An independent technology review that shows what is really going on
A structured, independent assessment of your technology health across four domains: the technology itself, how you deliver software, how the team operates, and whether the product direction and market are aligned.
- What it is. An independent assessment across four domains: technology, delivery, operations and product alignment.
- Timeline. Most reviews complete in two to four weeks, needing 8 to 12 hours of stakeholder time.
- Output. A board-ready slide deck and a prioritised findings spreadsheet, plus a handover.
- Who it is for. CEOs, founders and boards who need a verified view of technology risk, often before investment or acquisition.
- Commercial. Fixed fee. Standard and Enhanced (transaction-grade) options.
- Standards. Optionally includes a Cyber Essentials readiness check if you require it.
Technology
Architecture, infrastructure, security posture (Cyber Essentials readiness), technical debt, scalability. Are the foundations solid enough for where the business is going?
Delivery
Software development life cycle, deployment practices, QA strategy, defect management, release cadence. Is the team shipping reliably and safely?
Operations
Team structure, roles, capacity metrics, ways of working. Is the team set up to succeed, or are they fighting the structure?
Product alignment
Requirements quality, roadmap, coherence, product-engineering interface. Is the technology being built actually connected to what the business needs?
Scoping
We start with a conversation (no charge) to understand your situation, what triggered the review, and what you need from the output.
Discovery
Remote interviews with your CEO, CTO, engineering leads, and key stakeholders. Review of your codebase (read-only), pipelines, project tools and documentation.
Analysis
We synthesise findings across all four domains, looking for patterns and root causes, not just symptoms.
Report and handover
Written report in a format that works for you: a slide deck for board presentations, a detailed spreadsheet of findings with severity, priority and recommended actions, and/or a full written document. Always providing a handover meeting to walk through everything and discuss next steps. Where the review points to action, we can move directly into directed technology implementation, or into an AI Opportunity Review where AI is part of the picture.
Standard Review
For standalone CEO/COO-initiated reviews. Fixed fee based on complexity. Covers all four domains with a prioritised action plan.
Enhanced Review
For PE/VC-linked reviews or pre-traction contexts. Included deeper analysis, more stakeholder engagement, deal-specific output format, and an executive briefing to the investor or acquirer.
Both are fixed fee. No scope creep, no surprise invoices. We will discuss pricing on the scoping call once we understand the scope of the work required.
You have been told the technology is fine, but you have no way to verify that independently.
You are about to raise investment and investors will ask about technology risk.
You have acquired or are acquiring a technology business and need to understand what you are buying.
Your development team is busy but nothing seems to ship.
You suspect the architecture will not scale but you are not technical enough to assess it yourself.
COMMON QUESTIONS