Your Devs Are Gone. The App Is Still Live.
Your development team disappeared—left the company, went silent, or the agency dissolved. Now you're running a production system you don't fully understand, built by people who aren't around to explain it.
We specialize in recovering orphaned systems. We audit, document, stabilize, and take ownership—so you can stop worrying about what might break next.
THE PROBLEM
You're running a system nobody fully understands
When developers leave without proper handoff, they take critical knowledge with them. Here's what you're likely facing—and why it matters.
No documentation
Your previous developers left without documenting how the system works. You don't know what depends on what, which parts are fragile, or how to safely make changes. Every modification feels like defusing a bomb.
Impact: This creates a knowledge silo that leaves you completely dependent on people who are no longer available.
Fear of touching production
You're afraid to update anything because the last time someone tried, things broke. The app is running, but it's frozen in time—accumulating security vulnerabilities and technical debt.
Impact: Stagnation isn't stability. Without updates, your app becomes increasingly vulnerable and falls behind competitors.
Hidden dependencies
Your app relies on third-party services, APIs, and libraries you don't fully understand. Some might be deprecated. Others could break without warning. You don't have visibility into what could fail.
Impact: A single API deprecation or library vulnerability could take your entire system down with no clear path to recovery.
Founder carrying operational risk
You're a founder, not a system administrator. But right now, you're the one getting paged when things break. You're the one logging into servers. You're the default on-call engineer.
Impact: This is unsustainable. Every hour you spend on technical firefighting is an hour not spent growing your business.
WHAT THE AUDIT DELIVERS
We recover what your previous team took with them
The App Health Audit is designed specifically for orphaned systems. We don't just find problems—we recover the knowledge you lost and create the documentation you never had.
Complete Architecture Map
We reverse-engineer your entire system and create a visual map of every component, service, database, and integration—showing you exactly how your app works.
Risk Assessment Report
A prioritized list of what could break, what's already fragile, and what needs immediate attention. Each risk is rated by likelihood and business impact.
Recovered Documentation
We document critical paths, deployment processes, environment configurations, and operational procedures—creating the documentation your previous team never left.
Security & Dependency Audit
Analysis of third-party dependencies, API integrations, and security vulnerabilities. We identify what's outdated, what's risky, and what needs immediate patching.
Stabilization Roadmap
A clear, prioritized action plan for bringing your system to a stable, maintainable state—with estimated effort and business impact for each item.
Transition Plan
A pathway to ongoing Care Plan ownership where you never face this situation again. We don't just audit and leave—we stay to protect your investment.
THE TRANSFORMATION
From chaos to control
Here's what changes after we audit and stabilize your orphaned system.
You don't know what happens if the server restarts
Complete runbooks for every operational scenario
Deployments are done manually by whoever remembers how
Documented, repeatable deployment process anyone can follow
Third-party integrations could break without warning
All integrations mapped with deprecation alerts and fallback plans
You're afraid to touch the codebase
Clear understanding of what's safe to change and what isn't
The founder is the de-facto on-call engineer
Professional engineering oversight with proactive monitoring
THE PROCESS
How we recover your system
A systematic approach to turning an orphaned system into a well-documented, stable, professionally-maintained asset.
Discovery Call
30 minutesWe discuss your situation, assess what access you have, and determine if we can help. No commitment required.
Access & Reconnaissance
1-2 daysWe inventory all available access: source code, servers, databases, hosting, domains, integrations. We identify what's missing and how to recover it.
Deep System Analysis
1-2 weeksWe reverse-engineer the codebase, map the architecture, trace dependencies, and document how everything connects. We uncover what your previous team never wrote down.
Risk Assessment
3-5 daysWe identify vulnerabilities, fragile components, scaling limits, and operational risks. Each finding is prioritized by likelihood and business impact.
Report & Recommendations
Delivered at completionYou receive a comprehensive audit report with architecture diagrams, risk assessments, and a prioritized stabilization roadmap.
Transition to Care
OngoingWe transition into ongoing ownership through a Care Plan—implementing critical fixes, setting up monitoring, and providing the engineering oversight you've been missing.
FROM FOUNDERS WHO'VE BEEN THERE
You're not alone in this situation
"Our agency ghosted us mid-project. We had a live app with paying users and no idea how it worked. ZeePalm came in, documented everything, and took over maintenance. For the first time in months, I could focus on the business instead of worrying about the next outage."
SaaS Founder
E-commerce platform • Recovered after agency abandonment
"I bought a SaaS product but the original developer wouldn't share documentation. The audit revealed not just how the system worked, but critical security issues that could have cost us everything. Now we actually understand what we own."
Acquisition Buyer
B2B SaaS • Post-acquisition system recovery
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common questions about recovering orphaned systems
It's never too late, but sooner is better. The longer a system runs without oversight, the more risks accumulate—outdated dependencies, unpatched vulnerabilities, and configuration drift. We've recovered systems that have been orphaned for years. The audit will tell you exactly where you stand and what needs attention first.
It depends. If the app is running in production, we can often work backward from the deployed system to understand how it works. If you have any access to servers, databases, or deployment pipelines, we can usually recover significant knowledge. During the initial discovery call, we'll assess exactly what access you have and what's recoverable.
This is more common than you'd think. We work with the access you have—hosting credentials, domain registrars, payment processors, etc. Part of our audit includes identifying what access you're missing and helping you recover control. We can also advise on legal options if intellectual property is being withheld.
Typically 2-3 weeks for a standard web or mobile application. Complex systems with multiple services, integrations, or legacy components may take longer. We'll give you a clear timeline during the discovery call based on your specific situation.
You receive a comprehensive report with everything we found, prioritized recommendations, and a clear action plan. Most clients transition into a Care Plan where we take ongoing ownership of the system—implementing fixes, providing monitoring, and ensuring you never end up in this situation again. You can also take the report to another team if preferred.
Orphaned systems often appear stable until they suddenly aren't. Without active maintenance, you're accumulating invisible risk: security vulnerabilities, deprecated dependencies, and technical debt. The audit reveals these hidden risks before they become emergencies. Think of it as a health check—problems are much cheaper to fix when caught early.
No. We deliver findings in plain language with clear business impact explanations. You'll understand what's risky, why it matters, and what to do about it—without needing to read code. Technical details are included for whoever will be implementing fixes.
Ready to take back control of your app?
You've been carrying this alone. Let us take over the technical burden so you can get back to running your business.
Every engagement starts with an App Health Audit. No guessing, no overselling—just clarity about what you have and what needs to happen next.
Book an App Health Audit