Maintenance, not monitoring.

Kept Running

Kept Running is the plan that takes a First Workflow build and keeps it working over the months that follow. It's the part most automation shops sell as a thin monthly "maintenance" line and price as an afterthought.

We treat it as the product. It's where most of the value lives — and where most automations quietly stop being useful when nobody's working on them.

What we maintain

We maintain the operating packet — the seven artifacts the First Workflow build hands you — within the scope we agree. As your business, your tools, and the underlying APIs change, the packet has to change too. That's the work.

The workflow map gets updated as steps are added, removed, or reordered.

The named owner stays named. When someone leaves, we help you reassign.

The trigger stays connected. When the source system updates its webhook signature, we re-wire it.

The approval boundary stays calibrated. New types of actions get added as your risk posture changes.

The failure path stays reliable. Alerts go to the right person; fallbacks still work.

The runbook stays usable. We update it as the workflow evolves so a teammate can still operate the thing.

The evidence log stays readable. We make sure you can find what ran, when, with what inputs.

Failure modes we maintain against

These are the failure modes we work against — the ones that explain why automations stop being useful after six months. We address them through regular review and incident response, within the agreed scope.

Silent failures.

A workflow that runs but produces wrong output. Nothing throws an exception; nothing fires an alert. The dashboard says green. The data is wrong.

Drift.

Your process changes step by step over months. The workflow was built against the old SOP. It still runs — it just isn't doing what you need it to do anymore.

API changes.

A vendor renames a field, deprecates an endpoint, changes a webhook signature, or moves to OAuth 2. The workflow stops firing, or fires with bad data. Sometimes both.

New requirements.

Your business added a new tool, a new step, a new exception. The workflow doesn't know about it.

Monitoring vs. maintenance

This is the distinction that matters. Most shops give you the left column and call it done.

Monitoring

what most shops sell

Maintenance

Kept Running

Sends an alert when something fails

Investigates why something failed

Dashboard you check

A person responsible for the workflow

Catches errors that throw exceptions

Surfaces silent failures that don't

Stops at "the workflow stopped firing"

Rebuilds the workflow when an API changes

Reactive

Active

Same workflow forever

Adapts to your business as it changes

That's why it's not a markup on monitoring — it's a different category of service.

The Five-Minute Test

You own the workflow. You own the runbook. You own the evidence log. You can shut it off in five minutes without calling us. We keep it running because we're good — not because you're stuck. Continuity is a partnership, not a lock-in.

What's in scope and what isn't

We define the scope on the Automation Discovery call and confirm it in writing: which workflows we're maintaining, the review cadence, and how we handle incidents. New workflows, major rebuilds, or major scope changes get re-scoped — they don't quietly absorb into the plan.

In scope (typical): maintaining the operating packet for the workflows we agreed to; monthly review; updates when an API change affects an in-scope workflow; incident response when an in-scope workflow misbehaves.

Out of scope (unless we agree otherwise): new workflow builds (that's a First Workflow); 24/7 on-call; uptime guarantees; SLA-bound response times; compliance certifications.

How we scope and quote

Like the First Workflow build, you don't get a Kept Running price off this page. The 30-minute Automation Discovery call covers fit and a scope outline together. After the call, we send the written scope and the quote for your review. Kept Running is sized to the workflows we end up maintaining — what they do, how often they run, and how much change they're going to see.

FAQ

What's the difference between Kept Running and the cheap monthly maintenance plans other automation shops sell?

The cheaper plans are usually selling a monitoring dashboard you check yourself. Kept Running is the work of investigating silent failures, updating the workflow when an API changes, and adapting it when your process changes. They aren't the same product, so they aren't the same price.

How often do you actually touch my workflows?

We work on a defined cadence we agree at scope — monthly review at minimum — plus when an in-scope incident surfaces. You get a monthly summary of what we did and why.

What happens when a tool changes?

When we become aware of a change — through our review cadence, vendor announcements, or an incident — we update the workflow and the runbook to match.

Can I cancel?

Yes. Plain English. The packet is yours; you can shut the workflow off in five minutes and continue without us.

What if I want to add a new workflow?

That's another First Workflow build. The Kept Running plan absorbs it — we re-scope and re-quote the plan to cover the additional workflow on a follow-on Automation Discovery call.

Let's talk about keeping your automations running.

Book a 30-minute Automation Discovery

Or see how the First Workflow build works → /first-workflow