Vendor Lock-In

Vendor lock-in is what you discover on the day you decide to leave a supplier. The software works, the invoices go out, and then you ask for your things back and find out how few of them are yours. It is rarely written in the contract. It is usually just how the setup grew.

Four things are worth separating in your head. The code, the data, the domain name and the hosting account. The data is your customer list, your orders and your history; you should be able to get it out as a plain spreadsheet or a file another system can read, on any Tuesday, without asking permission. The code is the software itself, and whether you own it depends on what you paid for, so read that line before you sign. The domain name is your address on the internet, and it should be registered in your company name with your own email on it. The hosting account is where the site lives, and the invoice for it should have your name on it too.

The one that surprises people most is the domain. A small agency registers it on the client's behalf, using the agency's own email, and five years later the agency has closed or the relationship has soured. Getting that name back can take months, and until then every business card you have printed points at a site you no longer control.

So ask four questions before you sign anything. Can I export all my data myself, and in what format. Do I own the source code, or am I renting it. Are the domain and the hosting in my company's name. And what would it cost me, in money and in days, to move to someone else next year. A supplier who answers all four plainly is telling you something about how they intend to behave.

Linkysoft answers those four in writing at the start of every web application project, because a client who stays by choice is worth more than one who stays because leaving is painful. Accounts on Hostrena hosting are opened in the client's own name for the same reason. Leaving Linkysoft should be possible. It should just never be necessary.