Project recovery guide

Project rescue checklist: establish the facts before promising a new deadline.

When a development project has gone wrong, pressure to “just finish it” can create another failed delivery cycle. A rescue starts by establishing what exists, what works, what is missing and what assumptions can no longer be trusted.

Secure access and ownership

Confirm repositories, domains, hosting, databases, third-party accounts, licences and credentials are controlled by the appropriate party before changing suppliers.

  • Source repository
  • Hosting/cloud
  • Domain/DNS
  • Third-party services

Assess the code and environments

Establish whether the repository matches deployed code, whether staging is reliable, how releases work and where undocumented changes may exist.

  • Branch/release history
  • Environment differences
  • Build/deploy process
  • Configuration/secrets

Reconcile scope and status

Compare agreed requirements with actual functionality. Separate unfinished features, defects and entirely new expectations.

  • Original scope
  • Delivered functionality
  • Known bugs
  • Changed requirements

Build a recovery sequence

Address security/data risks first, establish a stable release process, then prioritise the shortest path to a useful outcome.

  • Critical risk
  • Release control
  • Functional blockers
  • Deferred technical debt
Frequently asked questions

Questions to consider before you start

Should a new supplier quote the remaining project immediately?

A confident fixed quote before technical assessment may be risky if the existing state is unknown.

Should we rewrite everything?

Not automatically. A review should identify which components are viable and which create unacceptable risk.

Can work continue while the audit happens?

Sometimes urgent fixes must continue, but uncontrolled parallel change can make assessment harder.

Can Midoriweb perform the review and then hand it to someone else?

Yes. A diagnostic engagement can produce a recovery plan without requiring Midoriweb to execute it.

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Have a project that is stuck?

Send the current supplier/project status, technology and most urgent concern. We can scope an initial technical assessment.