About
About 515 engine
We Make Infrastructure Procurement Faster and Easier to Manage
515 Engine helps teams source and manage data center, cloud, connectivity, unified communications, and security services easier. Our job is to turn messy vendor decisions into a decision-ready shortlist built with clean assumptions, comparable proposals, and services that perform and integrate well after go-live.
How We Work
Advisory
- Pre-implementation: solution design assistance, Total Cost of Ownership analysis, feasibility checks, vendor selection, contract review & negotiation
- Post-implementation: vendor management & escalation, customer account support, inventory dashboard, and renewals governance.
- Best for: teams that want ongoing accountability across vendors and renewals
- Includes: ongoing sourcing + lifecycle support.
Consulting
- Cloud cost optimization & FinOps programs
- RFI / RFQ / RFP scoping and creation
- RFx process management and scoring
- Proposal and scope review (commercial + operational reality)
- Migration, cut-over, rollout PMO
- Time-based, special projects.
- Infrastructure cost assessments
- Hypothetical cloud costing based on planned migration.
- Merger and Acquisition IT rationalization strategy.
Two engagement models depending on whether you need ongoing sourcing support or a defined project with a finish line.
01
Clarify constraints
What’s in scope, what’s non-negotiable, what success looks like, and what deadlines are real.
02
Validate feasibility
Serviceability, lead times, and “what’s actually possible” before proposals waste anyone’s time.
03
Decision-ready shortlist
We normalize proposals, highlight cost drivers, and align terms so the winner is clear.
Meet the Team
A focused team with deep technical infrastructure experience of at least 30 years each.
Michael Weill
Solutions Architect & Co-founder
Michael supported complex hyper-scaler cloud deployments and migrations from AWS, Azure, & GCP after developing complex pricing models to predict the costs for each hyper-scaler. Michael has a background in Infrastructure that spans nearly 30 years that include Oracle OCI, IBM SoftLayer, NaviSite, Exodus, and AT&T.
What We Source
Critical infrastructure services with real-world constraints: coverage, performance, resilience, and long-term cost control.
01
Colocation/Data Center Space
Space/power sourcing, availability validation, cross-connect strategy, and contract terms.
02
Hybrid/Public/Private Cloud
Cloud sourcing guidance, cost drivers, and technical alignment.
03
Direct Internet and Cloud Connectivity
DIA, broadband, diverse paths, install assumptions, and enforceable SLAs.
04
WAN / SD-WAN
Rollout patterns, provider selection, and lifecycle governance across sites.
05
Unified communications / CCaaS
UCaaS/CCaaS selection, pricing structure clarity, and contract guardrails.
06
Security
Vendor comparisons that focus on coverage, workflows, and accountable operations.
What to Expect
Critical infrastructure services with real-world constraints: coverage, performance, resilience, and long-term cost control.
Decision-ready options
Options matrix, assumptions, risks, and what changes the recommendation.
Commercial clarity
Normalized pricing format (MRC/NRC/fees), cost drivers, and term pitfalls.
Lifecycle governance
Vendor management, escalation, inventory/renewals discipline, and MACD support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Advisory is ongoing sourcing + lifecycle support (pre and post-implementation). Consulting is a paid, time-boxed engagement with defined deliverables and an end date.
Yes—this is part of post-implementation advisory: governance, renewals planning, and escalation support to keep vendors accountable over time.
We normalize assumptions (term, fees, add-ons, SLA definitions, lead times) and use a consistent format so you can compare “apples to apples.”
Choose consulting when you need a toolkit, scorecard, program plan, migration/cut-over leadership, or RFx management with a defined finish line.