Project Handover: How to Change Technology Service Partners

What is a project handover?

A handover is the transfer of roles and responsibilities for a project from one company, team, or person to another. It is a process, not an event. Handing over a project usually takes several months, during which the new team comes to fully understand their roles and the product as a whole in order to successfully develop it further.

A project handover, also called a project takeover, should be seamless and unnoticeable to product users.

Legacy projects are outdated and difficult to maintain and extend.

It is not easy to establish what counts as a legacy project, but there are a few commonalities that legacy projects share. Usually, they are:

• large
• old
• inherited
• poorly documented

So where is the connection between project handover and legacy code? The answer is obvious: legacy code is actually the object of any project handover.

Why you need a smooth project handover

A well-planned and organized project handover from one software vendor to another will provide you with many benefits, including:

• A smooth transition of project responsibilities for minimal business impact
• The ability to quickly resolve any issues with legacy projects that the new team may face
• Both working teams (the departing team and the incoming team) are on the same wavelength, thanks to which there are no gaps in product understanding

Typical handover pitfalls you want to avoid

We can name a multitude of reasons why a handover can be performed inefficiently. Among them:

• The time period allotted for handing over the project does not correspond to the project’s scope and the needs of both teams. A shorter duration than required for the full transfer of knowledge, code, and artifacts leads to a large amount of information being delivered in an unrealistically short time period.
• Lack of project documentation. Verbal communication when taking over a project is much less effective than written documentation and other reference materials. Communicating verbally also often leads to the loss of information.

As a result, the following problems may occur: 

• Insufficient performance. The productivity of the incoming team may fall precisely because vital information was lost during the project handover.
• Waste of time. Due to a lack of documentation or information, your new team may find themselves simply not knowing what to do next with the project they’ve received. To deal with this, it will take time to research and find a solution for further development. This time could have been saved if the project takeover had gone smoothly.

Project handover implementation: How to change vendors smoothly

Have a product roadmap

This important document shows the planned development of the software product. It will also tell your new team what has already been done as part of project development and what remains to be done in the near future so that all goals are achieved. Let’s have a quick look at the steps in creating a roadmap. 

• Analyze the overall situation for the product
• Build a project development strategy
• Create a project implementation plan
• Define project roles and responsibilities
• Assess risks
• Create, approve, and improve the handover roadmap (below, we show you how to do it)

Start early

Start the project handover as early as possible and you will give both teams enough time to communicate effectively and clear any uncertainties about the project. The departing team can ensure that the project is in responsible hands, while the new team can get the opportunity to learn all project details.

Provide detailed documentation

This precedes the project takeover and is the full responsibility of your current software development vendor. Updating project documentation not only confirms the understanding of the project by all members of the current team but also significantly contributes to the rapid acclimation of the new team to the project.

Ensure multifaceted knowledge transfer

Project knowledge can be transferred through multiple channels, including video tutorials and resource lists. Sharing previous workarounds and roadblocks eases the handover significantly.

Own code and infrastructure

A question you must ask your software development vendor before signing a contract is who will own the source code. If, for some reason, it is not you, the whole process of handing over a project to a new team can turn into an endless nightmare. If you are the owner of the source code, which is preferable, then the procedure is simplified. Therefore, we recommend you make sure that a clause about source code ownership is included in the contract with your software development partner.

Get access to all third-party services 

Software development usually involves integrations with many third-party products and services. Your current project team most likely used their accounts to access servers, Git repositories, and code, or may have subscribed to third-party services on your behalf. When handing over a project to another company, make sure you have all necessary access to third-party services. Your new team most likely will ask you for this access.

Clean up the code

The plan for transitioning your project from one vendor to another assumes clean, high-quality, and well-structured code. Ensuring this helps you painlessly change software development vendors.

To simplify taking over an existing team, make sure you:

• Break down code into logical parts
• Use intention-revealing names to maintain the structure of your project
• Assign each function one goal
• Use one word for any given concept
• Don’t use output arguments

Cooperate closely with both teams

In the handover process, not only technical aspects are important but also management aspects that concern the teams. Here are some tips for working with your departing and incoming teams. 

Departing team:

• Access the code and find out its status. This will save your incoming team from mistakes and duplication of work.
• Express gratitude to your former team for a job well done. There are many reasons for taking over an existing team, and it is likely that you may be unhappy with something about the departing team. However, this is not a reason to completely break off relations.

Incoming team:

• It’s important to keep your new (incoming) team comfortable so they can work effectively on the product.
• Make sure your new team has all the support and supplies they need to get the job done.
• Be patient. The incoming team will need some time to familiarize themselves with all aspects of the product

Content Credit
S-Pro