Record types and custom fields
Ten standard tables is one job; sixty tables plus a decade of user-defined fields is another. More record types means more mapping and more validation.
Pricing
Pricing, published
If you've asked around, you've probably heard two answers: an hourly estimate that could mean anything, or a six-figure integrator quote. We publish our bands instead — so you know before the first call whether we're in range.
The bands
Three tiers, fixed prices
Every rescue is quoted as a fixed price inside one of these bands. The band is set by the shape of the system, not by how long the work takes us.
| Tier | Fixed-price band | Typical shape |
|---|---|---|
| Small practice systems | $8,000 – $25,000 | A single-database practice system at one location — patients or clients, appointments, notes, documents, ledgers. Typically 2–4 weeks. |
| Mid-market vertical SaaS | $25,000 – $75,000 | Hosted or multi-database vertical SaaS with integrations, multiple locations, or larger document volumes. Typically 6–10 weeks. |
| Complex ERP / AS/400 estates | $75,000 – $150,000+ | Multi-module estates with decades of history and interdependent systems. This tier usually starts with a $2,500 paid scoping engagement, credited in full against the project. |
Timelines are typical, not promised — the fixed quote comes with a schedule specific to your system.
Inside the band
What moves the number
Six things decide where your quote lands. We'll ask about all of them on the scoping call.
Volume of documents and images
Structured records extract fast. Hundreds of gigabytes of scans, X-rays, or attachments take longer to move, verify, and index.
How the data can be reached
Direct database access is the easy case. A hosted system with export-only access, or a vendor who has to be asked nicely, changes the work.
Destination
Archive-only is the simpler path. Landing data in a successor system adds field-by-field mapping and a post-load reconciliation.
Depth of history
Three years of records and thirty years of records are different projects, even in the same product — older data means older formats and more exceptions to run down.
Deadline pressure
A comfortable runway lets us schedule normally. A shutdown date inside 30 days puts the work in the rush lane, below.
How the price behaves
The fixed-price promise
Quoted in 48 hours
You get a fixed quote within 48 hours of the scoping call — a number and a schedule, in writing.
Locked by signature
Once quoted, the price changes only by a change order you sign first. No hourly meter, no discovering the real price mid-project.
Paid against milestones
50% to schedule the work. 40% at validation sign-off — after you've seen the reconciled counts. 10% at delivery.
Inside 30 days of shutdown
The rush lane
When work has to start inside 30 days of a shutdown date, the project price carries a 1.5× multiplier. We'd rather explain that plainly than bury it: a rush rescue means re-sequencing other scheduled work, compressing validation into evenings and weekends, and doing the preservation snapshot first, immediately, before anything else can go wrong.
The honest advice is cheaper: if you have a sunset notice with a date months out, book the call now and pay the normal rate. The rush lane exists for people who couldn't.
Not sure which side of the line you're on? The multiplier applies when work must start within 30 days of the shutdown date — not when you first call us. Ask, and we'll tell you which lane you're in.
After the rescue
Archive hosting
Every rescue includes 90 days of hosted archive at no charge. After that, hosting is priced by archive size — and you can export everything, in full, at any time.
| Tier | Monthly | With annual prepay (−10%) |
|---|---|---|
| Small archive | $200 / mo | $2,160 / yr |
| Mid-size archive | $600 / mo | $6,480 / yr |
| Large archive | $1,500 / mo | $16,200 / yr |
- First 90 days included with every rescue
- Read-only, searchable, per-client isolated storage
- Full export of everything, any time, at no extra charge
- Certified destruction of our copies if you leave
Tier is set by archive size at handoff; we tell you which tier you're in before the 90 days end. Details on the hosted archive page.
Free, on purpose
Never billed
These are free, always: the discovery call, the scoping, the written quote, and the export guides — even if you take the guides and do the rescue yourself. The one exception is ERP-tier scoping, which is a $2,500 engagement because it is real analysis work — and it is credited in full against the project.
MSPs and fractional CIOs: partner referrals pay 15% of the project fee. Details on the partners page.
The next step
Thirty minutes. Come as you are.
Book a 30-minute rescue call
or send details first
Thirty minutes. Come as you are.
Leave with a plan and a number.
Book a 30-minute rescue call
or send details first
The call, the scoping, and the quote are free. So are the export guides — even if you do it yourself.