Devnox Advisory helps CIOs, boards and engineering teams agree on the same architecture — and then ship it.
Logos and full case studies on request — most of our work sits behind NDAs.
An organisation running critical services with near-zero IT governance. We reviewed the architecture, cost structure and team setup — then stayed on to implement: a change advisory board, dedicated release and operations managers, and the client communication that was missing.
A cross-border tax-classification SaaS platform, straining as growth outran it. A re-architecture for stability, scale and security cut run costs by 80% and operational costs by half — then 500 of the platform's 600 clients were onboarded onto the rebuilt system.
An audit authority modernising with AI and data mining, under GDPR and the EU AI Act. We architected the platform for compliance and scale, led the technical proposal, and stood up a reusable, auditable framework — multi-year mandate secured.
Pick the one that matches where you are. Most clients start with an architecture review and grow from there.
An independent read of your target architecture, gaps and risks — written so a CFO can act on it.
Two to three weeks: interviews, a document review, and a read of what is actually running versus what the diagrams claim. You get a written assessment of gaps, risks and cost drivers, ranked by what to fix first — with the reasoning, so you can disagree with it.
Reduce lock-in, restore leverage, and choose the platforms you can defend at board level.
Most lock-in is not technical; it is contractual and organisational. We map where your leverage went — exit costs, data gravity, concentration of skills — and set out the options with their real switching cost, so the next renewal is a negotiation rather than a formality.
Lightweight governance that actually gets followed — RACI, ARBs, decision logs you'll re-read in a year.
Governance fails the moment it weighs more than the decisions it governs. We start from the decisions you actually make — who approves an architecture change, who owns a platform, what gets written down — and build the lightest structure that survives a busy quarter.
Practical paths to EU-grade data, identity and infrastructure sovereignty for regulated industries.
Sovereignty is a spectrum, not a switch: data residency, operational control and legal exposure are three separate questions, and most vendors answer only the first. We work out which ones matter for your regulatory position, which architectures genuinely satisfy them, and what that costs.
Guardrails for AI and data platforms — model risk, access, lineage, and the policies your auditor needs.
The EU AI Act turns model choices into documented risk decisions. We put the guardrails in before that becomes a problem: use-case classification, access and lineage, human oversight where it is required, and an evidence trail an auditor accepts. Working controls, not a policy binder.
We facilitate the conversation your team has been avoiding — usually one room, one day, one decision.
Usually the disagreement is not technical — the board, the CIO and engineering are answering different questions and nobody has said so out loud. We prepare with each side separately, then facilitate one session that ends in a decision, with the trade-off written down and owned.
Fractional chief architect on retainer — present at the right meetings, written into the right documents.
A fractional chief architect for organisations that need the judgement but not the headcount. Typically a few days a month: present at the architecture board, reviewing the decisions that are expensive to reverse, and reachable when a vendor conversation turns technical.
Senior coaching for your architects and tech leads — TOGAF-aware, but never TOGAF-bound.
For architects and tech leads who can already build but are still learning to be heard — writing decisions down, defending a design to a board, knowing which battles are worth having. Framework-aware where that helps, and honest about where TOGAF gets in the way.
Most architecture problems are translation problems. Tap any topic to switch between how the board sees it and how engineering sees it.
Optimised cost, vendor flexibility, no surprises in the quarterly.
We move at the speed of decisions, not deliverables. Every engagement opens with the same three-week diagnostic — then continues in one of two modes.
Interviews with board, CIO, architecture and a sceptic. We map what's said versus what's true.
One architecture, two readings — a board memo and an engineering brief. Same picture, different language.
A working session that ends with a decision, owners and a written record. Then we leave — or stay on retainer.
The diagnostic ends in a decision, owners and a written record — then we leave. Independent reviews, second opinions, and the alignment session your team keeps postponing.
When the job is to build the thing, not just review it. We stay on — drafting the governance, reviewing complex architectures release by release, and taking (or setting up) the board seat.
15 years at Deloitte. Lead architect & program manager on the engagements below.
Connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Devnox Advisory is an independent IT architecture practice based in Brussels, Belgium, working with mid-market enterprises and public sector clients across the EU.
Before going independent, Bert Desmet spent fifteen years in enterprise architecture and platform delivery at Deloitte — across public sector, telecom, payroll, asset management and non-profit.
We're small on purpose. The work we do — independent reviews, governance, sovereignty, stakeholder alignment — depends on us being free of vendor incentives, partnership tiers and resourcing pressure.
If a larger firm would tell you what you want to hear, we'll tell you what's actually true.
Named clients and full case studies on request — most work sits behind NDAs.
No deck, no qualification form. Tell us where you're stuck and we'll tell you whether we can help.