The Assessment

An expert read on the software your business depends on — and a clear path forward, backed by evidence

Know what you actually have

The software your business runs on is hard to see clearly from the inside. The people closest to it are too close, or have a stake in the answer. The Assessment is an independent, expert read on what’s really going on — a structured, hands-on evaluation by experienced engineers who examine the system the way someone about to take responsibility for it would.

You're facing a decision

You need to understand where your system really stands and what risks it carries, so you can choose a direction with confidence.

You're looking for a support partner

You want someone to take ongoing responsibility for a system, and you know a clear-eyed evaluation has to come first.

Seven dimensions. One clear picture.

Most of what determines a system’s real condition isn’t visible from the outside. We evaluate 28 key indicators across seven dimensions to surface it — then tell you what we found, what it’s costing you, and where the real risks and opportunities lie.

Business Alignment

Where has the system drifted out of step with how the business operates today?
Which parts of the business are most constrained by what it can’t do?
Who, if anyone, is actively steering its direction?
What could the business pursue if the software weren’t standing in the way?

Architecture & Technical Health

How sound is the underlying architecture, and where is it accumulating risk?
What in the codebase is making change slow, expensive, or dangerous?
How well will it hold up as users, data, and demands grow?
Where does the hosting and infrastructure help or hinder what comes next?

Security & Compliance

What vulnerabilities exist across the code, infrastructure, and access model?
Where does it fall short of the regulatory or compliance bar it’s held to?
How is sensitive data exposed, and what would a breach actually cost?
What risk is the business carrying right now without realizing it?

Availability & Resilience

What happens to business operations if the system goes down?
How are backups, disaster recovery, and data protection handled?
Can it be updated and maintained without disrupting the people who depend on it?
Where could a failure in the system or something it depends on interrupt the business?

Maintainability & Support

How dependent is the system on specific people or undocumented knowledge?
Can changes be made safely, or is there inadequate testing behind every update?
How difficult and costly is it to enhance or extend as needs change?
What happens if the current support arrangement disappears tomorrow?

User Experience & Process Fit

Where does it create friction, workarounds, or wasted effort for the people using it?
What work happens manually because the software can’t do it?
How easily can the business get the data and reporting it needs out of it?
Where is performance quietly costing productivity day to day?

Future Readiness

How well does it integrate with the tools and platforms the business now relies on?
What stands between the current state and initiatives like analytics, mobility, or AI?
How well is it positioned to support where the business is heading longer term?
What’s the realistic cost of carrying it forward as-is versus changing course?

A deliverable you can act on

The Assessment is a fixed-scope, fixed-fee engagement. It combines conversations with your stakeholders and hands-on technical review by our engineers — we learn what the system was built to do, what your experience has been, and where the business needs to go, then we look under the hood and evaluate against the seven dimensions.

Stakeholder conversations

We talk with the people who run the business and the people who run the system, because the full picture lives in both.

Hands-on technical review

Experienced engineers examine the system directly — not a surface-level questionnaire, a real evaluation.

A findings report you own

Clear, prioritized, written in business language: what we found, what it means, and what your options are.

Honest findings, and where it leads

The Assessment gives you a clear picture of where your system stands. Where it leads depends on what you’re trying to accomplish — and the right next step may be smaller than you’d expect.

Ongoing support

When you want a partner to take responsibility for a system, the Assessment establishes exactly what that means — what it takes to keep it running, where it needs attention, and what to watch. Support is shaped around the system as it actually is, not guessed at.

Incremental modernization

Sometimes, the right move is a set of targeted, manageable steps — updating frameworks, moving to the cloud, shoring up specific weaknesses — that bring the system in line with where it needs to be, without a full rebuild.

A new foundation

And sometimes a system has reached the end of its road, and the honest answer is planning something new. The Assessment tells you whether you’re there, so it’s a deliberate decision rather than a leap.

Get a clear, expert read on your system

Tell us about your situation and we’ll talk through whether an Assessment is the right next step.

Earlier in the process? Start with a Baseline — a free, no-commitment read on where you stand.