving interpersonal or organizational ambiguity, or supporting decision-making processes is outside scope, regardless of whether it is framed as reliability, delivery, or operational support.
3. Engagement Model and Start of Work
Work commences upon written confirmation (email sufficient) of:
- a start date, and
- an initial scope or task description.
These Base Terms define the startpoint of work only.
They do not define modes of collaboration beyond what is necessary to execute assigned tasks.
4. Meetings
Meetings are considered in-scope only if they have:
- a defined agenda, and
- an expected technical deliverable (e.g. documented technical decision record, artifact, change)
Meetings without an agenda or technical deliverable are out of scope unless agreed in writing.
5. Capacity and Availability
- Maximum total workload: 20 hours per week
- Allocation for the Client: [__] % of weekly capacity
Availability windows and cadence are agreed in writing.
The Client provides timely access, credentials, and context required for service delivery.
6. Fees and Payment
Rates:
Hourly rates are provided upon request and confirmed in writing before work begins.
Invoicing:
[monthly / biweekly], payable within [14] days of invoice date.
Expenses:
Pre-approved, documented expenses (if any) are billed at cost.
Longer commitments:
Reduced rates may apply for engagements of three (3) months or longer, if confirmed in writing.
7. Deliverables and Documentation
Deliverables may include artifacts such as:
- code or configuration changes
- monitoring or alerting definitions
- dashboards
- runbooks or operational notes required for use of delivered changes
The Provider is not obligated to produce standalone reports or extended documentation unless explicitly agreed.
8. Intellectual Property
Client Deliverables:
Upon full payment, all rights of use in engagement-specific deliverables created for the Client are transferred to the Client, to the extent legally transferable.
Provider Background IP:
All pre-existing tools, templates, methods, and reusable components remain the property of the Provider.
Where embedded in Client Deliverables, the Client receives a non-exclusive, perpetual license for internal use.
9. Confidentiality
Both parties treat all non-public business, technical, and organizational information as confidential.
Disclosure is permitted only as required to perform the services or where legally required.
Confidentiality obligations survive termination.
10. Anonymized Publication
The Provider may publish anonymized insights derived from the engagement. Anonymization prevents re-identification by reasonable third parties.
Conditions:
- No names, identifiers, or proprietary details will be disclosed.
- No publication of sensitive internal data without explicit written consent.
The Client may opt out of future publications at any time by written notice.
11. Term and Termination
Initial term:
[e.g. 3 months] starting on the Effective date.
Termination for convenience:
Either party may terminate with [14/30] days written notice.
Termination for cause:
Immediate termination is possible in case of material breach (e.g. non-payment, unlawful conduct).
Termination does not affect accrued payment obligations.
Upon termination:
- all work performed up to the termination date is payable
- access and credentials are returned or revoked as requested
12. Liability
The Provider performs services with professional care.
To the extent permitted by law:
- liability exists only for intent and gross negligence
- for simple negligence, only for breach of essential contractual duties
- total liability is capped at fees paid in the preceding [3] months
13. Data Protection
Both parties comply with applicable data protection laws (e.g. GDPR).
Where required, a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) will be concluded.
14. Miscellaneous
Independent contractor:
The Provider acts as an independent contractor.
Assignment:
Assignment requires prior written consent of the other party.
Governing law and venue:
[Germany / State], venue: [City], unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
Entire agreement:
These Base Terms constitute the entire agreement.
Amendments require written form (email sufficient).