Can another company take over our software?
Yes. Another company can take over bespoke software, provided you hold the source code or can obtain it. The new supplier also needs access to where the system runs, and should prove it can build, release and restore the system before the previous supplier steps away.
What a takeover needs
The source code. Source code is the text that programmers write, from which the running application is produced. A new team needs the current version, matching what is in use today. An old copy means recent changes would be lost at the first release.
Access to where the system runs. That means administrator access to the servers or cloud account, the database, the domain names and any third-party services the system uses, such as email delivery or payment providers.
A copy of the data. A recent backup of the database and any uploaded files, held somewhere your organisation controls.
The right to change the code. Who owns bespoke software depends on the contract it was written under. If the contract is silent or unclear on ownership, take legal advice before you instruct a new supplier.
Documentation and a cooperative previous developer both help. Neither is essential.
How a takeover starts
A careful takeover starts with an assessment, not with changes. Ours first proves that the system can be built from its source code, released in a controlled way and restored from a backup. Until those are done, nobody knows whether the code you hold is complete or whether the backups work.
Once they are proven, fixes and improvements become routine work. Our takeover process sets out the steps, and a code audit is the usual way to begin.
If your current supplier is still trading, the handover can be planned so that both suppliers are involved for a short period. Our page on changing software supplier covers what to have in hand before giving notice.
If you do not have the source code
Without source code, the running application cannot safely be changed. That leaves three routes.
Ask for it. The previous supplier or developer may still hold a copy and may be obliged to provide one. Check the contract, and check whether a copy was placed in escrow, an arrangement where a third party holds the code and releases it under set conditions. Old laptops, backups and accounts on code hosting services are also worth searching.
Recover what you can. Some compiled applications, including many written in .NET, can be turned back into readable code. The result is harder to work with than the original, and your right to do it depends on your contract and on copyright law, so take advice first.
Keep it running and plan a replacement. The system can often stay in service as it is while a replacement is built from the data and from what the system can be seen to do. Our page on a supplier that has stopped supporting a system covers the first steps.
When a takeover is not possible
A packaged product, such as an accounts package sold to many customers, belongs to its vendor. Nobody else can take it over. The practical route is the vendor, a reseller or a move to another product.
The same applies where a supplier owns the code under the contract and will not release or license it. That is a contractual matter to settle first, with legal advice.
Related questions
Does the original developer have to cooperate?
No, provided you hold the source code and administrator access to where the system runs. Cooperation makes the handover quicker, because questions are answered by someone who knows, but a competent team can work from the code alone.
What if there is no documentation?
That is common and does not prevent a takeover. The code is the accurate record of what the system does. Part of the work is writing down what should have existed: how to build the system, how to release it and what it connects to.
Will the system have to be rewritten?
Usually not. A takeover starts from the system as it is. Whether any part needs modernising is a separate decision, made once an assessment has shown what condition it is in.
Can a new company take over software written in an old technology?
Usually, if it has people who know that technology. We work mostly on the Microsoft stack, including older technologies such as VB6, Classic ASP, ASP.NET Web Forms and Access. Ask any prospective supplier which of your technologies its own staff have worked in.
Want the answer for your system?
Tell us what the software does and what you are trying to decide. We will reply with a straight answer and what we would need to know to be more precise.