Blocking Now — Must resolve before work begins
Is this a standalone product or an internal refactor?
The answer defines budget authorization, whether to hire, and how customers are communicated with. An internal refactor is a cost center; a standalone product is a revenue expansion opportunity. These require different approval paths.
Option A
Internal refactor only — modernize the tech, keep MainTrac embedded in RecTrac. No new revenue model, no new customers.
Option B
Standalone product for existing RecTrac customers only — extract, rebuild, and migrate the ~80 existing customers to the new stack. Same customer base, modernized delivery.
Option C ★ Recommended
Standalone product + cross-brand expansion. Extract and modernize for existing customers first, then make the product available to NextRec and RecDesk customers. Turns a cost into a product line.
What is the budget and resourcing model for the 37-week build?
The build sequence spans 37+ weeks with discrete phases. The highest-risk gap is mobile (Expo/React Native expertise), which the current team may not have depth in. Under-resourcing Phase 3 (mobile) will slip the entire timeline.
Option A
Existing team only — no new headcount. Lowest cost, highest timeline risk. Mobile phase will be the bottleneck.
Option B ★ Recommended
Add 1 contract mobile engineer (Expo/React Native specialist) for Phases 3–4. Existing team handles API and web. Contains cost while covering the highest-risk gap.
Option C
Dedicated new hire (full-time mobile engineer). Higher long-term cost, slower to onboard, but retains institutional knowledge after the build.
What is the deployment model policy — shared SaaS or per-instance?
This is the highest-leverage infrastructure decision. Shared SaaS (multi-tenant) is cheaper to operate and enables rapid updates. Per-instance (dedicated) is required by some government/CNIC customers for data residency and compliance. The answer drives pricing tiers, ops cost, and the entire migration plan.
Option A
SaaS-only, all customers on shared infrastructure. Lowest ops cost, some customers cannot comply.
Option B
Per-instance for all customers. Highest ops cost (~$200–400/mo infrastructure per customer), eliminates multi-tenant complexity.
Option C ★ Recommended
Hybrid — SaaS as the default tier, dedicated (per-instance) as a premium compliance tier for CNIC and government customers. Charge a premium that covers the additional infrastructure cost.
Needed Soon — Resolve within the first 60 days
What is the deadline for moving all customers off embedded RecTrac MainTrac?
The strangler fig migration runs both systems in parallel. Without a committed sunset date for the old system, there is no pressure to complete migrations — the team will maintain two systems indefinitely, which is expensive and risky. The deadline sets the urgency for the per-customer rollout.
Option A
No formal deadline — migrate customers as they opt in. Low pressure, likely outcome is indefinite parallel operation.
Option B
12-month target from first customer migration. Aggressive — requires the new product to be largely complete within 6–8 months.
Option C ★ Recommended
18-month sunset target, with the first customer migrated within 6 months of the new product reaching feature parity. Gives teams time to build confidently without indefinite parallel maintenance.
When does NextRec/RecDesk get access to standalone MainTrac?
Cross-brand expansion is the primary upside of building a standalone product rather than an internal refactor. The question is sequencing: validate with existing customers first, or use a new brand as a product-market fit test. The answer affects whether Product designs for RecTrac-specific features or builds generically from day one.
Option A
After all RecTrac customers are migrated — minimize scope until the migration is complete. Delays the revenue opportunity by 18+ months.
Option B
Simultaneously — build for all brands from day one. Increases scope and complexity of Phase 1 significantly.
Option C ★ Recommended
Pilot with one NextRec customer within 12 months of launch. Validates product-market fit without delaying the core build. Signals to Product that the data model must be brand-agnostic from day one.
How do field workers get the mobile app — App Store or enterprise distribution?
B2B field worker apps don't need public App Store listings. Apple Business Manager (enterprise distribution) lets customers deploy the app to employee devices without an App Store review cycle, which can delay releases by 1–2 weeks. This is a policy decision that affects the deployment pipeline from Phase 3 onward.
Option A
Public App Store and Google Play only. Requires app review for every release, limits distribution control, standard for consumer apps.
Option B ★ Recommended
Apple Business Manager / Google Managed Play first (enterprise distribution). No review cycle, customers control deployment to employee devices, fits the B2B model. Move to public stores later if the market opportunity warrants it.
Option C
Both from launch. Doubles the release process overhead but maximizes distribution flexibility.
Before Launch — Resolve before any customer goes live
What premium do compliance-tier (dedicated) customers pay?
The dedicated tier requires a separate RDS instance per customer — approximately $200–400/month in infrastructure cost before ops overhead. The price premium must cover this cost and reflect the value of data isolation and compliance documentation. If set too low, it erodes margin; too high and customers absorb the cost by staying on RecTrac.
Option A — 20% premium
Likely below cost at lower ACV customers. May be appropriate for larger contracts where a percentage yields meaningful revenue.
Option B — 50% premium
Covers infrastructure cost at most customer sizes. Sends a clear signal that dedicated is a premium offering.
Option C ★ Recommended
Custom enterprise pricing for dedicated tier — negotiate per contract. Allows flexibility for CNIC/large government where the value of compliance documentation justifies a higher premium. Set a floor at 50% to avoid below-cost deals.
When and how do customers learn about the migration?
~80 customers are currently on the embedded RecTrac MainTrac. Some (like Albuquerque) have been vocal about product gaps. Early communication with power users creates beta participants and advocates; late communication creates surprised customers and churn risk at the migration moment.
Option A
Announce at contract renewal — low disruption, but customers have no time to prepare or influence the product before it's finished.
Option B
Proactive outreach 6 months before each customer's migration date. Well-timed but leaves power users in the dark during the build phase.
Option C ★ Recommended
Announce the initiative now to engaged power users (Albuquerque and similar). Invite 2–3 to a formal beta program. Broader customer communication begins 6 months before their migration date. This turns critics into collaborators.