No reliable build
Files may exist, but nobody knows whether they can reproduce the application in use.
Know where you stand with the software your business depends on.
Independent assessment and recovery for business-critical legacy software.
Describe the problemThe software may still work. The risk is that nobody knows how to recover or change it.
No safe deployment
There is no dependable way to install, test or restore it on another machine.
No informed owner
Important knowledge lives with one person, or has already left the business.
No clear decision
A rewrite or replacement is already being discussed, although the current system has not been properly assessed.
Legacy Software Risk Assessment
Establish what is there before deciding what to do with it.
The assessment records what exists, what can be recovered and where the important gaps are. It then explains which options are feasible.
The scope, deliverables and fixed fee are agreed before the assessment begins.
View the sample report structure
Software Lifeline
Legacy Software
Risk Assessment
Illustrative report structure
Risk Assessment
The review follows the system as it is used, not just the documentation left behind.
I look at the application, source, data, deployment and operational dependencies.
The application
What it does, who depends on it, where it runs and what else it talks to.
Source and build
Available code, binaries, installers, dependencies and whether it can still be reproduced.
Data and operation
Database, backups, deployment knowledge, integrations and single points of failure.
The way forward
Whether to retain, stabilise, recover, modernise, rewrite or replace and why.
The recommendation
The right answer depends on the system.
The findings may support retaining, recovering, modernising, rewriting or replacing it. None of those outcomes is assumed at the start.
The report sets out practical next steps. Depending on the findings, these might include securing source code and build materials, creating a recoverable copy, stabilising the existing system, or preparing a brief for modernisation or replacement. Any further work is optional and scoped separately; the report can also be used by your existing IT provider or another supplier.
About Software Lifeline
A practical assessment of what is actually there.
I’m Joe. I have more than 20 years’ experience building, supporting and modernising business-critical desktop applications, web systems, services and SQL Server databases, including older systems whose original assumptions and dependencies are no longer obvious.
I carry out each assessment myself, from the first conversation through to the findings and recommended next steps.
Joe
Software Lifeline
Confidentiality
Software, documentation, data and business information are treated as confidential. Sanitised data and safe copies are preferred wherever practical.
Legal authorisation
Source recovery, decompilation or reverse engineering is only considered where the client owns the software or is legally authorised to maintain it.
Initial conversation
Tell me what the system does and what has changed.
Your first message does not need to be technical. A few sentences about the system, where it runs and what has changed are enough.
Prefer email?
hello@softwarelifeline.co.uk