Website takeover, maintenance and support

We take over WordPress, WooCommerce and Drupal sites and custom-built websites and web systems from other developers, even when the previous team can no longer be reached. We monitor their technical condition, handle incidents quickly and continue their development. We work both on company projects and on systems whose availability and change control are critical.

Website maintenance is not only installing updates

Regular updates are necessary, but technical maintenance does not end with them. You need to know whether the website is available, whether the forms and integrations work, whether the backups can be used and whether changes have introduced new errors. In more complex systems the server environment, the database, external services and performance have to be monitored as well.

For a public body, an online store or a company whose website is part of its day-to-day work, a predictable response to an incident matters too. That is why we adapt the maintenance arrangements to the importance of the system, its technical architecture and its risks, and do not apply the same package to every project.

What website maintenance can include

Controlled updates

We plan updates of the CMS, modules, plugins and other components. We test riskier changes outside the production environment first.

Security and incidents

We keep track of known vulnerabilities, put access and configuration in order and, if an incident occurs, help to establish the cause and restore the system.

Backups and recovery

We check or set up a backup routine suited to the project and a clear route to recovery. A backup is valuable only if it can be used.

Uptime monitoring

We monitor the operating signals that matter for the project, so that problems can be noticed and diagnosed sooner, without relying on reports from users alone.

Changes and development

We make content and design changes, fix bugs and add new functions. Larger pieces of work are estimated and planned separately.

Performance and technical support

We analyse performance problems and give your team a technical contact who knows how the system is built, its integrations and the changes made before.

Need website maintenance or a new technical team?

Send us the website address and a short description of the situation. As a first step we will work out whether regular support, a technical takeover or the resolution of urgent problems is needed. We reply within one working day.

Discuss maintenance

We also take over websites and systems built by other developers

A project does not have to have been built by us for us to start working together. We take over WordPress, WooCommerce and Drupal sites and custom-built websites and web systems. We begin by getting to know the technologies, versions, code, integrations, server environment, database, backups and known problems. If there is no documentation, we start with what can be checked in the system itself.

After the technical check we separate urgent security and operational risks from work that can be scheduled gradually. If the existing system is viable, we do not propose rebuilding it only because the developer is changing.

Maintenance for systems that have to work at the moments that matter most

A campaign, a registration, a vote, a public announcement or an emergency can increase the load substantially in a short time. If such a moment is known in advance, we can check that the system is ready, analyse its limits and carry out load tests. We have experience with public systems whose availability was particularly important, both during unforeseen public interest and during peaks of activity known in advance.

For more critical projects we set out the response procedure, the priorities, the limits of responsibility and the monitoring required in the cooperation model. We do not promise a specific SLA before we have got to know the system and agreed the scope of responsibility.

Examples from our work

We took over esfondi.lv, the Ministry of Finance's EU funds portal, from another developer when pages took about 5 seconds to load, and after debugging, caching and server optimisation they now load instantly. From 2019 we maintained and developed six websites of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, including early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when traffic to spkc.gov.lv rose very sharply (SPKC). A month before each voting period we load-tested balso.riga.lv, the voting site for Riga's participatory budget, and removed the limits we found.

Frequently asked questions

How much does website maintenance cost?

The price depends on the platform, the complexity of the system, the monitoring and response procedure required, the integrations, the risk involved in updates and the expected volume of changes. The maintenance model for a simple company website and for a critical system cannot be the same. We prepare a proposal after an initial assessment of the situation.

Can you maintain a site that CreateIT did not build?

Yes. We take over WordPress, WooCommerce, Drupal and custom-built projects, provided the access needed for the work is available and the system can safely continue to be maintained. We start by getting to know the system technically and setting priorities, not with an automatic rebuild.

What happens if the site is hacked?

We can help to analyse the incident, contain its consequences, restore the system and remove the technical causes found. What can be recovered, and how quickly, depends on the extent of the compromise, the infrastructure and the backups available, so we do not promise the same outcome for every incident.

Does the plan include content changes too?

It can. The scope of our cooperation can cover changes to text, images and sections, bug fixes and other day-to-day work. Larger functionality is estimated and planned separately, so that the scope of work, the priority and the order of delivery are clear.

Is hosting included in maintenance?

We can work with your current hosting or recommend an environment that suits the website's technology and load. The scope of maintenance, including whether it covers hosting, the domain, monitoring and backups, is set out in the contract.

What do you do if the website suddenly stops working?

If we look after maintenance, we diagnose the cause and restore the site within the agreed response procedure. If the site has been hacked or infected, we also help in the evenings and at weekends - see malware removal and recovery.

Do you maintain websites for companies outside Latvia?

Yes. Maintenance is done remotely, so where you are based makes no difference. We work in English and Latvian and plan scheduled work with your time zone in mind.

Related services

Discuss maintenance