An agency that stopped answering, a codebase nobody can map, a launch that's been "two weeks away" since spring. Our software project rescue services start with a no-blame audit of what actually exists, because sometimes the right verdict is finish it, don't rebuild it.
NDA first · Verdict in writing · Reply within four business hours (typical)
The first step in any rescue is a no-blame audit of what exists, and sometimes the verdict is finish it, don't rebuild it. Senior engineers read the code, the infrastructure and the backlog, then put the verdict in writing: what's sound, what's salvageable, what isn't, and what each route costs. Once we have a complete brief, we confirm the date you will receive the priced plan. Stabilise, finish or rebuild, whichever the evidence supports, not whichever invoices best. The audit itself is a small fixed engagement, priced in the reply, and the verdict is yours either way.
A short call, no blame required: what state the project is in, what access you hold, and which deadline actually matters. If it's an emergency, triage starts on this call.
A mutual NDA goes on file and we take read-only access to the repository and infrastructure. Nothing gets changed yet: the discipline is to read before touching.
Once we have a complete brief, we confirm the date you will receive it. What's sound, what's salvageable, what isn't, and a priced plan for finish, stabilise or rebuild. Sometimes the verdict is "finish it", and we say so even when a rebuild would bill more.
Backups, monitoring and broken flows come first, so things stop getting worse. Then the plan gets worked to launch, reported weekly against the deadline that matters.
A solution spans several disciplines, so where the engagement includes it, it runs in one Prism workspace you log into: one request queue, one task list and one weekly review across all of it.
One request list, one task list, one review.
Each decision recorded, with the expectation attached.
Fully loaded. Unmeasured spend shows as unknown, never zero.
Outcomes tied to real engagements, not averages.
We haven't published a rescue yet. This is the nearest case: the same senior bench taking over someone else's backlog mid-flight, under an agency's brand, which is most of what a rescue is. Delivery velocity rose 85%.
We worked with PixelCrayons for around three years, with their developers becoming a genuine extension of our team. Having consistent developers who understood the work and could stay with us over the long term made a real difference to continuity and delivery.
Replies slowed, then stopped; the invoices didn't. Now you're mid-build with a half-finished product, credentials you may not hold and a launch date sliding weekly. The priority isn't litigating what happened, it's getting access, control and momentum back, in that order.
The developer who built it left, or the vendor who owns the knowledge won't share it. No documentation, no tests, deploys that feel like coin flips. Every small change gets priced like surgery, because without a map, everything is.
It demos beautifully and never ships. The last ten per cent (edge cases, integrations, QA, performance) is the hard ten per cent, and it's been "two weeks away" for months. What ran out wasn't effort; it was momentum, and momentum is restorable.
A replatform that tanked the traffic, a rushed patch that broke checkout, a redesign that doubled the bounce rate. Each remedy added a layer, and now nobody is sure which layer hurts. Untangling carefully beats another confident rewrite.
A rescue draws on whichever of these the audit prescribes: one team, one plan, one person accountable for the deadline.
Before anyone writes code, a senior engineer reads what exists (repository, infrastructure, backlog, contested access) and puts the verdict in writing. It's the smallest thing we sell and the only place to start.
Each one says where it applies and links to its full terms.
We typically respond within four business hours. Eligible engagements can typically start within two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed.
Business hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm IST, excluding published company holidays. Typical expectations, not guaranteed service levels.
Full termsYour materials remain yours. Bespoke deliverable rights, licences and handover are agreed before work starts.
All engagements.
Full termsKnow who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Full termsBefore work starts we agree how often you get updates, what the reports cover and who sends them. You know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue. For hourly and retainer work, time is recorded in Workstatus, so you can see the time records behind your invoice.
We quote each engagement in a written proposal, and the initial consultation, standard proposal and straightforward scoping are free. The proposal states the deliverables, exclusions, fees and currency, payment milestones and any third-party costs, so you can compare it line by line with a local quote. You can buy one service or several, and keep the providers you already have.
Your materials, data and accounts remain yours, and we prefer to work in advertising and analytics accounts you own, with access delegated to our team. Agreed ownership rights in bespoke deliverables transfer under the engagement terms and applicable payment; third-party software and assets keep their licences. We do not withhold customer-owned data or accounts over a payment dispute.
Cancellation, notice and any renewal terms are written into your proposal or statement of work before you accept it. If an engagement ends early, we hand over completed, paid-for work and list any unfinished work separately. For an eligible specialist trial, you can stop within the trial window and pay nothing for eligible trial hours.
How we handle claims, credentials and your data: group credentials, dated ratings, how case figures are signed off, client permissions and data handling.
Yes. That's the defining shape of software development project rescue: half-finished builds, inherited codebases, vendors who vanished mid-contract. We work in the stack you already have unless the audit shows it genuinely can't reach your goals, and we don't editorialise about the previous team's choices; ego about other people's code is expensive, so we left it out. The only precondition is access: repository, hosting and any credentials you can gather before the audit starts.
Only if the evidence says so, and it usually doesn't. "Burn it down" is the most profitable diagnosis an agency can give, which is exactly why it deserves suspicion. The audit verdict comes in writing with reasons: what's structurally sound, what needs surgery, what should be replaced. Often the answer is finish, don't rebuild. When a rebuild genuinely is cheaper than untangling, we show the arithmetic that says so, and you can take it to anyone for a second opinion.
Senior engineers read the repository, the infrastructure and the backlog against what was promised: code quality and test coverage, deploy and backup reality, security and data-handling basics, and who actually holds which credentials. The output is a written verdict with a priced plan; once we have a complete brief, we confirm the date you will receive it. "No blame" is practical, not polite: naming culprits changes nothing about shipping, and blame-hunting makes people hide the information a rescue needs most.
Often, on the practical side. We inventory what they hold (repositories, domains, hosting, analytics, ad accounts) and drive a structured handover request that asks for the right artefacts in the right order, which is frequently where DIY recovery stalls. What can't be recovered gets rebuilt, budgeted line by line in the plan. What we won't do is play lawyer. If the relationship has become a contract dispute, that goes to yours, and we run the technical recovery alongside.
Stabilisation items go first on every rescue plan (backups verified, monitoring in place, the flows that are actively losing money or trust repaired). Eligible engagements can typically start within two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed. Genuine emergencies get triaged on the first call rather than queued behind paperwork. What we won't do is hot-fix a system we haven't read: changes made blind are how most rescues became necessary.
Then it says so, and it will have been the cheapest bad news available. The audit is a small fixed engagement, and the report is yours either way: findings, costs and options you can act on with us or with anyone else. An honest "stop" beats a politely funded slow failure, and knowing the true state of the asset is worth having even when the news is bad. If a rebuild is the recommendation, it arrives priced, phased and justified, never assumed.
Tell us what's stuck, no blame required. A senior engineer reads what exists and returns a written verdict with a priced plan: finish, stabilise or rebuild, whichever the evidence supports. Once we have a complete brief, we confirm the date you will receive it.
Verdict in writing · Reply within four business hours (typical) · NDA standard
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