Software project rescue
When a development project is late, over budget or delivering software that does not work, we establish what has been built, what it would take to finish and whether finishing is the right decision.
From a stalled plan to working software
The scope is much the same. What changes is the order of the work, and how soon something can be used.
The original plan
One release with everything in it. Nothing can be used until all of it is finished.
The recovery plan
The smallest useful version goes live first. The rest follows in order of value, and some of it turns out not to be needed.
How projects get into trouble
Software projects seldom fail suddenly. A date slips, then slips again. Demonstrations show screens that look finished but do nothing when clicked. The supplier explains that the last ten per cent is taking longer than expected. Invoices keep arriving. By the time someone asks for outside help, the business has usually spent most of its budget and has nothing it can use.
The causes are familiar: a scope that was never properly agreed, a price that was too low to do the work, a team that was learning the technology as they went, or a single developer who took on more than one person could deliver.
What we do first
We find out the truth about what exists. That means reading the code, building it, running it and comparing what it does with what was specified. Status reports and percentages are set aside; a feature either works or it does not.
The result is a plain account of where the project stands, what it would cost to finish and what we would recommend. Many clients find this the most useful part, whatever they decide next, because it replaces months of uncertainty with facts.
Getting to something that works
The quickest route out of a failed project is almost never to finish the original plan. It is to identify the smallest version of the system that would be of real use, finish that, and put it live. Once people are using working software, the rest of the scope can be added in order of value, and each addition can be priced and delivered with far more confidence.
If the code proves unsalvageable, the work already done is not entirely wasted. The requirements are better understood than they were at the start, and a rebuild can be scoped and priced at a fixed cost.
Talk to us
Describe the system and what you need. You will hear back from someone who can answer technical questions.
Discuss a rescue 0800 433 7990What a rescue assessment tells you
- What exists
- Which features are complete, which are partly built and which exist only in a status report.
- Whether the foundations are sound
- An honest view of the architecture and code quality, and whether they can carry the finished system.
- What it would take to finish
- The remaining work, broken into pieces that can each be estimated, with the unknowns named.
- What can be dropped
- Which parts of the original scope the business could launch without, to get something useful live sooner.
- Your position on ownership
- Whether you hold the code, the accounts and the data, and what needs securing before any change of supplier.
- A recommendation
- Continue with the current code, salvage parts of it or start again. We give the reasoning for each so the decision is yours.
How a rescue runs
Secure what you have
Before anything else, the source code, environments and data are copied and brought under your control.
Assess
We read the code, run it, compare it with the specification and talk to the people who will use it.
Agree a reduced first release
Together we cut the scope to the smallest version that is worth launching, and fix that scope.
Finish and release
We complete that version, test it against agreed acceptance checks and put it live.
Carry on from a working system
The remaining scope is added in further releases, each small enough to price and deliver predictably.
Each step is priced before you commit to it
You can stop after any step and keep what it produced. Nothing depends on agreeing to the next one.
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A first call
Free20 minutes
You describe the system and what prompted the call. We say whether we can help, and if we are not the right people we say that too.
Arrange a call -
A code audit
£1,950 fixed1 to 2 weeks
A written report on the condition of the system, its risks and what to do first. It is yours whatever you decide, and the fee is credited against any work that follows.
What the audit covers -
A first piece of work
Fixed priceAgreed in writing
Usually the priority items from the audit, or one defined package. Scope, price and acceptance checks are agreed before we start.
How fixed price works -
Ongoing support, if you want it
From £450 a monthCancel with 30 days' notice
A monthly plan covering faults, updates and small changes. The code, accounts and documentation stay yours throughout.
Support plans
A good fit when
- Deadlines have been missed more than once and you no longer trust the dates you are given.
- The software has been delivered but is too unreliable to use.
- The supplier has asked for more money to finish and you want an independent view.
- Your developer has stopped work partway through.
Probably not for you if
- The project is running late but the supplier is communicating openly and delivering working software; a rescue would cost more than patience.
- You are looking for an expert witness in a dispute. We can describe what we find, but we are engineers, not litigators.
Questions we are asked
Can a failing project always be saved?
No. Sometimes the code is in such a state that building on it would cost more than starting again, and we will say so. More often a good part of it can be kept, and the project can be recovered by cutting the scope of the first release.
Do we have to sack our current supplier?
Not necessarily. Some clients ask for an independent assessment and then continue with the same supplier on a clearer footing. If you do change supplier, we manage the handover.
How quickly can you start?
The first step, securing the code and accounts, can begin as soon as you can grant access. Tell us the situation and we will say what we can do and when.
Will you quote a fixed price to finish the project?
Once the assessment is done and a first release has been scoped, yes. We will not quote a fixed price for an unexamined codebase, because nobody can do that honestly.
Tell us about your system
Say what it does, what it is built on and what is worrying you. We will reply with what we would look at first and whether we are the right people to help.