Most handovers fail before the first line of code is changed because nobody has a reliable picture of the product. The ten-day audit replaces assumptions with a practical map.
Days 1–2 cover access and context: code, documentation, environments and interviews with management, operations and internal users. The objective is to understand what the product must achieve, not only what it currently does.
Days 3–5 cover architecture, dependencies, technical debt, missing tests and areas nobody wants to touch. Every risk is linked to its operational impact and likely remediation cost.
Days 6–8 examine deployment, secrets, backups, monitoring and migrations. These operational details often carry more risk than untidy application code.
Days 9–10 produce a short report: current state, ranked risks and three takeover scenarios with cost and duration. The fixed-price report belongs to the client and remains useful regardless of who performs the next phase.
