Software & AI architecture services
Assess.Understand and evaluate.
We investigate a software or AI system, test design choices and set out a clear next step. A named senior architect leads the work, checks what our tools find and stands behind the recommendation. Specialists join where agreed.
Typical decisions
Understand what you have. Establish what matters.
- You inherited a system whose behaviour, business rules or dependencies are poorly understood.
- A proposed software or AI architecture needs a focused second opinion.
- Several system concerns need an integrated diagnosis rather than separate observations.
- A working product is preparing to serve larger customers, more users or more critical business operations.
What you receive
The result and the deliverables.
A defensible understanding of the situation and our recommendation on what should happen next.
- An integrated assessment or scoped system understanding that explains what holds up, what needs attention and why.
- Traceable findings, relevant maps, the risks that matter and knowledge gaps linked to the decision.
- Our conclusion with priorities, options and recommended next actions within the agreed boundary.
Relevant scopes
Go deeper into the scope that fits.
Focused second opinion
Architecture Peer Review
A senior architect reviews one design, vendor proposal or significant technical direction before you commit. You get the risks that matter, the alternatives and the conditions for proceeding.
Explore the scopeFor working products, including AI-built ones
Production Readiness Assessment
A short risk report or a scoped readiness report for your product's next stage, at the depth you choose. It sets out prioritised recommendations, conditions and evidence gaps.
Explore the scopeUnderstand
Technical Discovery & System Understanding
Find out what an existing system does: its business functions, rules, dependencies and constraints, checked in the code and with the people who know it.
Explore the scopeModernisation decision
Modernisation Assessment
We compare hardening, refactoring, re-architecture, replacement and stopping against the constraints of your product or estate, and recommend one path.
Explore the scopeTransaction insight
Software & AI Technical Due Diligence
Scoped software and AI due diligence on a company you may buy, invest in or sell, stating what we and any specialists covered.
Explore the scopeRecovery decision · AI and software
AI Project Rescue Assessment
Find out why a software or AI project is failing or stuck, and whether to recover, redirect or stop it.
Explore the scopeMore within Assess
Architecture Diagnostic
A wider look at several interacting system concerns. Most clients start with Production Readiness.
Architecture Decision Sprint
A short, focused format for one decision.
Principal Architecture Advisory Session
A structured senior conversation with a written follow-up.
Legacy & Portfolio Understanding
A defined legacy or application portfolio, its dependencies and knowledge gaps.
How it works
A contribution with clear accountability.
Frame the decision
Agree the business change, system boundary and what the assessment must establish.
Investigate and validate
Use AI-assisted workflows and analysis tools across the relevant code, documents, configuration, tests, operating evidence and owner knowledge. A senior architect checks the findings that matter.
Explain the consequences
Separate strengths, root causes, risks and unknowns; provide the agreed recommendation and next actions.
Example · Assess
The portal reads the order system's database directly
Before launch, a new customer portal reads customer data straight from the order system's database. The finding sets out the evidence, the consequence, the action and what we did not examine.
Inspect the Assess example
- Evidence
- Verified: the portal's code queries the order system's customer and order tables, using a database account that can read every customer record. Reported by your team: those tables change in most order-system releases.
- Finding
- Inferred: an order-system release can break the portal without warning. Because the portal's account can read every customer record, one faulty query could also show a customer someone else's orders.
- Action / check
- Fix now, before launch: put an API between the portal and the order system, and remove the portal's database account. Engineering then checks that every portal page works with that account switched off.
- Owner / limit
- We own the finding; the portal supplier and your order-system team make the change. Not examined: the nightly reports, which may read the same tables. Still open: whether the API can be ready before launch.
Choosing the contribution
Initial assessment and assurance serve different purposes.
An initial Production Readiness Assessment investigates the system and identifies the conditions and changes needed for its next business stage. Assure evaluates evidence against agreed criteria for a defined milestone, recheck or acceptance decision. The right engagement follows the purpose, evidence and required reliance.
Practical questions
Before engaging us for Assess.
Which assessment should we choose?
Peer Review checks one design, vendor proposal or technical direction. An Architecture Diagnostic goes deeper, across several interacting system concerns. Production Readiness checks whether a working product is ready for its next stage. Technical Discovery & System Understanding finds out what a system does. Modernisation Assessment compares hardening, refactoring, re-architecting, replacing and stopping. Technical Due Diligence covers the software and AI of a company you may buy, invest in or sell. AI Project Rescue Assessment finds out why a programme is stuck. Not sure? We'll suggest one on the call.
Must an assessment lead to more work?
No. It is a standalone engagement. A client may act on the recommendation with its own team, another partner or no further architecture work.
Does an assessment include detailed architecture design?
Only where explicitly scoped. Defining the detailed target architecture or transition is an Architect contribution, using an adequate baseline.
What's the decision in front of you?
Tell us the situation and what you intend to commit to. 25 minutes on Teams, no preparation needed. We will agree the right scope and depth, or tell you if this is not the right service.