TechnicalDue Diligence
Our high-level reviews are entirely configurable, the scope is determined by the client’s requirements and their timeframe
Buy in haste, repent at leisure…
This is particularly true when making a technical acquisition. If you don’t undertake the correct due diligence, you may be stuck with a purchase, you’ll regret daily (maybe hourly) for many years to come.
How we can help?
Adoption, assimilation and acquisition of technology can be both expensive and fraught with risk. The ease with which key aspects of a solution can be hidden or obfuscated for those without a development background either accidentally or by nefarious third parties is significant.
Discovering such a factor after a transaction has completed can at best be costly to address or at worst significantly devalue your investment.
Our expertise can help you save money by allowing your systems to exchange information meaning legacy systems do not need replacing or allowing your team members to access key data from a single dashboard rather than signing into multiple systems thereby streamlining processes.
High level review
Our high-level reviews are entirely configurable, the scope is determined by the client’s requirements and their timeframe.
We have found the following key areas to be critical when evaluating a solution and again the focus given to each area can be determine by the client, for example security may be a higher priority that than determining the status of the team and so it receives more dedicated resource.
Platform Suitability
Before progressing with any transaction, the buyer needs to be sure the correct platform has been selected for the solution they are looking acquire and that it can grow with them and not impede the development roadmap or the lifespan of the solution.
Our team would aim to determine:
The viability of the platform,
Compatible or the solution with any existing platforms,
Longer term options for the platform,
Review any decisions made to use proprietary features, will these tie you into the selected provider and mean migration could be costly or impossible?
Software and Firmware
Software forms the keystone of a technology proposition; it is therefore critical an appropriate language has been selected and is fit for purpose. One must also consider software is not an isolated product and the supporting development environment must be evaluated to ensure the solution is developed in a professional and sustainable manner.
Our team would aim to determine:
If the code is documented,
If it is under revision control and well managed,
How it is tested and the scope of the coverage,
How the lifecycle is managed, including release management.
Security
The product needs to be secure; this goes without saying. The financial penalties of a data leak can be high, but the loss of credibility and the impact on your brand as a result of a breach may be even more catastrophic. It is therefore critical to understand any shortcomings in a solutions approach to security.However, the security of the final product should not be the only concern. Fundamental components of the products IP, such as the codebase, need to be protected too and how they are handled should be within the scope of any security evaluation.In the event that the unthinkable happens, procedures need to be in place to mitigate and recover from the event.
Our team can perform:
High-level security evaluation of products and platforms (mini- penetration test),
Review practices around that storage and handling of IP and data,
Review of existing cyber defences currently in place,
Evaluation of IT procedures and processes.
Team
Any product is only as good as the team who worked on it. When looking to adopt a new technology the members of the development and support teams should not be overlooked. Even if the ultimate plan is to bring the technology in-house the support of the incumbent team will in most cases be vital and therefore should be assessed.
We would look to ascertain:
The team’s level of involvement in the development of the product,
The skillset of the team and if required the overlaps with your in- house team,
If the team is viable either in the short or longer term,
Level of risk associated with individuals, for example how readily available are their skills if they decided to move on?
In-Depth Evaluation
Sometimes the situation calls for a more in-depth evaluation. This may be as a result of issues or questions raised during the high-level review or after a transaction has been completed and support is needed.
Binary Forge are able to facilitate everything from code deep dives through to supporting development teams in the adoption of industry best practices via mentoring.
The following are a selection of our extended services:
Full Stack Code Reviews
Development Best Practise Support
Test and Release
Architecture Reviews
Integration Support