Two Decades of Infrastructure, Built from Scratch
From a self-taught teenager on an Amstrad CPC6128 to running production systems for half a million customers — this is not a consulting pitch built on certifications. It is a career built on uptime, hard decisions, and bootstrapped growth.
Age 10
First line of code on an Amstrad CPC6128. Self-taught through the entire 1990s.
Age 18
Managing ops for 500,000 customers across 40 Linux servers, leading a team of seven.
2003
Co-founded Jexiste.fr — 4,000 customers, 80 servers, built from the ground up.
2009
Renamed it ISVTEC, acquired my co-founder's shares, pivoted to managed services while keeping hosting
Today
Still running ISVTEC — bootstrapped, ISO 27001 certified, AWS and Scaleway partner.
Along the way: an official Debian developer who maintained DRBD high-availability packages for a decade, and co-founder of a technology-led restaurant group that scaled to six locations before a successful exit.
What That Means For You
Every senior engineer carries scars. The question is whether you pay for theirs or benefit from them. The expensive mistakes — wrong architecture choices, vendor lock-in, scaling too early, cutting corners on security — have already been made. On my own money. On other people's money. So you don't have to repeat them.
Hard-Won Judgment
Twenty-plus years of real production decisions, not theoretical frameworks. You get the conclusions without sitting through the lessons.
Bootstrapped Perspective
ISVTEC has never taken outside capital. Every recommendation is weighed against real-world cost and operational reality — not investor timelines.
Operator, Not Advisor
I still run infrastructure today. The advice is current because the work is current. No gap between what I recommend and what I actually do.
Credentials That Hold Up
Certifications matter less than track record. Here is what backs the work.
AWS & Scaleway Partner
Official partner status with two major cloud providers, enabling direct access to technical resources, support tiers, and architectural guidance not available to the general public.
ISO 27001 Certified
ISVTEC holds ISO 27001 certification — the international standard for information security management. Not a checkbox, but an operational discipline embedded into daily practice.
Official Debian Developer
Contributed directly to one of the most widely deployed Linux distributions in the world. Maintained the DRBD high-availability packages for ten years — critical infrastructure used by thousands of production systems globally.
One Exit
Co-founded and scaled a technology-led restaurant group to six locations, then executed a successful sale. Infrastructure thinking applied beyond the server room — into operations, teams, and growth.
20+
Years in Production
Running live infrastructure since 2003
80
Servers at Launch
Built from scratch at Jexiste.fr
4K
Hosting Customers
Managed at peak operations
10
Years on DRBD
Core Debian HA package maintainer
Let's Talk
No pitch decks, no discovery calls designed to sell you a retainer. Tell me your situation honestly — what you're running, what's keeping you up at night, what you've already tried. I'll tell you directly whether I can help, and if I can't, I'll tell you that too.
What to Expect
  • A direct, no-nonsense conversation about your infrastructure or managed service needs
  • An honest assessment — if the fit isn't right, I'll say so
  • Specific, actionable input you can use regardless of what you decide
Good Fits
  • Startups outgrowing shared infrastructure and needing production-grade systems
  • Technical leaders who need a trusted second opinion on architecture decisions
  • Companies that need managed services without sacrificing control or visibility
© 2026 Cyril Bouthors. All rights reserved.