Software Rescue
Stabilising an application that is failing on more than one front at once, unreliable, insecure or losing data, by working through the risks in order and getting the business back onto steady ground before anything else.
When Software Needs Rescuing
A single bug is fixed as a bug. A rescue is called for when several things are wrong together: the application is unstable, security has been neglected, data integrity is in doubt, and nobody currently controls the accounts and access it depends on. The problem is not one issue; it is that the whole system has been left unattended for too long.
Stopping the Bleeding First
Securing Access
Getting control of hosting, domain, database and admin accounts before anything else, since instability with no control over access is unmanageable.
Protecting the Data
Taking an immediate backup of whatever data currently exists, on the assumption that nothing about the current state can be trusted to last.
Isolating the Most Damaging Issue
Identifying whichever single problem is causing the most active harm right now, and containing it before working through everything else.
Stabilising Before Anything Else
Once the immediate risk is contained, we work through the remaining problems by how much damage each is doing to the business, not by which is technically the most interesting to fix. New features, redesigns and long-term plans wait until the application can be trusted to stay up.
From Crisis to Steady State
- A short written account of what was found and what was done about it
- Backups that are confirmed to actually restore
- A move into an ongoing maintenance or support arrangement once things are steady
Frequently asked questions
How is a rescue different from regular bug fixing?
Bug fixing addresses a single reported issue. A rescue is for an application in trouble on several fronts at once, stability, security and data integrity together, where the priority is getting the whole system back onto steady ground, not just one fix.
What decides where we start on a rescue?
Whichever problem is causing the most active harm right now, usually access, data loss or an active security exposure, ahead of anything that is merely inconvenient.
What decides the cost of a rescue engagement?
How many separate problems need addressing at once, how much access first needs to be recovered, and how deep the underlying issues turn out to be once we are inside the system.
What decides how long stabilisation takes?
How many fronts the application is failing on simultaneously, and how much has to be recovered, like access or backups, before real stabilisation work can even begin.
Do you need full access to our servers and accounts immediately?
Yes, as close to immediately as possible. Delayed or partial access is one of the most common reasons a rescue takes longer than it needs to.
What happens once the software is stable?
The application moves into an ongoing maintenance or support arrangement suited to what the rescue revealed, so the same conditions do not build up again unnoticed.
Who is in control of decisions during a rescue?
You are. We recommend an order of priority based on business impact, but scope and sequencing decisions stay with you throughout.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private