About the practice
Principal-level DevOps, delivered at AI speed
Octasoft is an expert-led DevOps consultancy. Founded in 2007, it exists to give organisations the calibre of engineer they would struggle to hire, on the terms of an engagement, not a headcount.
- years engineering
- 20+
- independent practice
- Since 2007
- government · finance · media · publishing
- 4 sectors
Positioning
A deliberately small practice
Most consultancies solve the staffing problem by growing. Octasoft solves it by staying small and being selective about the work it takes. The result is a practice where the person advising you on the architecture is the person writing the Terraform.
The technical ground is AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform and CI/CD, with a software engineering background underneath it. Fifteen years of Java and Spring came before the move into infrastructure. That combination is the point: platform decisions made by someone who has had to live inside the applications running on them.
Where an engagement needs more hands than one principal can offer, it draws on a trusted network of senior engineers and architects, not whoever happens to be on the bench.
One principal, no handover
You work with the person who scopes the engagement. There is no account manager between you and the engineer, and no junior quietly inheriting the build once the contract is signed.
AI-augmented delivery
Conventional DevOps work, delivered at an unconventional pace. Agents take the repetitive share: scaffolding, migration, documentation. Senior time then goes where the judgement is needed.
Security and cost, from the first commit
Least privilege, encrypted state, tagged spend and a budget alarm are part of the initial build, not a remediation project eighteen months later.
You keep what we build
Everything is infrastructure as code in your repositories, running on your accounts, documented so your team can carry it forward without us.
Founder
Ian Packard
Founder & Principal DevOps Architect
Ian brings over 20 years of software engineering experience, having started as a Senior Software Engineer specialising in Java/Spring before becoming a DevOps expert. He founded Octasoft to deliver enterprise-grade DevOps solutions through a specialised, expert-led consultancy model. His unique background bridges traditional software development and modern cloud-native practices, enabling comprehensive digital transformation strategies.
Experience
- 20+ years software engineering experience
- 15+ years Java/Spring development
- 10+ years DevOps and cloud architecture
- Led enterprise transformations across media, government, and finance
Core expertise
- AWS Cloud Architecture
- Kubernetes & Istio
- Infrastructure as Code
- DevOps Strategy
- CI/CD Pipelines
- Java/Spring Microservices
Registration
Company details
Octasoft Ltd is a limited company incorporated in England and Wales.
| Registered name | Octasoft Ltd |
|---|---|
| Company registration number | 06633005 |
| VAT number | 936275306 |
| Registered address | Belmont Suite, Paragon Business Park, Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire, England, BL6 6HG |
| Trading since | 2007 |
| contact@octasoft.co.uk |
Next step
Have a platform problem worth a senior opinion?
Tell us what is in the way. You will get a reply from the person who would do the work.