A new software platform from Wellington-based startup Dcentrica Solutions is aiming to address a costly yet often overlooked issue within digital agencies: the accumulation of unplanned and unbilled work once projects move into live environments. The company has launched Metaport, a solution designed to improve transparency around software maintenance, security vulnerabilities, and technology lifecycle risks. By centralizing critical technical information, the platform seeks to reduce reactive firefighting and enable more strategic post-launch management.
Exposing a Hidden Operational Drain
Digital agencies frequently invest significant effort into delivering complex software projects, but challenges tend to emerge after deployment. Once applications go live, teams often encounter unexpected maintenance tasks, urgent security fixes, or infrastructure updates that were neither forecasted nor budgeted. These reactive interventions can quietly consume hours of manual work, eroding margins and straining client relationships.
According to Dcentrica Solutions founder Russ Michell, this pattern is widespread across the industry. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience working within agencies, Michell observed that many organizations lack structured visibility into the ongoing technical health of their application portfolios. As a result, risks such as operating systems reaching end-of-life or newly disclosed vulnerabilities frequently surface without warning.
Bridging the Visibility Gap
Michell argues that the core problem is not a lack of data, but a lack of accessibility. Information about software dependencies, framework versions, security vulnerabilities, and vendor support timelines often exists within technical tools or internal documentation. However, that data is typically confined to developers or buried in spreadsheets, making it difficult for non-technical stakeholders to interpret and act upon.
Metaport is designed to bridge this gap by consolidating technical lifecycle and security data into a unified dashboard. The platform automatically gathers information about application components and presents it in a format tailored for project managers, delivery leads, and account managers. By translating technical insights into actionable intelligence, the system aims to empower teams responsible for planning budgets and communicating with clients.
From Reactive to Proactive Management
In many agencies, developers serve as the de facto custodians of system-level knowledge, yet they are rarely responsible for long-term planning or client engagement. This structural disconnect can create friction when critical updates are required, as non-technical teams lack early warning signals. Without shared visibility, agencies often discover risks only after they become urgent issues.
Metaport seeks to reverse this dynamic by providing immediate insight into which applications are approaching end-of-life milestones or are affected by newly identified vulnerabilities. This early awareness enables agencies to schedule upgrades and remediation work in advance rather than responding under pressure. The intended outcome is reduced disruption, improved resource allocation, and stronger client trust.
Financial and Strategic Implications
The financial impact of unmanaged technical debt can be significant. When maintenance work is not anticipated, agencies may absorb additional labor costs or struggle to justify urgent remediation expenses to clients. Repeated interruptions also distract developers from higher-value tasks, limiting productivity across teams.
By introducing shared, real-time visibility into software risk, Dcentrica Solutions positions Metaport as both an operational and commercial tool. Agencies can identify revenue opportunities linked to planned upgrades while demonstrating a more disciplined approach to risk management. In an environment where clients increasingly expect accountability beyond initial delivery, structured post-launch oversight may become a competitive differentiator.
With Metaport, Dcentrica Solutions is targeting a persistent blind spot in the digital agency model: the lack of coordinated visibility into ongoing software risk. By consolidating technical data and making it accessible to non-technical decision-makers, the platform aims to reduce surprise disruptions and support proactive planning. As agencies face mounting pressure to manage security and lifecycle risks more transparently, tools that transform hidden technical information into strategic insight may become essential components of modern service delivery.