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Dcentrica Solutions, a Wellington startup, has launched Metaport, a software platform that tracks maintenance and security risk across a digital agency's portfolio of websites and applications.
The product is pitched as a response to a common operational gap in agency work. Many agencies deliver projects, then face unplanned work after launch when security vulnerabilities emerge, software needs upgrading, or core components near the end of their supported life.
Metaport aggregates information that is often spread across multiple technical systems and informal documentation. It brings together data on security vulnerabilities, software dependencies, frameworks, and support timelines, and flags components approaching end of life.
The platform presents this information to both technical and non-technical roles inside an agency. It is aimed at project managers, delivery leads, and account managers, as well as developers and operations staff.
Founder Russ Michell says access to information is a key issue in many agencies. "Most of this information already exists," he said. "But it's scattered across technical tools, spreadsheets, or sitting in developers' heads. The people who need it most often can't see it."
Portfolio visibility
Metaport is built around a shared view of risk across an agency's client base. In a typical agency model, developers and DevOps engineers receive security alerts and system notices first. Project managers and account managers often learn about issues later-sometimes when a client reports a problem or demands an urgent plan.
That separation can make it harder to schedule remediation work, set budgets, and manage expectations. It can also increase pressure on developers, who can become a bottleneck for status updates and explanations while trying to fix the underlying problem.
"We're packaging up technical security information that's usually siloed with developers, DevOps engineers, and operations teams," Michell said. "We present it in a way non-technical roles can actually use."
The system is designed to be queried across an entire portfolio. A project manager can search for applications with components approaching end of life, or identify which clients may be exposed to a newly disclosed vulnerability based on the software stack used in each build.
"Find me all the applications that have a component reaching end of life in six months," Michell said. "Click-and there's your list."
Agency economics
Maintenance work can be a sensitive issue for agencies and their clients. Fixes may be urgent and time-consuming, and are often hard to forecast during a build. In many cases, clients do not budget for remediation until a problem becomes visible, while agencies absorb time in manual tasks, ad hoc investigation, and unplanned upgrades.
Dcentrica argues that earlier visibility changes how those conversations happen. It positions Metaport as a planning tool as much as a technical reporting layer, and says better visibility can reduce surprises and improve decisions about what to prioritise.
Michell says he has encountered the underlying problem repeatedly over more than two decades working in agencies. End-of-life notices and upgrade requirements, he said, can surface too late and disrupt delivery teams.
One example was a client call triggered by an end-of-life deadline. "I got a call saying, 'We just found out our operating system's at end of life. How did that happen? And what's your plan to fix it?'" Michell said. "That completely blindsided me. It shouldn't have."
Founding team
Michell founded Dcentrica Solutions and led the development of Metaport. He said the product reflects work he has often done informally, translating between technical teams and client-facing roles.
"I've always been the intermediary," he said. "I can speak tech to developers and interpret what developers are saying for non-technical people."
The leadership team includes co-director Tasia, who is also chief financial officer. Cofounder Luke Percy, a senior project manager and long-time collaborator, contributes in a fractional chief operating officer role while remaining employed elsewhere, the company says.
Percy's involvement is intended to keep the product aligned with day-to-day agency needs. "When Luke gets excited about a feature, that's a valid level of excitement," Michell said. "He's the customer."
Go-to-market focus
Dcentrica is targeting digital agencies first. It says the product could also apply to organisations that manage multiple applications and websites, but is starting with agencies where delivery work and ongoing support overlap and information is often split between technical tools and client management systems.
Michell said the business is taking a narrow approach in its initial rollout, focusing on agencies and the operational problems created by reactive maintenance. He also pointed to rising expectations around post-launch risk management, which he expects will increase demand for clearer reporting and planning.
"PMs and account managers are only as good as the data they have," Michell said. "If they don't know the information exists, they can't ask for it, and they can't plan around it."
Next, Dcentrica plans to focus on agency adoption and product development guided by customer feedback, positioning Metaport as a shared system of record for software maintenance risk across an agency portfolio.