What happens to an application if the developer goes out of business?
The application keeps working if three conditions are met: the code is yours, the data is on your server, and access details are documented so that someone else can take over. With AI BF all three are part of the design, so if the developer ceases trading, development stops — but the system keeps running.
Three conditions everything depends on
The question isn’t impolite — it is one of the few that genuinely separates providers from one another. The answer is the same for every system and has three parts; if even one is missing, the application won’t survive its developer.
The code is yours
Without the source code, nobody can take the system over. No fix is possible, no adjustment is possible — not even an assessment of what the system actually does.
The data is on your server
If production runs at the provider and the provider shuts down, your business stops with it. That’s why production runs on your server — on your own premises, if needed.
Access is documented
A system only one person can start depends on that person. Access details and procedures must be documented so that your IT person or another provider can take over.
What actually happens in that case
The developer ceasing trading stops development, not operation. The applications keep running on the server they ran on before, users log in as before and the data stays where it was. What stops is further work: new features, process changes and regular maintenance.
Your task at that moment is therefore to find someone to take over the work — not to rescue data or look for a replacement system under time pressure. That is the difference between an unpleasant month and a state of emergency.
What to ask any provider
Ask these questions of anyone offering you business software, including us. The answers belong in the contract, not in an email.
- Where does the data physically live, and who has access to the server?
- Do I get the source code — now, or only when we part ways?
- In what format do I get the data export, and how quickly?
- Can another provider take over the system without your consent?
- What happens to the backups if the cooperation ends?
If a provider can’t answer one of these clearly, that is not in itself a sign of bad intentions — often it just means the system wasn’t designed that way. The consequence for you is the same either way.
How we handle it
The exit is planned in advance and isn’t only worked out at the end of the cooperation. When you leave, you receive the source code and a full data export in a form your IT person or another provider can take over. Production runs on your server the whole time, backups are regular and encrypted, and access is managed in a way that can be handed over.
This is described in more detail on the Security and reliability page, and the legal side on the page Who owns the code a company commissions?
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