About

We like to know how things work.

IT studio in Rouen for SMBs. We love open source, small structures, and work that gets explained well.

Our conviction

Open source. Because we like to know how things work.

Everything we deploy, people wrote before us, in the open. We use it, we learn from it, we give back to it. Less a strategy than a belonging.

~/initial · why-open-source
$cat ~/initial/why-open-source
  • >The code we deploy was written by thousands of people before us.
  • >We use it, we learn it, we enrich it, we return it.
  • >Read, understand, document, pass on: that's the craft.
  • >Less an ethic than a belonging.
$

Our daily stack

●Linux●Proxmox●PostgreSQL●Nextcloud●OnlyOffice●Restic●BorgBackup●WireGuard●pfSense●Zabbix●Grafana●Prometheus●Mattermost●TrueNAS●Ansible●Docker

And more, depending on the need. All documented, verifiable, replaceable.

Our story

How we got here.

Initial Infra wasn't born from a business plan. Five chapters about what we love, what we learned, and what we're trying to build.

  1. 01

    Chapter 01 · The standstill

    One morning, an entire company can come to a halt because of a single switch, a missing backup, or a misconfigured server.

    Most infrastructures stay invisible until the moment they fail.

    That's how we got started.

  2. 02

    Chapter 02 · The foundations

    Before the software, the dashboards and the AI, there are the basics.

    A stable network. Clean systems. Infrastructure built to last.

    Our work is to build those foundations.

  3. 03

    Chapter 03 · The ground

    We mostly work with small businesses, SMBs, workshops, practices, and structures where every breakdown has an immediate impact.

    So we favor systems that are understandable, documented, and maintainable.

  4. 04

    Chapter 04 · Transmission

    Everything we install, we document: configurations, technical choices, procedures, access.

    The goal is for the knowledge to stay with you. So that someone else can take over, understand, and continue.

    An infrastructure is only truly solid when someone other than the person who set it up can run it.

  5. 05

    Chapter 05 · Initial

    Initial Infra was born around a simple idea.

    Build systems that are reliable, clear, and meant to last.

Verifiable public references

Open source already powers public infrastructure.

Open source is not an abstract promise. The French State publishes catalogues, services and technical guidance that make real usage verifiable.

Public source

DINUM · SILL 2026

The reference catalogue is evolving into decision support based on explicit assessment criteria.

Open source
Public source

La Suite numérique

Tchap, Visio, France Transfert and Fichiers form a shared set of French State digital services.

Open source
Public source

ANSSI · OpenStack

Public guidance explains how to harden an OpenStack IaaS deployment in a SecNumCloud context.

Open source
Public source

Open digital government

The SILL lists more than 500 open-source tools used and shared across French public bodies.

Open source
Every statement now links directly to its institutional source.
The studio

Small, in Rouen, and we like it that way.

We don't chase headcount. We chase the right job, done well, with a single contact who knows what they're talking about.

ParisRouen49.44° N · 1.10° E

Operational studio

Rouen, France

Target

SMBs · 1 to 100 workstations

Approach

Architect mindset

Commitment

Transferable documentation

IT isn't a private club. If it's badly explained, it's because it's badly understood.

Ready to take back control?

Let's discuss your infrastructure. Audit, diagnosis, or just a technical discussion: the first step towards a controlled architecture.