Your developer has gone. Your system still needs looking after.
Many businesses depend on a bespoke system whose original developer has moved on, leaving no documentation and nobody who understands it. I take these systems over: first understanding exactly what you have and the risks, then keeping it running and improving it.
Sound familiar?
- The person who built your system has left, retired or stopped responding
- Nobody can say where the code is, how it's deployed or who holds the passwords
- You're afraid to change anything in case it breaks
- Your system is on an unsupported framework, such as .NET 8 after November 2026
What you get
- Recovery of code, hosting, domains and accounts into your ownership
- A fixed-price takeover audit: architecture, risks, security and upgrade needs
- Documentation and a working deployment process
- Priority fixes for anything critical
- A clear plan: care plan, upgrade or staged modernisation
Ways to work together
Every engagement starts with a small, paid, fixed-price first step. That's where requirements are gathered and the scope and cost estimate for the rest of the work are written, so you know what you're committing to.
Takeover audit
from £1,500
A written report on what you have, the risks and what to do next.
Stabilise
Estimated in the audit
Critical fixes, security, backups and a repeatable deployment.
Ongoing care
Care plan
Keep it secure and current on a monthly plan.
Common questions
What if we don't have the source code or the passwords?
That's common. The first step is recovering what can be recovered: code from servers, repositories and backups, and access to hosting, domains and accounts through the providers, with your business as the owner. The audit records anything that can't be recovered and what that means for you.
What does the takeover audit cover?
Where everything lives and who controls it; how the system is built, deployed and backed up; security risks; framework and hosting versions that are out of support or close to it; and a recommended plan. You keep the written report whether or not I do the follow-on work.
How much does taking over a system cost?
The takeover audit starts from £1,500. The cost of stabilising the system is estimated in the audit, so you know it before committing. After that, ongoing care is a monthly care plan, from £195 a month.
Will the system keep running while you take it over?
Yes. Nothing changes in production until the code, deployment and backups are understood. Critical fixes come first, each with a way to roll back.
Do we need to rewrite the system?
Rarely. A system that has run your business for years holds business rules that already work. It's usually cheaper and safer to stabilise it, bring it onto a supported framework and improve it in stages.
What kinds of systems do you take over?
Bespoke web applications and business systems built on .NET, including older .NET Framework and ASP.NET applications, and Node.js, along with the databases and hosting behind them.
Related work
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Read the case studyHave a project in mind?
Tell me what you're trying to achieve, and I'll reply as soon as I can to say whether it's a fit and what the fixed-price first step costs.