Project Handover Checklist: What Vendors Forget to Deliver
The riskiest moment in a custom software project is not launch. It is the handover. Use this checklist to make sure you actually receive everything you need to run and evolve your system after your vendor steps away.
Launching a new custom app feels like a finish line, but for your business it is really the starting point. The moment your vendor or previous team hands over the project is when you discover whether you truly own the system or just rent it in practice. Too many companies accept a folder of credentials and a few slides as a handover, only to find out months later that they cannot safely deploy, troubleshoot, or extend their own product. This article walks through a practical handover checklist so you can avoid inheriting a black box.
1. Why Handover Is So Risky
When a software project changes hands from one team to another, knowledge is at its most fragile. If that knowledge only lives in a few brains and a couple of private documents, it can disappear overnight.
A weak handover means every small bug turns into an investigation, simple deployments feel dangerous, and onboarding new developers takes months instead of weeks. A strong handover makes the system boring in the best possible way.
2. The Handover Package You Actually Need
Most vendors focus on delivering features. Fewer focus on delivering a product you can safely own. A proper handover is not just a zip file and a goodbye call. It is a structured package that covers operations, architecture, and knowledge transfer.
- Operational knowledge so your team can deploy, monitor, and rollback without guesswork.
- Architectural knowledge so future developers understand how and why the system is built this way.
- Business knowledge so you know which shortcuts were taken and where the known risks live.
3. The 10 Point Handover Checklist
Use this checklist before you sign off on any project handover. If any box is empty, you are accepting hidden risk.
- Runbook: clear steps for deploying, rolling back, checking logs, and handling common incidents.
- Architecture overview: a diagram and explanation of core components, data flows, and main integrations.
- Environment setup: instructions for setting up a local development environment and connecting to test systems.
- Database documentation: key tables, relationships, and any important constraints or performance tuning.
- Credentials and access: structured, secure list of all accounts, keys, and admin panels with ownership transferred.
- Monitoring and alerts: what is monitored, where dashboards live, and how alerts are configured.
- Known issues and technical debt: honest list of shortcuts, open risks, and postponed improvements.
- Integration inventory: all external APIs and services, with usage, limits, and contact or support details.
- Onboarding guide: a short document aimed at a new developer joining the project in six months.
- Contact and escalation: who to reach if something critical goes wrong during the transition period.
4. Red Flags in a Bad Handover
4.1 Knowledge Lives in One Person
If most answers start with 'ask this specific developer,' your risk is immediately clear. People leave, get sick, or move to other projects. Documentation is how you protect yourself from that reality.
4.2 Vague or Rushed Explanations
If walkthrough sessions are rushed or filled with buzzwords, push back. You want clarity, not impressive vocabulary. A good rule: if your internal product owner cannot explain the system back in their own words, the handover is not done.
4.3 Missing Access or Hidden Dependencies
You discover tools or services during handover that were never mentioned before. Or you realise some critical accounts are still owned by the vendor. Any remaining lock in like this is a risk for you.
5. What to Do in the First 90 Days
The first three months after handover are your chance to test how solid it really is. Do not wait for a crisis. Intentionally exercise the system.
- Run a test deployment with a small change to confirm the runbook works.
- Have a new developer follow the onboarding guide and note what is missing.
- Trigger a fake incident in a test environment and walk through the recovery steps.
- Review logs, dashboards, and alerts to see whether you can actually detect problems early.
Anything that feels unclear during these drills should be documented and clarified immediately while the previous team is still available.
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