Why Software Is Hard to Judge From the Outside
A seller's slides and the previous leader's handoff notes rarely mention an open-source license that doesn't allow commercial use, or a database version past the end of vendor support. Our engineers find those by reading the code, the build configuration, and the list of dependencies.
What the Assessment Covers
We start by agreeing on scope with you, whether that's one application, a product line, or every system the company runs. Then we review the code, architecture, infrastructure, and documentation, and interview leadership and the development team, in person or remotely. If something needs a closer look, like an integration with no documentation, we follow up with a deeper dive before we write it up.
If the assessment doesn't provide value, you don't have to pay for it.
What an Assessment With Trailhead Delivers
Code Quality & Technical Debt
Secure code review and static analysis measure how much technical debt the codebase carries and which parts will slow down future work.
Architecture & Scalability Review
We review the system architecture, cloud infrastructure, and integrations against your growth plan, and flag what has to change for the system to handle that growth.
Security Testing
Vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and threat modeling uncover weaknesses in the application, its cloud configuration, and identity and access management (IAM). If you're buying, you learn about them while you can still negotiate price or terms.
Third-Party Code Risk
Open source dependency and container analysis, plus a software bill of materials (SBOM), show what outside code the product relies on and which pieces are outdated or vulnerable.
Team & Knowledge Risk
Interviews with leadership and the development team show where knowledge sits with only one or two people, and whether the team can support your plans for the business.
AI-Assisted Code Analysis
Our senior engineers use AI-assisted code analysis to read more of a large or unfamiliar codebase before your deadline, like a deal's close date or a new leader's first few months. They write each finding in the report from the code they read.
Who Does the Assessment
Senior engineers who design and build production systems for our clients lead every assessment. Because they've built systems like the one you're evaluating, they can tell a shortcut that will be expensive to fix from one that won't matter. Everything you share stays confidential, and we can work under your NDA.
We report serious findings as soon as we find them instead of saving them for the final report, so a new leader can start fixing them, or a buyer can take them to the seller while the deal is still open.
What You Walk Away With
The assessment ends with a written report and a presentation of the findings. The report rates each risk by severity and rough cost to fix, and lists the actions we recommend in priority order.
We write the report so your own team or any other firm can act on it. If you'd like our help, we can take on the work through Project Rescue or Modernization.
Tell us what you're evaluating, and we'll set up a call with one of our engineers.
