Choosing a rescue firm
How to choose a software project rescue firm
Your project is in trouble and you need outside help. The firm you pick will see your code, your accounts and your data, so choose it the way you would want an engineer to review code: against criteria, with evidence.
Updated
Written by Jesse Sanders, CEO & Enterprise Principal
What to look for in a rescue firm
Choose a firm that reviews your code for a fixed fee before it quotes the rescue, puts senior engineers on the work, and can show current security certifications. Ask how the engagement ends: a good firm plans from day one to hand the project back to your team, and can show you projects like yours that it got back on track.
Use the criteria below with every firm you talk to, including Briebug. Each one has the question to ask and what Briebug's own answer is, so you can compare like with like. Not sure the project needs a rescue yet? Start with the signs a software project needs a rescue.
Two things are worth doing before any firm sees your code: make sure your company owns every account the product runs on, and write down what you know about the problem. If the people who built the system are gone, secure your accounts first.
Seven criteria, and the question to ask for each
A fixed-fee assessment before the big commitment
A firm that quotes a rescue before it has read your code is guessing. A short, fixed-fee review first tells you what is wrong and what it will cost, and it limits what you risk on a firm you have not worked with.
Ask: What do you review before you quote the rescue, what does that review cost, and is the report ours to keep if we do not hire you?
Briebug: every rescue starts with a fixed-fee Technical Assessment, $10K and about 1 week. The report is yours to take to anyone, and the fee is not credited if you hire us.
Senior, US-based engineers on your code
A struggling project needs judgment more than hands: someone who can tell which problem to fix first. Where the engineers work also matters for time zones, contracts and where your data goes.
Ask: Who exactly will work on our code, how senior are they, where are they based, and where will our code and data be stored?
Briebug: senior US-based engineers do the work, and all client code and data stays on US-based infrastructure.
Current security certifications
A rescue firm gets access to your code, your cloud accounts and often your production data. An independent audit shows that its security controls exist and work, not only that it has a policy.
Ask: Which certifications do you hold, who audited them, and when does the current certificate or report period end?
Briebug: ISO 27001:2022 certified, with an independently audited information security management system.
A hand-back plan from day one
A rescue should end with your team running the system, not with a permanent dependency on the firm that fixed it. Ask about the ending before you sign the beginning.
Ask: How does the engagement end? What documentation and pairing do we get, and what help is available after you hand the project back?
Briebug: we hand the project back with documentation of what we changed and why, and pairing until your team owns it. An optional senior oversight retainer is available after handback.
References and case studies like your project
Past work is the clearest evidence of how a firm behaves when a project is in trouble. Look for detail: what the firm found, what it did first, and what changed for the client.
Ask: Can we read case studies of projects like ours, on our stack, with what you found and what you did?
Briebug: our case studies describe projects on Angular, React, .NET, Java, Laravel and WordPress, and our verified client reviews are on Clutch.
Experience with your stack, and a stack-neutral view
The firm must be able to work in the code you have. It should also be willing to say when part of the system is better replaced than repaired, whatever it prefers to build in.
Ask: Have you worked on our framework and runtime versions, and when did you last recommend replacing part of a system rather than fixing it?
Briebug: we work on any stack, including Angular, React, React Native, Ionic, .NET, Java, Ruby and Rails, Laravel, Node, Swift, Objective-C, Kotlin, Dart and C/C++.
Clear terms for scope, price and accountability
Open-ended time and materials on a project that is already over budget repeats the problem. Milestones tie payment to visible progress.
Ask: How will you estimate the work after the review, how do milestones and payments connect, and what happens if a milestone is missed?
Briebug: the assessment ends with a milestone-based estimate and a statement of work, and rescue work after it starts at $50K. If you follow our recommendations, we guarantee the success of your project: we fix any issues on our dime or tear up the invoice.
Red flags
Any one of these is a reason to ask more questions. Two or more are a reason to keep looking.
- A quote for a full rewrite before anyone has read your code.
- A review whose report you cannot keep or show to another firm.
- A plan that moves your repositories, cloud accounts or domains into the firm's name.
- Senior people in the sales calls, and nobody named for the actual work.
- No written answer to how and when the engagement ends.
- Certifications that are "in progress", with no audit date.
How to compare firms side by side
- Send every firm the same short brief. What the product does, the stack, what is going wrong, and any date you must meet.
- Ask the seven questions above in writing. Written answers are easier to compare, and they show who answers directly.
- Compare what each review includes, not only its price. A cheaper review that skips the release pipeline or security can cost more later. See what a fixed-fee technical assessment should include.
- Compare the kinds of provider. A rescue specialist, an agency, a freelancer and the original vendor suit different problems. See how to compare software project rescue firms, side by side.
- Read the case studies closest to your project. Look for what the firm found and what it did first, not only the result.
- Start small. Buy the review first. Decide on the rescue when you have the report.
When Briebug is, and is not, the right fit
Briebug's project rescue work gets stalled, over-budget and failing software projects back on track: we assess, stabilize and hand it back to your team, on any stack. See how a Briebug rescue works and the projects we got moving again.
If your project is smaller than our $50K minimum for rescue work, the assessment can still help: the report tells you what to fix, and you can take it to any team.
Common questions
What does a software project rescue firm do?
It takes over or joins a project that is late, over budget or breaking with every release, finds out why, fixes what blocks progress first, and then hands the project back to the client's team. A good one starts with a review of the code and the process, not with new features.
Should a rescue firm rewrite our software?
Only if a review of the code shows that fixing it would cost more than replacing it. Many struggling projects are stuck because of the release process, the tests or unclear ownership, which a rewrite does not fix by itself.
How much does a software project rescue cost with Briebug?
It starts with the fixed-fee Technical Assessment: $10K, about 1 week. Rescue work after it starts at $50K, and the assessment ends with a milestone-based estimate for your own project.
Which security certifications should a software firm have?
Look for an ISO 27001 certificate, which shows an audited information security management system, and a SOC 2 Type II report, which shows that an auditor tested the firm's security controls over a period of months. Briebug is ISO 27001:2022 certified.
Can we keep our own developers during a rescue?
Yes. A rescue can work alongside your engineers. Briebug pairs with in-house teams and hands the project back to them, with documentation of what changed and why.
Put Briebug through the same questions.
Book a short call with a senior engineer. We will answer all seven, scope the assessment and confirm the fixed fee before you commit.