Taking over an existing web application.
Your application runs and your customers use it, but nobody really knows what is inside anymore. I take it over: I read the code, the data and the servers, tell you what holds and what does not, then put it back on its feet without interrupting the service.
Remote, anywhere in France and abroad.
Sounds familiar?
The agency or developer who built it has left, along with what they knew.
Every change breaks something else, and nobody dares touch the code.
Servers, backups and access are written down nowhere.
You are told to rebuild everything, and you want to know whether that is really necessary.
How I go about it.
- 01
A written assessment
I read the code, the database and the hosting. You get a document that says what works, what is fragile, and what is urgent.
- 02
Repair before rebuilding
A full rewrite is rarely the right first step. I start with what blocks you, and only suggest rewriting a part when repairing it would cost more.
- 03
Tests before touching the code
Before changing a sensitive part, I pin down its current behaviour with tests. What worked keeps working, and we can prove it.
- 04
Documentation that stays
At the end, everything is written down: architecture, access, decisions. The next developer, me or someone else, does not start from scratch.
What I have already done.
Real projects, in production. Each one gives the context and what I did.
GPS position processing engine
Taking over and rewriting a processing engine, with regression tests against the existing behaviour.
Data model rebuild of an agricultural SaaS
Rebuilding the core domain of a product already in production, and migrating it without downtime.
Property management platform
A platform connecting managers, tenants and contractors around building maintenance work. Back end rebuilt from scratch, single-handedly at first.
In practice Node.js, TypeScript, PHP and Laravel, Vue and Nuxt, MongoDB and MySQL, Linux servers. Whatever the stack in place, the method stays the same.
Frequently asked questions
- Does everything need to be rebuilt?
- Rarely. Most applications have a core that works and a few fragile areas. The assessment is there to tell them apart, and to decide part by part.
- Can you take over without interrupting the service?
- Yes, that is the rule. Changes happen in steps, tested before they go live. At Aptimiz, millions of records were migrated to a new model without a single interruption for users.
- What if the previous provider hands over nothing?
- It happens often. At the very least, access to the code and the hosting is needed; the rest can be rebuilt by reading the code, the data and the server logs.
- Do you work remotely?
- Yes, anywhere in France and abroad, in English or French. Code, servers and conversations work very well remotely.
Let’s talk about your project.
Describe the situation in a few lines: reply within two working days. The first conversation happens by video, with no commitment.