The projects that end up here
- ERP or CRM implementations that started 6–18 months ago and never closed.
- E-commerce sites or platforms left without maintenance for 18 months or more.
- Transformations led by an outside consultancy that, 12–18 months later, are where they started.
- AI pilots that never made it to production.
The four phases
- Technical and viability audit — two weeks. What was built, how it's integrated, what data it generates and whether it can be operated.
- Decision and plan. Rescue, rebuild or close — with reasons in writing.
- Rescue — four to eight weeks. Re-implement, integrate with your real stack, and leave the system running and documented.
- Keep it alive and transfer the knowledge. Without this phase, the system tends to stall again within 12–18 months.
Phases 1–3 typically take seven to eleven weeks. An AI pilot with clean code can close in four; an ERP with eighteen months of inconsistencies needs eight. Any proposal significantly shorter — two or three weeks for everything — usually means skipping the audit. One week of audit saves two months of rework.
What we look at first
The code and where it runs, the data and its state, the contract (who owns what), and how people are working around the system today. The workarounds tell you more about what failed than the original specification.
If the previous vendor won't hand over the code
It depends on what you have. If the system is deployed on servers you control, what runs in production can usually be extracted, even without history. If you only have the database, the data is rescued and the rest rebuilt. The first thing to read is the intellectual property clause of the contract; the dispute with the vendor is a job for lawyers, not for the rescue.
What it costs
There is no fixed price before looking. The audit is priced as a technical audit — a boutique audit of four to eight working days runs €2,500–5,000, with the report in your ownership. Execution is quoted afterwards: it can come in below or above a new build (€40,000–120,000 for a first phase), depending on what has to be undone.
Everything we write or rescue belongs to you: code, documentation and data. More on our custom work in custom software.
How we start
Always the same way. Day zero: an NDA signed before you show us anything. Then the Nexus team analyses your operation and delivers a report with the exact changes, prioritised by impact on your P&L. Then you decide. Nexus Elite AI is an engineering boutique in Barcelona: two people, no juniors, no subcontractors, and never more than seven clients at a time. Apply and we reply within 24 business hours; if there is no fit, we tell you in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Can a software project be rescued if the vendor won't hand over the code?
Often, yes. If the system runs on servers you control, what is in production can usually be extracted; if you only have the database, the data is rescued and the rest rebuilt. Read the intellectual property clause first — the dispute itself is for lawyers.
How much does it cost to rescue a stalled project?
The audit is priced as a technical audit: a boutique one of four to eight working days runs €2,500–5,000, with the report yours. Execution is quoted after the audit, because it depends on what has to be undone.
How long does a rescue take?
Typically seven to eleven weeks for audit, decision and rescue. A clean AI pilot can close in four weeks; an ERP with eighteen months of inconsistencies needs eight weeks of rescue alone.
Is it better to rescue or rebuild?
That is exactly what the two-week audit decides, in writing: rescue, rebuild or close. Sometimes closing is the right answer, and we say so.