Vendor lock-in is easy to spot. Every small change costs more than it should. The supplier sets the deadlines. And when you ask whether it could be done differently, you hear that sadly it can’t, because only they understand the system.
Supplier dependency (vendor lock-in) isn’t a law of nature. It’s a consequence of how the system was built and how the contract was written. And you can get out of it.
Sound familiar?
- You don’t have access to the source code, the servers or the domains.
- There’s no documentation, or it describes a system that changed long ago.
- You only learn the price of a change when you need it.
- The system runs on a platform nobody but the supplier knows.
- You’re afraid to say no to the supplier in case they stop answering.
How to get out
Find out what’s yours. We go through contracts, licences, access and infrastructure. It often turns out you have more rights than you thought. It’s just that nobody knew about them.
Get the code and the access. We help you ask the supplier for everything you’re entitled to: source code, access, data and documentation. Matter-of-factly and without needless escalation.
Understand the system. We go through the system, write down how it works and name the risks. The black box becomes something you understand.
Take over operations. We move the system into an environment you control and take over its operations and maintenance. Gradually, and without stopping the business.
Rewrite or take over?
The usual first reaction is to throw it all away and build again. Sometimes that makes sense. Far more often it’s cheaper to take the system over, document it and clean it up step by step. We’ll tell you honestly which route is more sensible for you. Even when the other one would be a bigger job for us.
If you’re not sure lock-in is even your problem, start with technology consulting.
So it doesn’t happen again
Escaping one supplier only to fall into dependency on the next makes no sense. So with us the same rule applies as on every project: the source code, the access and the documentation belong to you. We hand systems over so anyone could take them on. Even someone other than us.
We’ll also help you set up contracts and rules for future suppliers, so code ownership is settled at the start, not at the break-up. If you want your suppliers watched over long term, take a look at the fractional CTO.
Who it’s for
For enterprises, for whom a system in the hands of a single firm is an operational risk. For small and mid-sized companies that had a system built years ago and are now finding out they don’t have the keys to their own house.