When you decide to have a website, e-commerce platform, or custom software made, you focus on issues such as budget, design, and delivery time. However, there is a much bigger danger in the sector that very few people talk about loudly: Vendor Lock-in, that is, being left technologically condemned to the developer or agency.
Many people or institutions in the market, even if they say they deliver the project to you, actually host the system on their own servers. They do not share the source codes with you. This may not seem like a problem while things are going well. However, tomorrow when you want to move your infrastructure, when you decide to work with a different team, or when you just ask "why am I paying this license/rental fee that increases every year?", you face the bitter reality: The key to your digital property is actually not with you.
In my 20-year sector adventure, my strictest ethical rule has always been this: If I am making a project, the sole and real owner of that project is my customer.
That's why I don't force any customer to be dependent on my own server or my own system. You rent the server in your own name, with your own accounts. I do the installation there and deliver the open source codes in full when the work is finished. Because real freedom in the digital world begins with the codes and data being under your control. If you are investing in a project, make sure that investment belongs to you 100%.