How we work
What you own
The client owns the property. Armage owns the method. That sentence decides more than it looks like it does, so this page says exactly what falls on each side of it and what happens on the day you want to leave.
The system
Yours
The data
Yours, exportable
The method
Ours
Lock-in
None by design
01
Where the line sits
A system we build for you is yours: the source code, the design, the content, the configuration and the data. It runs in infrastructure accounts in your name wherever that is practical, and where it runs in ours it is transferable to you.
What Armage keeps is the method — the libraries, tooling, patterns and reusable components that make the next build faster, and the right to use them again. That is the asset a software company is supposed to own, and keeping it is what lets the build price stay fixed.
- Yours: the system, its source, its data, its content, its domain.
- Ours: the methods, internal libraries and components, and anything we built before meeting you.
- Never reused: your data, your content, your configuration, your commercial terms.
The binding version of all of this is the agreement. This page is here so there is nothing surprising in it.
02
Your data, and getting it out
Export is a feature of the system, not a request you file with us. It produces open, documented formats that another vendor can read: CSV for tabular records, JSON for structured documents, and the original files for anything stored as a file.
A system you cannot leave is a system you are renting under another name. We would rather earn the next year than hold the previous one hostage.
03
What happens if we stop working together
Written down in advance, because that is the only time it can be written down fairly.
- Handover. Repositories, infrastructure accounts, secrets, documentation and a full data export, transferred to you or to whoever you name.
- A transition period. An agreed window in which we answer questions from whoever takes it over, so the knowledge moves with the code.
- Deletion. On your instruction we delete your data from our systems and confirm in writing what was deleted and when.
No exit fee, no de-installation charge, and no clause that makes leaving more expensive than staying.
04
How the architecture keeps this honest
Ownership that depends on our goodwill is not ownership. The systems are built so that leaving is technically possible, which is a design constraint rather than a promise:
- Standard components. PostgreSQL, object storage, standard web frameworks — things another team can be hired to maintain.
- Replaceable providers. Where a hosting or storage provider is used, it sits behind an interface so it can be changed without rewriting the system. We do this for our own products too, and it is why the same code runs against more than one database.
- Open identifiers. Where an industry standard exists for identifying something, we use it rather than inventing an internal code that only we understand.
- Documented schema. The shape of the data is written down and version controlled alongside the code that reads it.
FAQ
Common questions
- If we stop working with Armage, do we lose the system?
- No. The system, its source code and its data belong to the client. On exit we hand over the repositories, the infrastructure accounts and a complete data export, and we support the transfer for an agreed period.
- Can we get our data out without asking you?
- Yes. Data export is a function of the system, not a favour. It produces open formats — CSV and JSON — that another system can read without our involvement.
- What does Armage keep?
- The methods, tooling, libraries and reusable components used to build the system, and the right to reuse them for other clients. We do not reuse a client’s data, content or configuration.
- Is the software open source?
- The system built for a client is that client’s private property, not public. It is built on open standards and widely used open-source components so that it can be maintained by someone else.
Ask for the terms before you need them
We will send the ownership, exit and data-portability clauses before any commitment, so your counsel can read them at their own pace. Write to hello@arm-age.com.