ProblemInherited systems
Our developer left and nobody can change the system
This is common and usually recoverable. What matters is the order you do things in, and that the first steps happen this week.
If the person who built your system is gone, secure four things in this order: a copy of your data, control of the domain name, control of the hosting account, and a copy of the code. Do not change anything in the system until you have the first. Then have someone read the code and tell you plainly whether it can be maintained, repaired or should be replaced. We do that review at N$424.99 an hour, with a written report.
What you see, and what it usually means
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| The domain or hosting bill goes to someone else's email | The accounts are in the developer's name. If they lapse, the system goes offline. |
| Nobody in the organisation has an administrator login | You are a user of your own system, not its owner. |
| Small changes have been “coming” for months | The developer has moved on, or cannot fix it. |
| There is no copy of the code anywhere you can reach | It exists only on the server, or on the developer's laptop. |
| You do not know when the last backup was made | Assume there is none until you have seen one restored. |
What you can do yourself
These cost nothing but time. Do them before paying for software, including ours.
Get a copy of your data today
Use every export the system offers and save the files in two places. If there is no export, screenshots and printed reports are better than nothing.
Find out who owns the domain name
Search the domain at a WHOIS lookup site to see the registrar. Whoever can log in to that registrar account controls your address.
Find out where it is hosted, and who pays
Look through old invoices and emails for the hosting company. Ask for the account to be moved into the organisation's name.
Ask the developer, politely and in writing
Request the code, the passwords and the accounts. Most former developers will hand over if asked clearly. Keep the messages.
Change the passwords you do control
Starting with the organisation's email, because every other account resets through it.
Do not let anyone “quickly fix” it yet
Not until there is a backup you have seen and a copy of the code.
Today, and with a system
Today
- Accounts in someone else's name
- No copy of the code
- No tested backup
- Nobody who can change anything
With a system
- Domain, hosting and code in the organisation's name
- A backup that has been restored once, to prove it
- A written report on the system's health
- Someone who answers when it breaks
- The domain or hosting is due for renewal and you cannot log in.
- The system holds personal or financial records and nobody is watching it.
- It has started failing, and nobody knows why.
- The developer does not reply, or refuses to hand anything over.
What we would build
We help you recover the accounts, take a full backup, and read the code. You get a short written report in plain words: what the system is built with, what state it is in, what is risky, and whether we would maintain it, repair it or replace it, with a price for each.
A takeover and health check is charged at N$424.99 an hour and usually takes four to ten hours. After that, a care plan keeps it watched.
Common questions
Can you take over a system built by someone else?
Usually, if we can get the code and it is written in a mainstream language. We will tell you after reading it. Sometimes the honest answer is that rebuilding costs less than repairing.
The developer will not give us the code. Do we own it?
That depends on your agreement with them, and we are not lawyers. Whatever the agreement says, your data is yours, and getting a copy of it is the first priority. Who owns the code lists what to have in writing next time.
How do we stop this happening again?
Three rules: every account in the organisation's name, a copy of the code in a place you control, and a one-page handover note. Every build we do ends with all three.
Describe the problem. We will send back a scope.
Say what is slowing the work down and who is affected. You get a one-page scope in plain words: what would be built first, how long it takes and what it costs. It is free, and you owe nothing if you do not go ahead.