Answers
Who owns the code and data in bespoke software?
Short answer
Data ownership and code ownership are separate questions. You should own your data unconditionally and be able to export all of it at any time — that is non-negotiable. Code ownership varies by contract: it may be transferred, licensed to you, or retained by the developer. What matters most is that it's written down before work starts.
Your data
This one is simple and there is no good argument against it. Your customers, jobs, invoices and history are your business records. You should be able to export the lot, in a standard format, whenever you want, without asking permission or paying a fee.
Test it rather than trusting it: run an export in month one and open the file. A supplier who can't produce a clean export on request has given you the answer.
The code — three common arrangements
- Transferred to you. You own the intellectual property outright and can take it to another developer. The cleanest and usually the most expensive, because the supplier can't reuse any of it.
- Licensed to you. The developer keeps ownership and grants you a perpetual right to use it, often with a source escrow arrangement. Common, and reasonable if the licence is genuinely perpetual and not tied to staying a customer.
- Retained by the developer. You're effectively renting a product built to your specification. Fine when priced like a product, a poor deal when priced like a bespoke build.
The part nobody asks about: hosting
Ownership means little if you can't get at the running system. Ask where it's hosted, who controls that account, and what happens to the server if you leave. Ask whether the underlying technology is mainstream — Python, PostgreSQL, MySQL and similar — or something so unusual that finding another developer would be a project in itself.
How we do it
Your data is yours without qualification: cancel and we export everything to CSV and delete our copy within 30 days. Everything runs on servers we own and operate in the UK, with our own backups and monitoring, and we build on ordinary, well-documented technology precisely so that another developer could take it on.
Code ownership is agreed in writing before a build starts, because the wrong time to discover it is when you want to leave.
Related questions
Should I insist on owning the source code?
Insist on knowing the answer in writing. Full IP transfer costs more and isn't always necessary; a genuinely perpetual licence plus a full data export covers most small businesses' real risk.
What is source code escrow?
A third party holds a copy of the code and releases it to you if the developer goes out of business or breaches the contract. It's a reasonable middle ground, though for small systems a plain written licence and clean data exports usually matter more.
Can I take my system to another developer?
That depends on your licence terms, on getting the data out, and on the technology being mainstream enough for someone else to pick up. Check all three before you sign, not afterwards.
Still not sure what you actually need?
Tell us how your business runs and we'll tell you straight — including when off-the-shelf software would serve you better than anything we'd build.