How to change your software development company without losing the project.

The code belongs to you — provided your contract is properly drafted and you have paid for the work. The first step is securing access to all repositories, credentials and documentation before notifying your current vendor of the change. Dribba helps manage this transition from day one, including guidance on contractual IP ownership if needed.

Yes, but realistic expectations about onboarding cost are essential. Projects stalled for more than 6 months typically accumulate outdated dependencies, insufficient documentation and untested code that make the restart very slow. A technical audit quantifies this cost precisely before any budget is committed.

With documentation and access available, an experienced team can reach full productivity in 3–6 weeks. Without documentation — the most common scenario — the process takes 6–10 weeks, including the initial technical audit and a structured continuation plan. Product Discovery helps structure this onboarding correctly.

It depends on the real state of the codebase — not on perceptions. A technical audit answers this with data: what percentage of the code is reusable, how much technical debt it carries, and the cost of recovery vs. rewrite. In 60% of audits we run, salvaging is cheaper. In the remaining 40%, starting fresh is the right call.