You want to move your software to a different supplier
Your current supplier is still in business, but replies are slow, costs keep rising or the quality has slipped. We help you plan the move, take the system on alongside them and prove we can run it before they step away.
Signs it is time to move
A supplier relationship rarely breaks in one go. It wears down. Replies that used to arrive the same day take a week. Quotes for small changes grow. A release fixes one fault and introduces another. The person who knew your system has moved on, and every request has to be explained from the beginning. Sometimes nothing is wrong at all: the business has grown, and the system needs more attention than a small supplier can give it.
One of these on its own is a reason for a conversation. Several together, over months, are a reason to plan a move.
This page is about a planned change, where the supplier is still trading and still answering. If yours has closed, been bought or gone silent, the priorities are different, and our page on a supplier that has stopped supporting your system covers them.
Before you tell the current supplier
Do three things quietly first.
Read the contract. Look for the notice period, the clauses on who owns the source code, and anything about help with leaving, sometimes called exit assistance. We cannot tell you what your contract means. If it is unclear or silent on these points, take legal advice before you act.
Take your own copies. Ask for the current source code, a full database backup and the credentials for hosting, domains and third-party services. A client can sensibly hold these at any time, so the request need not signal that you are leaving.
Get an independent view. A code audit tells you what condition the system is in and whether the code you hold can be built. It can be done without contacting the supplier, provided you have your own copy of the code.
How a planned transition runs
The safest handover has both suppliers involved for a short period. The outgoing supplier keeps the system running as before. The incoming supplier gains access, learns the system and asks its questions while the people who can answer them are still engaged.
Before the old supplier steps away, the new one should prove three things:
- It can build the application from the source code and get the same result as the running system.
- It can restore a backup into a separate environment.
- It can release one small change to production.
Until those are done, the new supplier has only been told how the system works. Afterwards, it has shown that it can run it. Our takeover process is built around these checks, and our supplier transition plan sets out the whole sequence as a document you can print and work through.
Keeping the outgoing supplier cooperative
You will get a better handover from a supplier that feels fairly treated.
- Settle outstanding invoices, so that no dispute holds the handover up.
- Offer to pay for handover time. Explaining a system is work, and paid work gets done.
- Keep it factual. Give the decision and the dates, and leave the history out.
- Put requests in writing, with a date against each, and confirm what you receive.
A supplier that parts on good terms has little reason to be difficult, and may still answer the occasional question months later.
Talk to us
Describe the system and what you need. You will hear back from someone who can answer technical questions.
Discuss a software handover 0800 433 7990What to have in hand before you give notice
- The contract terms
- The notice period, who owns the source code and what help the supplier must give when you leave. If the wording is unclear, take advice.
- Your own copy of the code
- The current source code, matching what is running, in a repository your organisation controls.
- Your own copy of the data
- A recent backup of the database and any uploaded files, stored somewhere the supplier does not control.
- Credentials and accounts
- Administrator access to hosting, domains and third-party services, with a note of whose name each one is in.
- A list of what the supplier does
- The routine tasks nobody wrote down: renewals, scheduled jobs, manual fixes and checks.
- An independent view
- An assessment of the system's condition, so that you and the incoming supplier know what is being taken on.
How we run a planned change
Assess the system
We review the code and how it is hosted and released, usually through a code audit, and tell you what a move would involve.
Plan the handover
We agree dates, the tasks for each party and the period during which both suppliers are involved.
Take copies and access
Code, data and credentials are brought under your ownership, and we are given access alongside the outgoing supplier.
Prove we can run it
We build the application from source, restore a backup and release one small change while the outgoing supplier is still available to answer questions.
Switch and close
Responsibility passes to us on an agreed date, the outgoing supplier's access is removed and the system moves onto a maintenance arrangement.
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.
-
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
- Requests take longer and longer to be answered, and the changes you need are not being made.
- The cost of support or of small changes keeps rising without a clear reason.
- Releases regularly introduce new faults.
- The business has grown and the system needs more attention than the current supplier can give.
Probably not for you if
- The supplier has already closed or stopped responding. That calls for quicker action, covered on our page about a supplier that has stopped supporting a system.
- The system is the supplier's own packaged product. You will not be given the code, so the practical route is to export your data and move to another product.
- The supplier owns the code and will not release or license it. That is a contractual matter to settle first, with legal advice.
Questions we are asked
Should we tell the current supplier before we have found a new one?
Usually not. Check the contract, take your own copies of the code and data, and choose the incoming supplier first. You then give notice with a plan in hand, and the handover can start straight away.
How long does it take to change software supplier?
It depends on the size of the system, the notice period in your contract and how much of the code and access you already hold. A small application with everything to hand moves quickly, and a larger one with missing pieces takes longer. An assessment gives a specific answer.
What if the current supplier will not cooperate?
The move can usually still go ahead, provided you hold the source code and administrator access to where the system runs. Cooperation makes it quicker, which is why it helps to settle invoices, offer paid handover time and keep the conversation factual.
Will our users notice the change?
They should not. The system stays where it is and keeps running while the incoming supplier proves it can build, restore and release it. Moving hosting, if that is needed, is planned as a separate step.
Do we need both suppliers at the same time?
For a short period, yes. Paying the outgoing supplier for some handover time while the new one gets established is usually cheaper than discovering a gap after they have gone.
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.