Replacing Your Agency? Ask This One Question First

00:01

Replacing your software agency is not like switching energy suppliers. You cannot issue the directive and expect the lights to stay on. And in the last couple of years, I've watched two versions of this play out. The first version goes something like this. New leadership arrives, inherits a bespoke platform, and partly out of cost pressure, partly honestly out of

00:25

politics, pushes for a quick switch with no documentation or transition plan, issuing directives like Caesar. The new agency inherits a code base they can't fully read, and things deteriorate quietly. Six months later, when everything visibly begins to fall apart, the previous agency gets all the blame because, let's face it, admitting the switch was handled badly is harder than

00:53

finding someone else to blame. Contrast this to the second version. A CEO who understood what they were switching before they switched it. So, they were locked into a vendor who were charging an unjustifiable retainer. They knew they needed to leave, 100%.

01:14

So, they brought in a parallel supplier, ran both suppliers in tandem, and unseated the incumbent gradually. Yes, it was unglamorous and slow, but it worked. Business continuity never broke. The difference between these two outcomes wasn't budget, nor was it timing. It simply boiled down to one question asked or not asked before the decision was made.

01:46

And the question was, if your agency left tomorrow, what would the next agency actually inherit?