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Ulrich Diedrichsen

Is your software project stuck?

When architecture, decisions or time pressure block progress, I combine unconventional thinking with decades of project experience — creating clarity and renewed momentum.

Creative Senior Developer & Software Architect40 years of international project experiencestill in the code

Project pulse
Blocked
  • Unclear architecture
  • Open decisions
  • Time pressure rises
Critical
  • Missing priorities
  • Technical debt grows
  • Risks increase
Diagnose
  • Understand the situation
  • Clarify causes
  • Evaluate options
Decide
  • Set direction
  • Develop the plan
  • Prepare delivery
Stable
  • Clear architecture
  • Decisions made
  • Steady progress

Does this sound familiar?

  1. 01Decisions keep getting postponed
  2. 02The architecture no longer holds
  3. 03The deadline is slipping
  4. 04The team is going in circles

Creativity shaped by experience.

My strength is not one particular framework or the latest AI tool. It comes from unconventional thinking, broad project experience and the curiosity to keep building software myself.

IT is not just my experience. It is in my DNA.
  1. 01

    Unusually broad experience

    Projects in global enterprises, mid-sized businesses, SMEs and smaller companies — across countries, industries and very different cultures.

  2. 02

    Recognise patterns, recombine them

    I see connections between situations that appear unrelated and turn them into practical new paths forward.

  3. 03

    Enthusiasm without an expiry date

    I still build my own products, write code and work with AI and agent systems. Experience meets current practice.

What the project needs now

Not another status meeting. An experienced, unconventional perspective that challenges assumptions, reveals hidden options and makes decisions possible again.

  1. 01

    Unconventional Reality Check

    I ask the questions the project has stopped asking, separate symptoms from causes and make the real blockers visible.

  2. 02

    Architecture and Decision Sparring

    We condense the options, clarify trade-offs and make the decisions the team can no longer postpone.

  3. 03

    Rescue Mission

    When time is tight, I work with the team to stabilise the critical paths and move the first decisive steps into delivery.

How the project starts moving again

  1. 01

    Understand

    situation, causes, risks

  2. 02

    Decide

    priorities, architecture, scope

  3. 03

    Stabilise

    critical paths, ownership

  4. 04

    Build

    first steps, verifiable progress

The result is not a consulting deck. It is a clear rescue plan — and the first verifiable steps.

Clear terms

What the budget buys — in concrete terms.

No consulting days without defined deliverables. Each package states the work included, the committed outputs and the boundaries. The Rescue Check creates clarity first; only then is the intervention commissioned that the project actually needs.

  1. 01Start here

    Rescue Check

    Technical due diligence for a stuck project — compact enough for speed, deep enough for a dependable decision.

    Fixed price€4,900net

    5 working days from complete access

    The right fit when

    It is unclear whether architecture, scope, delivery or collaboration is blocking the project, and an independent decision brief is needed before further investment.

    Work included

    • 60-minute kick-off with the sponsor and technical contact
    • Review of available architecture, planning and project documentation
    • Technical inspection of the agreed critical area in the repository
    • Up to four stakeholder interviews of 45 minutes each
    • 90-minute decision workshop

    Committed deliverables

    • Written Rescue Brief: causes, risks and prioritised blockers
    • Decision brief with options, trade-offs and a clear recommendation
    • Immediate actions for the next 72 hours
    • 30/60/90-day Rescue Map with ownership

    Not included

    No implementation and no full code, security, privacy or compliance audit.

    Price and scope logic

    If a Rescue Sprint or Mission is commissioned within 14 days, the full €4,900 is credited against the total price.

  2. 02

    Rescue Sprint

    One clearly bounded technical bottleneck is not only analysed but worked through with the team to a verifiable intervention.

    Fixed price€12,900net

    2 weeks · 1 critical workstream

    The right fit when

    The causes are narrowed down, but one central architecture, code or delivery blockage is still preventing dependable progress.

    Work included

    • All Rescue Check services
    • Binding definition of one critical workstream
    • Two architecture and decision sessions with the accountable leads
    • Hands-on work with the team on architecture, code or delivery within the agreed scope
    • Concise progress update every two working days

    Committed deliverables

    • Prioritised architecture decisions documented as ADRs
    • One working technical intervention within the agreed scope — such as a patch, reference implementation, proof of concept or pipeline fix
    • Critical path with owners, dependencies and acceptance criteria
    • Closing and handover workshop with a 30-day follow-up plan

    Not included

    No complete project takeover, no 24/7 availability and no unlimited additional workstreams.

    Price and scope logic

    €12,900 is the total price. After a previously paid Rescue Check, €8,000 remains. The exact workstream is agreed in writing before the start.

  3. 03

    Mission Critical Rescue

    Technical leadership and hands-on stabilisation when a deadline, production stability or a business-critical delivery date is at immediate risk.

    from€24,900net

    4 weeks · 3 reserved intervention days per week

    The right fit when

    One business-critical workstream needs four weeks of clear technical leadership, fast decisions and direct delivery with the existing team.

    Work included

    • All Rescue Check services
    • Three firmly reserved intervention days per week for four weeks
    • Direct collaboration with one team and the authorised decision-makers
    • Two rescue steering sessions per week
    • Response within one working day in the agreed rescue channel

    Committed deliverables

    • Technical target state and traceable documented decisions
    • Stabilised critical path with measurable acceptance criteria
    • Implemented architecture, code or delivery measures within the agreed scope
    • Risk, ownership and handover plan
    • Management brief: achieved, open and next decisions

    Not included

    No guarantee for the success of the entire project, no 24/7 availability and no parallel takeover of additional teams or workstreams.

    Price and scope logic

    A binding fixed-price proposal follows the Rescue Check, with the €4,900 credited. Additional cost only results from extra teams, workstreams or agreed on-site work.

Optional after stabilisation

Technical Sparring

A dependable external counterpart for important technical decisions — without adding another management role.

Fixed price€3,200net / month

Monthly cancellation · reserved capacity

The right fit when

A CTO, managing director or tech lead regularly needs an independent perspective on architecture, delivery or AI decisions.

Work included

  • Two scheduled 90-minute sparring sessions per month
  • Review of up to two architecture or decision briefs per month
  • Up to four concise asynchronous decision questions per month
  • Response within two working days
  • Reserved for one project and one designated contact

Committed deliverables

  • Ongoing decision log with recommendation, rationale and next step
  • Written comments on submitted briefs
  • Early warning on architecture, delivery and AI risks

Not included

No implementation, project management, on-call duty or immediate incident response.

Price and scope logic

Unused services do not roll over to the following month. Additional workshops or implementation are quoted separately in advance.

What the company needs to provide

Relevant materials and access are available at the start. A technical contact can answer questions promptly; an authorised sponsor attends the kick-off and decision sessions. Client-side delays move the committed dates accordingly.

This offer is exclusively for businesses. All prices are net and subject to applicable VAT.

Remote delivery is included. Travel time and expenses for on-site work are agreed separately in advance.

Describe your project
Ulrich Diedrichsen, Senior Software Architect and Product Builder

Experience that keeps moving

Four decades in software mean more than accumulated knowledge. They mean more perspectives — across countries, industries, organisations and project situations.

  • International project practice including IBM and PwC, with global assignments, different cultures and distributed teams

  • Every company size global enterprises, mid-sized businesses, SMEs and smaller companies

  • Many industries and project worlds from enterprise architecture to direct product development

  • Current rather than nostalgic own products, AI and agent systems, architecture and code

Experience becomes valuable when it makes new answers possible.

Where is your project stuck?

Describe the situation in a few sentences. I review every message personally and will tell you openly whether and how I can help.

Prefer to message me directly?

No form required. The message is already prepared — just add a few words about where the project is stuck.

No sales loop. A personal assessment.

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