Better Stack Client Workspace Provisioning (Onboarding)

Better Stack Client Workspace Provisioning (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Create a dedicated Better Stack workspace per client and assign the Responder license

   Responder runs $34/month per license ($29 annual), covering unlimited team members plus on-call, monitoring, and status pages. One license per client keeps the retainer cost line traceable and avoids mixing client telemetry in a shared workspace.

2. 02

   Configure uptime monitors against the client's critical URLs and API endpoints

   Start with the primary website URL and any endpoint the client's revenue depends on. Keep the first environment narrow so time-to-value lands in days, not weeks, given medium setup complexity.

3. 03

   Connect log, metric, and trace ingestion through OpenTelemetry or Prometheus collectors

   Ingestion bills at $0.15/GB for logs and traces in US/Europe. Set a per-client ingestion ceiling before connecting production sources so the usage line stays inside the retainer.

4. 04

   Wire alert routing into Slack, email, SMS, and phone, then build on-call schedules and escalation policies

   Validate each channel with a test incident. Confirm the escalation path reaches the client's designated responder before the first real outage does.

5. 05

   Test AI root-cause analysis and automated post-mortem output on a synthetic incident

   Run one deliberate failure and review the generated post-mortem. The agency needs to defend that artifact to the client, so check the output reads correctly before it ships in a real incident review.

6. 06

   Publish a status page branded to the client's domain

   Point the status page at the client's own domain so downtime communication comes from them, not from the agency's shared tooling.

7. 07

   Document the runbook and hand off the monitoring dashboard to the client team

   Include escalation contacts, ingestion budget, and the incident review cadence. This handoff document is what justifies the ongoing retainer after setup closes.