Get Support for an Existing Bespoke System

Do you want to find a new software consultancy to pick up the support of an existing bespoke system? Making the switch to a new supplier will be easier if you start thinking now about some of the issues the new supplier will face:

1. What’s the underlying technology stack (many customers have no idea)?


2. Where’s the source code and do you have access to it? It should be stored in a version control system like Apache Subversion - is your current supplier doing that?


3. Have you got something that describes the overall software architecture? Usually there isn’t anything so get the current supplier to produce some documentation - if you can.


4. How often in the past was the software updated and how did you and the original supplier work together during each new development phase? What worked and what didn’t work?


5. How did the original supplier build and deploy new releases of software? Is that process written down?


6. Are you on still on friendly terms with that supplier? Will they provide support during the handover?


7. Does a handover of software also mean a change in hosting provider? If yes then it’s even more important to get some process documentation from the original development team. A fresh install of the system will almost certainly mean a transfer of data from the current database, scripts to build the new database, particular versions of third party software and other obscure configuration settings that only the original supplier will know about.

It helps to think about the kind of new supplier you want:

1. Capacity - it takes a lot of time to understand how someone else’s bespoke software works. It could mean a year of slowly getting to grips with some of the complexity. Can the new supplier give you access to developers who will stick around on the project long enough to develop a good understanding of how things work?


2. Specialist domain knowledge - did the original supplier need/have it and does the new supplier need it?


3. A supplier that’s done this before - get potential suppliers to tell you how they’ve made it work in the past.


4. Flexibility and a willingness to think strategically. Many software developers don’t like working on unfamiliar code, particularly systems that they themselves would have built differently. You need to find a team that will stick with the long learning curve and make positive and achievable suggestions for improving things in the future.

There’s a big difference between support of an existing bespoke system that is just bug fixing and support that actually means that you’re looking for a software company to undertake new development. The latter is more complex but it should be an opportunity. Can you work with your new supplier to replace discrete areas of functionality with new systems, possibly by developing application program interfaces (APIs) or data exports? Look for a software supplier with new ideas and fresh thinking so you can start to move away from a dependency on what will eventually become a legacy system.