Cacti Support & Consulting Services — Urban-Software.de
Professional Cacti Support & Consulting
Guaranteed-SLA support for Cacti network monitoring from the author of the Cacti Beginner’s Guide and long-time Cacti developer. Retainers from €750/month. Evening and weekend availability. No generic IT consultants — just deep Cacti expertise.
Thomas Urban · Author, Cacti Beginner’s Guide · Cereus plugin developer · github.com/thurban · Kressbronn am Bodensee, Germany · VAT-ID: DE301912908 · info@urban-software.com
Your monitoring is running. But is it actually working?
A Cacti install that silently stops polling, a threshold that never fires, an upgrade you keep postponing — these are the failures that leave you blind exactly when you need to see. MCAP routes alerts to Slack, Teams, or wherever your team actually is. And when something breaks below the surface, you want the person who knows Cacti at source level — on a contract, with a response time in writing.
The Cacti Expert on Call When You Need One
Urban-Software.de provides dedicated Cacti support under a monthly retainer model. You get a fixed block of hours, a response SLA in writing, and direct access to Thomas Urban — author of the Cacti Beginner’s Guide, developer behind the Cereus plugin ecosystem, and an active contributor to the Cacti community.
What clients typically contact us for:
- Cacti upgrades and version migrations (0.8.x → 1.2.x)
- Poller performance tuning and large-scale scaling
- Custom plugin development and data-source integration
- Threshold, alerting and notification setup that actually fires
- Debugging broken graphs, gaps and SNMP issues
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Every response time on this page is a commitment to acknowledge your ticket, triage it, and give you a time plan — within the service windows below. It is not a guarantee that the fix is finished by then; resolution follows within the service windows. Urban-Software.de is a specialist solo practice, so the evening and weekend service windows are the honest boundary of every SLA — and the reason response means “I’m on it, here’s the plan” rather than an open-ended promise nobody could keep.
Why Urban-Software.de
Cacti-Exclusive Expertise
Not a generalist who also touches Cacti. The author of the Cacti Beginner’s Guide and maintainer of the Cereus plugin suite — this is the platform I work in every day.
Written SLA Commitment
Response commitments in writing — triage and a time plan, not “we’ll get back to you”. SLAs range from two service days (Starter) to eight service hours (Enterprise), measured within the availability windows.
German Vendor
German- or English-language support. German invoicing with proper VAT handling. GDPR-compliant practices. A verifiable legal entity (VAT-ID: DE301912908) — not an anonymous online profile.
Direct Access
You talk to the engineer who does the work — no ticket tier-one, no account manager relay. One expert, start to finish.
Transparent Hour Tracking
A monthly hour log attached to every invoice. You always know what was done and how many included hours remain. No billing surprises.
Plugin Developer Advantage
When a fix needs code, it gets code. Custom plugins, patches and data-source work come from the same person who supports you — not a third party.
Support Tiers
All tiers include direct access to Thomas Urban. All prices exclude VAT. Included hours are a fair-use allowance, not a metered quota — what you are buying is guaranteed availability and a response commitment. Support is provided during evening and weekend hours (Mon–Fri from 17:00 CET/CEST; Sat–Sun all day).
Starter
Response ≤ 2 service days
Standard
Response ≤ 24 service hrs
★ Professional
Response ≤ 12 service hrs
Enterprise
Response ≤ 8 service hrs
● Incident ● Response (triage & plan) — the sooner the curve turns back, the faster you hear from me. Resolution follows within the service windows.
| Feature | Starter €750/month | Standard €1,500/month | ★ Professional €2,800/month | Enterprise €5,200/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Included Hours (fair use) | 4 h/month | 8 h/month | 14 h/month | 24 h/month |
| Response SLA (triage & plan) | Within 2 service days | Within 24 service hours | Within 12 service hours | Within 8 service hours |
| Additional Hours | €210/h | €210/h | €210/h | €210/h |
| Monthly Hour Report | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cereus Plugin Licence Discount | 10% | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Best For | Small IT teams | ISPs, mid-market IT | MSPs, growing orgs | Cacti-critical (non-24/7) |
Note: “Response” means acknowledgement, triage and a time plan — not a resolution guarantee. Support is provided during evening and weekend hours: Mon–Fri from 17:00 CET/CEST, and Sat–Sun all day. SLA response times are measured from ticket receipt within these windows. Daytime emergency intervention (09:00–17:00 CET/CEST) available on request at +50% surcharge (€315/h).
Optional Add-On: Weekly Check-in Meeting — €299/month
A standing 30-minute weekly call to review open items, plan ahead and keep your Cacti roadmap on track. Available with any tier.
What Your Retainer Hours Cover
Monitoring and triage of reported issues · plugin updates and version upgrades · configuration changes and template work · poller and performance tuning · minor custom development and scripting · advice and architecture review. Larger builds are scoped separately as fixed-price projects (see below).
Project & Ad-Hoc Rates
For clients without a retainer, or for work beyond retainer scope.
| Service | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard hourly rate | €210/h | Evening & weekend hours |
| Daytime emergency | €315/h | Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00 CET/CEST, on request, min. 1 hour |
| Cacti health check | from €1,800 | Written report + 2-hour debrief call |
| Upgrade / migration project | €1,800–€4,500 | Fixed price after scoping |
| Training workshop | from €1,800 | 4 hours, up to 8 attendees, remote or on-site |
How It Works
Free Consultation
A 30-minute call to understand your setup, your critical points and the right tier. No obligation.
Proposal & Agreement
A tailored proposal with recommended tier, scope and pricing. Sign the MSA and SOW — typically within 24 hours.
Kick-off & Access
Provision access, agree the ticket channel and confirm your service windows. You are live.
Ongoing Support
Submit tickets by email. Monthly invoice with hour log. Adjust tier up or down with 30 days’ notice.
Who We Work With
ISPs & Telecoms
Large SNMP estates, high graph counts and poller scaling — where Cacti’s efficiency matters most.
MSPs & NOC Teams
Multi-client monitoring, custom integrations and the alerting glue that keeps a NOC informed.
Enterprise IT & Universities
In-house Cacti installs that are important but not life-critical — and need depth, not a 24/7 call centre.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are you available?
Support is provided Monday–Friday from 17:00 CET/CEST, and Saturday–Sunday all day. This reflects my availability outside of a separate full-time professional commitment. Daytime emergency intervention (09:00–17:00 CET/CEST) is available on request at +50% surcharge (€315/h).
It means I acknowledge your ticket, triage it and give you a time plan within the stated window — not that the fix is complete by then. Resolution follows within the service windows. This distinction is deliberate: an acknowledgement-and-plan commitment is one I can keep reliably; an open-ended “fixed within X hours” promise from a solo provider would not be honest.
Are you a one-person practice?
Yes. Urban-Software.de is a specialist solo practice — that is the whole point: you get the author of the Cacti Beginner’s Guide directly, not a call-centre relay. It also means the evening and weekend service windows are the honest boundary of every SLA, and why higher tiers are limited to a small number of clients so quality never slips.
Do unused retainer hours roll over?
Unused hours may carry over into the following month, but do not accumulate beyond that. The monthly fee primarily covers guaranteed availability and your response SLA — whether or not every hour is used.
Can I start with a project and move to a retainer later?
Yes. Many clients start with a fixed-price project (e.g. a Cacti upgrade or performance overhaul) and transition to a retainer for ongoing support once the initial work is complete.
Do you support Cacti versions older than 1.2.x?
Yes, though I will typically recommend a migration path to a supported version. Legacy 0.8.x installations can be assessed on request.
Can you help with Cacti plugins not developed by Urban-Software.de?
Yes. Third-party plugins (Thold, Weathermap, Syslog, Monitor, etc.) are within scope. Custom and in-house plugins can also be reviewed and debugged.
Do you sign NDAs and MSAs?
Yes. A standard NDA and Master Services Agreement are available and can be signed before any access is provisioned. Your environment details remain confidential.
Is support available in German?
Yes. Communication can be in German or English — your preference.