Ongoing support - How changes reach production after go-live

Change Request Process

William Belle — Deployment and Infrastructure Services Support: support@williambelle.co

This document explains how updates to your deployed application are handled after go-live. It applies whenever you have new functionality, fixes, or changes you would like released to production — including code you have generated yourself with AI tools.

The goal of this process is simple: every change reaches production safely, you always know what a change will cost before work begins, and nothing goes live without your approval.

How It Works

Each change request is delivered in three fixed milestones. Milestones are scoped and funded up front (for example, through Upwork escrow) before work on that milestone begins.

Milestone 1 — Code Review, Reconciliation, and Integration Planning

Every change starts here, whether the code was written by you, generated with AI tools, or specified as a feature request.

What is included:

• Technical consultation and planning sessions to define the scope of the change
• A detailed review of the new code against the current production codebase
• Reconciliation of any conflicts with the existing application — dependencies, configuration, environment variables, and database or schema impacts
• An integration plan for deploying the change to the test environment

Deliverable: Reconciled, deployment-ready code merged into the repository, with a summary of changes made and any risks identified.

Why this step matters: Code that works in isolation often conflicts with a live, deployed system in ways that are not visible until release. This step is what prevents an update from breaking the application your business depends on.

Milestone 2 — Test Deployment and Validation

What is included:

• Deployment of the reconciled code to the test environment through the release pipeline
• Confirmation that the application builds, runs, and passes smoke checks
• Your hands-on validation of the new functionality in the test environment
• One round of revisions, based on your consolidated feedback, followed by redeployment to test for final sign-off

Deliverable: A build you have approved, running in the test environment and cleared for production release.

Your role in this milestone: Please review the change thoroughly in test and gather all of your feedback into a single list. That list is worked through as the included revision round. Additional revision rounds are welcome and are scoped as a separate milestone.

Milestone 3 — Production Deployment and Release Verification

What is included:

• Pre-deployment checks
• Promotion of the approved build from test to production through the release pipeline
• Post-deployment verification that the application is healthy and the new functionality is live
• Rollback readiness in case an issue is found after release

Deliverable: The new version live in production, confirmed healthy.

What to Expect on Pricing

Every change request is quoted as fixed milestone prices — no hourly billing and no surprises. Most requests fall into one of three tiers:

• Small — from $750. Configuration changes, copy or styling updates, or single-screen changes with no database impact.
• Standard — from $1,500. A new feature or workflow. This is the most common tier.
• Large — individually scoped, from $3,000. Multiple features, third-party integrations, or any change involving authentication, payments, or sensitive data.

I confirm the tier and the exact milestone prices after reviewing your request. Some changes that look small touch critical parts of a production system and are priced for that responsibility — and the reverse happens too, so a review can also move a request into a smaller tier.

What to Send When You Have a Change

To get a change request started, send the following to support@williambelle.co:

1. The code or a description of the change. If you generated code with AI tools, please generate it against the most recent version of the codebase — I can point you to the current version at any time.
2. What the change should do, in plain language, from the user's point of view.
3. Any deadline or timing constraints.

I will respond with the three scoped milestones and pricing. Work begins once Milestone 1 is funded.

A Few Ground Rules

• Consultation is part of Milestone 1. Planning calls, code walkthroughs, and scoping discussions are professional services and are included in the review and planning milestone — so please bring your questions; that time is already accounted for.
• One revision round is included in test. This keeps the milestone predictable for both of us. There is no limit on total revisions — additional rounds are simply scoped as their own milestone.
• Nothing reaches production without your sign-off. Production deployment only happens after you approve the build in test.
• Small fixes are still changes. Even a one-line change goes through review and test, because the risk to a production system is in the deployment, not the size of the diff.

This process is part of the ongoing support arrangement described in your production handoff document. Questions are always welcome at support@williambelle.co.