Forward deployed engineer

A forward deployed engineer, assigned to your company from diagnosis to upkeep

The term comes from American software vendors: a forward deployed engineer, or FDE, is an engineer sent to the client, who builds and commissions inside the client's systems, alongside its teams. That is how we have worked from the first day, without using the word: an engineer is assigned to your company, and the same person leads the diagnosis, the production build, the training and the upkeep.

The FDE works inside your systems, and your systems do not change

The engineer connects the chosen software to your mailbox, your files, your accounting and your management software. They take your data as it is, including paper files and scanned archives without text. They develop the layer between the software and your systems: the integration, the rules of your trade, the data migration. Nothing they build is proprietary.

An FDE is judged on a system in service, and that is how we invoice

The price of the production build is fixed before the work and due only on commissioning. If the agreed date is not met, we do not invoice. The scope and the definition of “in production” are signed in advance. No day is invoiced on time spent, and that is what sets this model apart from staff augmentation.

The FDE stays after commissioning

At software vendors, the forward deployed engineer leaves once the product is adopted. With us, they stay: upkeep is a monthly subscription, cancellable at any time, during which the same person supervises the system, keeps the software up to date and adjusts the scope. You do not get a new contact at each step.

An FDE with no product to place

A vendor's forward deployed engineer deploys their employer's product. We have no product: we keep open-source software, tested on our own machines, and we study case by case the software not in the catalogue. The installation belongs to you, and another provider can take it over.

Forward deployed engineers trained at EPFL, in Lausanne

We are three, trained at EPFL. Our hardware is in Lausanne: we can host your system there under Swiss law, or install a server on your premises. We work on site in French-speaking Switzerland and in France, and by video call anywhere.

The questions we are asked

What does FDE mean?

Forward deployed engineer: an engineer deployed forward, at the client's, who delivers inside the client's systems rather than from their employer's offices. The term spread with American vendors of artificial-intelligence software.

Is an FDE a consultant?

No. A consultant recommends; an FDE builds and commissions. With us, the advice is included in the diagnosis, which is not invoiced, and the commitment is a system in production.

How long does the FDE stay?

During the production build, then for as long as upkeep lasts, a monthly subscription cancellable at any time.

Can you place an FDE in our team, by the day?

We invoice no day on time spent. We can, however, put a use case into production inside your systems, alongside your teams, at a price fixed in advance.

Where does the FDE work?

On site in Lausanne and French-speaking Switzerland, in France, and by video call. Where your data is processed is decided separately, at scoping.

To go further

Related pages

Get in touch

Thirty minutes, by video call. We look at your documents and say what we can do, including when the answer is no.

Book a call

In writing. A person reads your message, and replies within 24 hours.

bonjour@advazia.ch +41 78 305 23 12

Avenue Édouard-Dapples 21
1006 Lausanne, Switzerland