The person who built it has moved on
They retired, took another job, or are simply no longer available. They knew the product best, and now nobody is quite sure who to call when something needs to change.
Software products
Your customers depend on your software. You need a partner you can depend on to look after it.
Maybe the developer who built it has moved on, or keeping up with maintenance and support has gotten harder every year. We take over software products, learn them thoroughly, and keep them running and improving for the customers who rely on them.
Sound familiar?
The product still works, but looking after it is getting harder.
Every change takes longer than the last
Customer requests pile up. Updates that used to take days now take weeks, and each one carries a little more worry about what else it might affect.
Support is hard to keep up with
Customers expect quick answers and steady improvements. Keeping up with questions, fixes, and updates has become a strain on the people you have.
We learn your product before we change it
A product your customers rely on represents years of decisions made for good reasons, often under real deadlines and real budgets. The people who built it got it this far, and we treat their work with respect.
Missing documentation isn't a problem. The code itself is documentation: it records exactly how the product behaves, including the rules and exceptions nobody wrote down. We read it carefully, talk with you and your team, and make sure we understand what the product does and why before we touch it.
How a takeover runs
Understand it, stabilize it, then keep improving it.
STEP 01
Understand it
We start with a conversation about the product, your customers, and what's been hard lately. Then we get access to the code and learn how it works, where it's solid, and where it's fragile.
STEP 02
Stabilize it
We take care of the urgent items first: fixes customers are waiting on, updates that have been put off, and anything that makes the product risky to change. You decide the priorities.
STEP 03
Keep improving it
With the product steady, we work through customer requests and new features in manageable steps. You keep running the business and your customer relationships, and we're available to stay on for as long as it's useful.
Building a new product instead?
Some people come to us with a product idea that grew out of years in their industry: a tool they wished they'd had, or a better way to handle work their customers struggle with. You bring the industry knowledge. We bring the experience of designing and building software that holds up.
Much of what a product needs is the same every time: security, single sign-on, customer organizations, who sees what, and subscription management. Our platform already provides those, and Code Mason, our development tool, handles repeatable development work. That leaves more of the effort for the parts that make your product worth buying.
Either way
What you can count on, whether we take it over or build it new.
An experienced developer and architect
You work directly with someone who has been building and supporting business software since 1999, and who starts by asking why before deciding how.
Code other developers can work on
We build to consistent standards so the product never depends on one person again. If you bring on your own developers later, they can pick it up.
A way of working that fits
Own the code and bring us back when you need us, or keep us on retainer for ongoing changes and support. We'll help you choose what suits the product.
Is this a fit?
Is your product a good candidate?
You don't need documentation or a list of everything that's wrong. If any of these sound familiar, it's worth a conversation. If they describe someone you know, we'd appreciate the introduction.
- ✓You have a software product that customers pay for and depend on.
- ✓The original developer is no longer available, or maintenance has become hard to keep up with.
- ✓You want a long-term partner, not a quick patch.
- ✓Or you know your industry well and have a product idea you're ready to build.
Start with a conversation
Tell us about your product as it is today.
A 20-minute call, no deck and no pressure. Describe the product, your customers, and what's been getting harder. We'll tell you honestly how we'd approach it.