Graftholders

For companies that design the board in house and have the software developed outside

Changing who develops your software, without pausing releases

Seven questions about your software, and you see straight away how much of the existing work is reused, how many weeks a new team needs to reach the first release, and what keeps selling in the meantime.

See your handover plan Free · seven questions · two minutes · result on screen straight away

The plan answers three questions

  1. 1
    How much is reused

    Source, build procedure, keys and documentation: what you already hold shortens the handover.

  2. 2
    How long it takes

    The estimated weeks for a new team to reach the first release on your product.

  3. 3
    What keeps selling

    The current product keeps selling, and the version in progress reaches its release.

Free plan · 7 questions · 2 minutes

Your handover plan, in two minutes

What you already hold of the software, what kind of product it is, when the next version ships. Only what you already know by heart. The plan appears on screen straight away.

Le 7 questions of the plan

    Convenienza
    Condizioni
    Tempi

    The handover plan

      Book 30 minutes with an engineer

      Who is behind the check

      Who publishes it

      Graftholders designs firmware, infrastructure and security for connected devices, from silicon to the field.

      Who reads the answers

      An engineer from our team, the same person who would lead the work.

      Graftholders, Prata di Pordenone (PN), Italy · VAT IT01942910934

      It is written for companies selling a connected electronic device under their own brand, designed or developed by someone else. Teams that have run everything in-house for years will find little new here.

      Projects delivered

      Engineering projects we have delivered

      Devices, on-board software and infrastructure, with the project in the client’s name.

      See the plan

      Three paths

      The three things that hold a handover back, and how they are handled

      The release calendar

      The handover attaches to a version already planned and the two tracks run in parallel: your current supplier closes the version in progress while the new team prepares the next one.

      The cost of the first handover

      It concentrates on the first release, because the existing software has to be read and picked up. From the following versions the cost returns to that of a normal development contract, and the comparison is with the annual spend you already have.

      Knowledge of the product

      It sits in the software and the documentation, and it is recovered by reading them: that is why the first release takes longer than the ones after it. For identity, updates and traceability we start from TemperCrate, which is already built.

      The board design is not touched: it stays where it already is, with you. What changes is who writes the software, and at the end the source, the rebuild procedure and the keys are in your name.

      See the plan

      What is inside a product

      With the design in hand, what else it takes to release

      The design is the first of the five parts of a connected device. These are the others, and they decide who can release a version.

      Design

      Schematics, layout, bill of materials and production files: this part is already yours, and it is what lets you choose the manufacturer.

      The prototype

      The physical board, tested and validated, with the test results: the step that turns a design into something you can manufacture.

      The on-board software

      The code running on the device and the procedure that turns it into the installed program, with the list of software components and their licences.

      The update base

      How each device is recognised and updated remotely, and the keys used to sign those updates.

      Plus the documentation that holds it together: manuals, technical file, production procedures. When we say whole product, we mean these five items handed over to you.

      The item the calculation does not see: updates over the years

      The Cyber Resilience Act, the EU regulation on products with digital elements, places cybersecurity requirements on the manufacturer covering design, development and maintenance, and requires vulnerabilities to be handled throughout the product lifecycle. Whoever sells the device under their own brand is the manufacturer, and the product carries the CE marking.

      The dates, from the European Commission: the regulation entered into force on 10 December 2024, reporting obligations apply from 11 September 2026, and the main obligations from 11 December 2027.

      For your total it means one thing: the device has to be updated over the years, and today every update is a request to your supplier, at a price and on a date they set. It is the item the calculation leaves out, and the one we size on your product during the call.

      Source: European Commission, Cyber Resilience Act, page updated 22 June 2026.

      See the plan

      Supply risk

      Two things that can happen, and what they mean

      Your supplier raises rates

      Development spend sits in the five-year total. With the source and the procedure in hand you can ask another developer for a quote, and the negotiation changes; without them, it stays with one counterpart only.

      Your supplier stops supporting the product

      The device keeps working and keeps selling, and the design stays yours. What stops are the versions, because source, procedure and keys sit elsewhere. With those three in hand, the work goes to whoever you choose.

      What changes when the chain is yours

      Holding source, procedure and keys does not force a change of supplier: it puts you in a position to make one. That possibility alone moves price and timing, even if you stay with the same partner.

      See the plan

      Frequently asked questions

      How a handover works

      Changing who develops the software does not mean starting over: the board design stays yours and is not touched, the existing software is read and reused, and the handover attaches to a version already on the calendar.

      Do we have to pause releases?

      No, when the two tracks run in parallel: your current supplier finishes the version in progress while the new team prepares the next one. That is the sequence the plan proposes when you have a version within six months.

      How long does the first release with a new team take?

      It depends on the type of software and on how much you already hold. The plan gives an estimate in weeks from your answers, and it is verified by reading the existing software during the 30 minutes.

      How much does the handover cost?

      The cost concentrates on the first release, because the existing work has to be read and picked up. From the following versions it returns to the cost of a normal development contract, and that is the comparison to make.

      What if the current supplier does not hand over what is missing?

      Whatever does not arrive is rebuilt starting from the product you already sell, and it usually concerns the update part and the keys. The plan sets out what to request in writing and what to plan on rebuilding.

      Does the board design stay ours?

      Yes, and it is not touched. What we hand over at the end is the source, the rebuild procedure, the keys and the software documentation.

      Dobbiamo assumere qualcuno?

      No. We do the development, you receive the documented software project, and long-term maintenance is agreed separately.

      How we work

      From the calculation to the project in your hands

      1. The plan

        The seven answers become the handover plan for your product.

      2. The review

        Thirty minutes with one of our engineers on your numbers, with a written outcome that stays with you.

      3. The path

        You request source, procedure and keys from your supplier, and development restarts on your board.

      4. The handover

        Project, documentation and infrastructure in your name, with long-term maintenance agreed separately.

      See the plan

      Two minutes, and you have the plan

      Seven questions about what you already hold. At the end you see how much work is reused, how many weeks a new team needs for the first release, and what keeps selling in the meantime. Everyone who completes the plan gets a review by a senior engineer, the same person who would lead the work.

      See your handover plan