Modernising Software for In-House Ownership
A delivery lesson from Oldham Engineering: improve the system and give the business a practical route to owning it.
An ageing business system can become hard to change long before it stops working. People still depend on it for contracts, sales, production and reporting, but fewer people understand how to maintain it.
At Oldham Engineering, our work included modernising that software and helping the business take it in-house. The main engagement began in March 2021; our advisory retainer ended in December 2023.
Improve the system in manageable pieces
We worked in two-week blocks with a fixed scope and a board the client could see. The early work put the source into version control, updated libraries and addressed performance problems. Later blocks reworked business modules and reporting.
The work also included a contract forecast report, improvements to the JobBOSS integration and the start of a link to Fastems shop-floor automation. Each change sat within the way the engineering business already operated.
Plan who will look after it
A technical handover needs someone to receive it. We helped Oldham recruit its in-house specialist, running interviews, technical tests and an on-site interview during September to December 2023. We also helped with a further role through The Developer Academy in early 2024.
That hiring work was part of the ownership plan. The business gained a route to managing the system itself, instead of remaining dependent on the people who had modernised it.
Decide what ownership should mean for your business
Some businesses want a long-term delivery partner. Others want their own team to take control. Both can be sensible, but the intended outcome needs to shape the work from the beginning.
The case study describes the delivery sequence and the handover. If your business relies on software that has become difficult to change, talk to us about what comes next.