36.5785° N  118.2923° W
    // Custom software, owned outright

    Built fast with AI.
    Built to be trusted.
    We don’t treat those as opposites.

    We build the software your organization actually needs, hand you the source code, and back it with the governance that makes that an easy decision. Fixed scope. Fixed price. Fully yours.

    Own the codeFixed priceRuns anywhere
    01  // The problem

    You are paying too much for software that fits too little.

    Subscriptions you have outgrown. Seats you barely use. Operations running on emailed spreadsheets and a database one person still understands. The tools were supposed to help. Now they set the terms.

    Subscriptions you have outgrown

    Paying every month for software that does a fraction of what you need, and a lot you don't.

    Systems one person understands

    Operations running on emailed spreadsheets and an aging database nobody wants to touch.

    Terms set by your vendor

    Per-seat pricing, forced upgrades, and data you cannot easily get back out.

    02  // The comparison

    You should pay for software once, not forever.

    A quick, honest comparison. The usual options, and what we do instead.

    The usual options
    Sierra
    Rent SaaS you have outgrown
    Own software built to fit
    Pay forever, per seat
    Pay once, fixed price
    Locked to a vendor's platform
    Runs anywhere you choose to host it
    Do it yourself with AI and hope it holds
    Human-reviewed, tested, documented
    Black-box output
    Clean source code, fully yours

    For a small, bounded job, paying a platform forever to host it is overkill. We are not arguing against any one vendor. We are describing what is right for the job.

    03  // What we build

    Software that fits, that you own.

    Each engagement targets one expensive bottleneck and removes it. The flagship is replacing software you have outgrown with something you own outright.

    Flagship · 01
    Replace software you have outgrown

    Stop renting bloated subscriptions you barely use. We build a right-sized application that does exactly what you need, and nothing you do not, and you own it outright.

    Right-sized to your actual workflow
    Delivered in weeks, not quarters
    Full source code handed to you
    02
    Rescue data from fragile systems

    Modern, secure interfaces over aging databases and spreadsheets, without a multi-year migration.

    03
    Replace manual intake

    Turn emailed spreadsheets and paper forms into validated web forms that route themselves to the right place.

    04
    Make institutional knowledge searchable

    A secure way to ask plain-English questions across years of files, archives, and records.

    05
    Digitize paper workflows

    Trackable approval chains with signatures and an audit trail, in place of the filing cabinet.

    06
    Connect systems that do not talk

    Secure automated bridges between platforms your staff currently copy data between by hand.

    07
    Make audits and reporting fast

    Automated, audit-ready reports pulled from systems that currently take a week to reconcile.

    08
    Clean up after a botched AI build

    If a previous vendor shipped AI-generated software that is insecure or unmaintainable, we secure it, document it, and make it trustworthy.

    09
    Stand up a self-service portal

    A secure portal where the people you serve submit requests, track status, and find answers without calling in.

    04  // How we work

    A bounded engagement, start to finish.

    No open-ended retainer. We define the outcome, agree the price, build it where you can watch, and hand you something you own.

    01
    Discovery

    A short, focused discovery to define the real outcome. We scope the actual problem, not a wish list.

    02
    Fixed scope, fixed price

    We agree the deliverables and the price before we start. No hourly meter, no scope-creep tax.

    03
    Build in the open

    Fast, iterative builds you review in a private preview environment. Human review at every consequential step.

    04
    Handoff you own

    Source code, tests, and documentation, delivered to you. It runs anywhere. No lock-in.

    05  // The real cost

    Done badly, AI makes software more expensive, not less.

    Generating code quickly is the cheap part. Without governance, the bill arrives later: rework, security incidents, and code no one can maintain. That is how an AI build quietly costs more than the traditional one it was meant to undercut.

    Rework you pay for twice

    Code that demos well but breaks in production. You pay to build it, then pay again to fix what review would have caught the first time.

    Security and compliance incidents

    One breach or failed audit can cost more than the entire engagement. Ungoverned agents touching live systems make that far likelier.

    Code no one can maintain

    A black box your team cannot safely change. The endgame is a rebuild from scratch, the most expensive outcome of all.

    Governance, not guesswork
    // Cumulative cost over time
    COSTProject startMonth 6Month 12ReworkIncidentRebuild
    Ungoverned AITraditional devSierra, governed
    06  // Why you can trust us

    Anyone can generate code quickly now.

    The hard part is generating code you can trust, secure, and maintain. That is the part we do. Here is exactly how, stated plainly.

    Read-only access to live data

    Agents never get write access to anything in production.

    Human review at every step

    A person reviews and signs off before anything ships.

    Isolated execution environments

    Agents are confined to sandboxes, away from your systems.

    Hard stops on destructive actions

    Anything irreversible halts and waits for a human.

    Full source, tests, and docs at handoff

    Clean, documented code your own team can maintain.

    Runs anywhere. No lock-in.

    Host it where you like. The code is yours to move.

    NIST-aligned data handling

    Careful handling of sensitive and regulated information.

    WCAG / Section 508 accessible

    Built to standard, because public-sector users depend on it.

    // Enterprise ready — aligned to the frameworks you answer to
    07  // Who we are

    You work with the principals who do the work.

    A two-person firm by design. No sales layer, no junior bench, no handoff. With no client logos to show yet, our track record is the testimonial.

    Jon Houck
    Jon Houck
    President
    [email protected]

    Fifteen-plus years in software engineering and enterprise architecture, and the sitting IT Architect for a large public agency where he leads AI adoption.

    Zac Smith
    Zac Smith
    CTO
    [email protected]

    A decade-plus building high-availability, large-scale distributed systems, and a Principal Software Engineer at a leading enterprise SaaS platform.

    08  // Frequently asked

    Direct answers.

    // Start here

    Tell us what you are paying too much for.

    We will tell you honestly whether we can help, and roughly what it would take. No long form, no sales call script.

    Name
    Work email
    Organization
    What is the pain?
    // What happens next
    01
    A 30-minute call

    We talk through the problem and whether we are the right fit.

    02
    A written outcome and scope

    What we would build, and what done looks like, in plain language.

    03
    A fixed price

    Agreed up front. You decide with the full picture in hand.

    Sierra Nevada · Serving public & private, remotely