Technical ownership review
A fixed-price, fixed-scope review of what your business actually owns and controls in the software that agencies and freelancers build and run for it — and what it would take to stand on its own.
From £4,950
Last updated:A technical ownership review establishes what a business owns and controls in software built or run by outside suppliers: the source code, deployment pipelines, cloud and hosting accounts, domains, app-store listings, third-party services, and data. Revenant Systems inventories each one, records who holds it and in whose name, checks whether the product can be built and deployed without the current supplier, and delivers a sequenced plan for taking control — at a fixed price agreed up front.
Who is the ownership review for?
Owners and finance leads whose product is built, hosted, or run by an agency or freelancers, and who cannot say with confidence what the business would keep if that relationship ended. Some are content with their supplier and want the dependency understood as the business grows. Others face rising fees, slower service, or a supplier whose priorities have moved to larger clients, and want to know their options before deciding anything.
- Software built or run by an agency or freelancers
- No clear record of who holds the code and accounts
- A supplier relationship to put on firmer footing, or the option to leave
Who is the review not for?
Businesses whose own engineers already hold the repositories, cloud accounts, and deployment pipeline, and grant suppliers access as needed. They already have what the review sets out to establish. Where the concern is the quality of the code rather than who controls it, the technical health review is the closer fit.
What does the review cover?
The review inventories everything the product depends on and establishes, for each item, who holds it, which company it is registered to, and what the contract says about it. It then checks whether the product can be built and deployed from what the business controls today, rather than inferring it from the contract. Clauses on intellectual property, handover, and notice are flagged for your solicitor; the review does not give legal advice.
In prior roles the founder built and ran Terraform-managed estates and GitOps deployment pipelines on AWS and Azure — the machinery this review traces back to its owner.
- Source code repositories and their history
- Build and deployment pipelines
- Cloud, hosting, and domain accounts
- App-store, email, and third-party service accounts
- Where credentials live, and who holds them
- Data and backups, and how to export them
- Contract terms on IP, handover, and notice (flagged for your solicitor)
- Whether the product builds and deploys without the supplier
What does the ownership review cost?
The review starts from £4,950 for one product and the supplier relationship behind it, with scope and price agreed before work begins. Further products or suppliers are quoted above that figure. The fee covers the inventory, the findings, and the plan; taking control, or a managed handover to another supplier, is scoped separately once the findings are in. There is no obligation to use Revenant Systems for either.
Ian Compton leads the work, with specialist help where required. He reads your enquiry personally; the usual next step is a free 20–30 minute technical fit call to check scope, access and likely budget.
Discuss what you ownUK company and contracting entity · UK GDPR-aware delivery · No obligation to use us for what follows · Plans any supplier can carry out
Who owns the code an agency writes for you?
Whoever the contract says, which is often less clear than clients assume. Under UK copyright law, code written by an independent contractor belongs to the contractor unless ownership is assigned in writing, so an agency agreement without an assignment clause may leave the business with a licence rather than ownership. Possession matters as much as title: a business that owns its code but cannot obtain a copy, or cannot deploy it, is still dependent. The review records both, and leaves the legal reading to a solicitor.
How do you move away from a development agency safely?
Secure first, then switch. Before notice is given, the business should hold administrative access to its own repositories, cloud accounts, domains, and app-store listings, with current copies of the code and data. The incoming supplier is then given access, proves it can build and deploy the product, and works alongside the outgoing one before responsibility moves. Handovers that follow that order are usually uneventful; the difficult ones tend to be those where notice came first.
What if we want to stay with our current supplier?
Then the plan is about control rather than exit. The usual changes are modest: accounts held in the business's name with the supplier invited in, a shared record of what runs where, backups the business can restore, and service terms that match what the business now depends on. They protect the supplier's position as much as the client's, because responsibilities become explicit and access becomes something granted rather than assumed. The exit plan stays on file as insurance.
What you receive
- An ownership register: every repository, pipeline, account, domain, and service the product depends on, and who controls each one
- A summary written for the business rather than for engineers, ranked by what would hurt soonest
- A finding on whether the product can be built and deployed without the current supplier
- A sequenced plan for taking control, setting out what to secure and in what order
- An exit plan for moving to another supplier, kept ready whether or not it is used
- Contract clauses flagged for your solicitor, with their technical consequences
- A findings walkthrough call
How the engagement runs
- Typical turnaround: two weeks from start to report
- Fixed scope and fixed price — from £4,950, agreed before work starts
- It can begin without your current supplier's involvement
- A deposit books the start; the balance is due when the report is delivered
What we need from you
- Contracts and statements of work with each supplier
- Recent invoices, including any hosting or licences billed through a supplier
- Whatever access the business already holds: cloud accounts, code hosting such as GitHub, the domain registrar
- Read access to the code repository, where you have it
- A short conversation with whoever knows the arrangement best
Access and client data are handled under our information security statement.
Frequently asked questions
Does our current supplier need to know?
Not to start. The review begins from the contracts, invoices, and whatever access the business already holds, and much of the inventory can be built from those alone. Where the supplier's input is needed, the questions are factual: what runs where, and who holds each account. When and how to involve them is your decision.
Is the review fixed-price?
Yes. From £4,950 for one product and its supplier relationship; the scope and price are agreed before the review starts and do not move.
Can you carry out the handover, or take over from our supplier?
Yes, as separately scoped work: bringing accounts and code into the business's name, rebuilding deployment pipelines under its control, and running the handover with the outgoing supplier. The plan does not assume Revenant Systems does that work, and handing it to another firm is an outcome it is built for.
Do you give legal advice on the contract?
No. The review identifies the clauses that matter — intellectual property, handover obligations, notice periods, return of data — and explains their technical consequences. Your solicitor confirms what they mean legally.
Can this run alongside a cloud cost audit?
Yes, and the two share most of their access and inventory. The cost audit explains what the estate costs; the ownership review establishes who controls it. Run together, they are scoped and quoted as one engagement.
Each package is an audit or assessment offered on its own — the process behind it is covered in how we work.
Not sure what you'd keep? Let's talk.
Get in touchIan Compton reads your message personally. The usual next step is a free 20–30 minute technical fit call to check the problem, scope and likely budget.