Architecture & Design Analysis

Software architecture and design that robustly supports client and competitive requirements is critical to the success of any complex, enterprise-class commercial software offering.  Seasoned industry veterans understand that the lifecycle of successful software offerings involves regular assessment and retooling to address changes in the technology landscape, customer profiles, and competitive pressures.  

With more than two decades of experience evaluating complex software packages, Do Diligence® understands how to get a deep understanding of complex architectures, designs and implementations in the short time-frame allotted to a technology due diligence project.  

The architecture and design section of our report is structured as follows:

• An evaluation section that rates each of the non-functional attributes (scalability, etc.) and both an overview and detailed justification for the ratings based on the strengths and challenges we have identified.
• A detailed description of the software’s architecture and design, often including one or more Do Diligence®-developed diagrams like the one shown here.    

Do Diligence® has expertise in many domains and that helps us to quickly understand the subject company's business. With that understanding in mind, our architecture and design analysis focuses on the non-functional attributes of the software: scalability, extensibility, maturity, reliability, security, and other attributes of interest to our clients.  In order to ensure a comprehensive evaluation, our approach consists of the following activities:

• Exhaustive discussions with the subject company technology experts.  Beginning with a high level description, we guide the subject company in drilling into the architecture, layer-by-layer; then review system flows for important use cases; and finally the structure of source code. 
• Once we have developed preliminary conclusions about the strengths and challenges of the architecture, design, and implementation, we elicit the subject company’s own evaluation of the non-functional attributes (scalability, etc.). 
• Then we review the company’s roadmap, with particular focus on technology improvement plans, such as important changes to the architecture, design, implementation, and 3rd party and open source software.  
• Finally, for our most comprehensive architecture and design review, we conduct a visual code review of critical software components .