Your Programmer Quit or Disappeared. Here Is What to Do Next

When the only programmer behind a business system leaves, the system can be taken over by a development team that reads the existing code, stabilizes it and documents it. You do not have to start again. The urgent job is to secure access to the source code, the servers and the passwords. After that, an assessment tells you what you have and what condition it is in.

Signs this is your problem

• Calls and emails to your developer go unanswered for days.
• Requests that used to take a week now take months.
• You are not sure where the source code is.
• Only the developer knows the server passwords.
• A bug is costing you money and nobody can fix it.
• You are afraid to ask for changes in case something breaks.

What to secure in the first 48 hours

Before anything else, make sure the business controls its own system. Find and write down:

• The source code. Where the current version lives, and whether you have a copy.
• The hosting account. Who pays for it, and who can sign in.
• The domain name. Whose name it is registered in.
• The database. Where it is, and when it was last backed up.
• Every password and key. Administrator accounts, email, payment and other connected services.

Take a fresh backup of the code and the database, and keep paying the hosting bill. If the programmer is still reachable, ask for these things now, politely and in writing. It is far easier today than in six months.

Why this happens to good companies

We first wrote about this problem years ago, and the reasons have not changed. The programmer took another job. The moonlighter’s day job got in the way. They have too many clients. They lost interest, fell ill, retired, or simply stopped returning calls. Occasionally the story is worse.

It is nobody’s fault that a business ended up relying on one person. It is how most custom systems begin. It does mean that all the knowledge of how your system works left the building with them.

How a team takes over somebody else’s code

Taking over existing software is a skill in its own right, and it is one we have practiced for a long time. We read the code and the database, get the system running in a safe copy, and work out what each part does. You get a plain report: what is sound, what is fragile, and what we would do first.

From there the usual order is to fix whatever is hurting the business today, write down how the system works, and only then talk about improvements. A team also means the problem cannot repeat itself. When one of our people is on vacation, your system is not.

How Keene Systems handles it

1. We talk, usually the same day. Lance Keene takes the first call himself and listens to what happened.
2. We help you secure access. Code, servers, database and passwords, in that order.
3. We assess the system. You get a straight answer on its condition and your options.
4. We stabilize, document and then improve. With a team behind it, so you are never dependent on one person again.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.