Custom Development Technical Due Diligence

Expert assessment of code quality, technical debt, software architecture, and development practices for M&A

Custom software is often the core asset in technology acquisitions, yet its true quality and maintainability are difficult to assess from the outside. Our development due diligence experts evaluate code quality, architecture design, technical debt, development practices, and team capabilities—revealing the true state of your target's software assets.

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Custom Development Assessment Areas

Comprehensive evaluation of software quality, architecture, practices, and team capabilities.

Code Quality Assessment

Deep analysis of codebase quality and maintainability:

  • Code complexity and maintainability metrics
  • Code duplication and DRY violations
  • Coding standards and consistency
  • Static analysis findings
  • Code documentation and comments
  • Error handling and logging practices
  • Code review practices and history

Architecture & Design

Evaluation of software architecture and design patterns:

  • System architecture and component design
  • Microservices vs. monolithic assessment
  • API design and integration patterns
  • Database design and data modeling
  • Scalability and performance design
  • Security architecture
  • Dependency management

Technical Debt Analysis

Quantification and prioritization of technical debt:

  • Technical debt inventory and categorization
  • Debt remediation effort estimation
  • Legacy system dependencies
  • Outdated frameworks and libraries
  • Known bugs and workarounds
  • Deferred refactoring impact
  • Modernization roadmap assessment

Testing & Quality Assurance

Assessment of testing practices and quality processes:

  • Test coverage and quality
  • Unit, integration, and E2E testing
  • Automated testing practices
  • QA processes and methodologies
  • Performance and load testing
  • Security testing (SAST/DAST)
  • Bug tracking and resolution

Development Practices

Evaluation of development workflows and methodologies:

  • Agile/Scrum implementation maturity
  • Version control and branching strategy
  • CI/CD pipeline effectiveness
  • Code review process and culture
  • Release management practices
  • Documentation standards
  • Developer productivity metrics

Team & Knowledge

Assessment of development team and knowledge management:

  • Team structure and skill assessment
  • Key person dependencies
  • Knowledge documentation
  • Onboarding effectiveness
  • Technical leadership evaluation
  • Vendor and contractor reliance
  • Retention risk assessment

Technologies & Frameworks We Evaluate

Deep expertise across modern development stacks and legacy systems.

Backend Technologies

  • ✓ Java / Spring Boot
  • ✓ .NET / C#
  • ✓ Python / Django / FastAPI
  • ✓ Node.js / Express / NestJS
  • ✓ Go / Ruby on Rails

Frontend Technologies

  • ✓ React / Next.js
  • ✓ Angular / Vue.js
  • ✓ TypeScript / JavaScript
  • ✓ Mobile (React Native, Flutter)
  • ✓ iOS (Swift) / Android (Kotlin)

Databases

  • ✓ PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQL Server
  • ✓ MongoDB / DynamoDB
  • ✓ Redis / Elasticsearch
  • ✓ Oracle / DB2 (Legacy)
  • ✓ GraphQL / REST APIs

DevOps & Tools

  • ✓ Git / GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket
  • ✓ Jenkins / CircleCI / GitHub Actions
  • ✓ Docker / Kubernetes
  • ✓ Terraform / Ansible
  • ✓ Jira / Confluence / Linear

Code Analysis Tools

  • ✓ SonarQube / SonarCloud
  • ✓ CodeClimate / Codacy
  • ✓ Snyk / Dependabot
  • ✓ ESLint / Prettier / StyleCop
  • ✓ OWASP / Checkmarx / Veracode

Legacy Systems

  • ✓ COBOL / Mainframe
  • ✓ Classic ASP / VB6
  • ✓ PHP / WordPress
  • ✓ Perl / ColdFusion
  • ✓ Delphi / PowerBuilder

Mobile Development

  • ✓ iOS (Swift, Objective-C)
  • ✓ Android (Kotlin, Java)
  • ✓ React Native
  • ✓ Flutter
  • ✓ Xamarin / MAUI

Testing & Quality

  • ✓ Jest, Mocha, Pytest
  • ✓ Selenium, Cypress, Playwright
  • ✓ JUnit, NUnit, xUnit
  • ✓ Postman, REST Assured
  • ✓ Load Testing (k6, JMeter)

Why Code Due Diligence Matters in M&A

Software quality directly impacts post-acquisition costs, velocity, and value realization.

💰 Hidden Technical Debt

Technical debt is invisible in financial statements but can consume 20-40% of development capacity. Quantifying debt helps negotiate purchase price and plan remediation investment.

🚀 Velocity Impact

Poor code quality slows feature development. Teams spending time on bug fixes and workarounds can't deliver new functionality. This directly impacts growth potential.

🔧 Maintainability Risk

Poorly structured code is difficult to maintain and extend. Complex, undocumented systems create dependency on key individuals and increase the cost of change.

🔐 Security Vulnerabilities

Insecure coding practices introduce vulnerabilities. SQL injection, XSS, and other OWASP Top 10 issues create security risk and compliance exposure.

👥 Knowledge Concentration

Critical system knowledge concentrated in few individuals creates retention risk. If key developers leave post-acquisition, maintaining systems becomes extremely difficult.

🔄 Integration Complexity

Non-standard architectures and tightly coupled systems complicate integration. Understanding integration complexity helps plan realistic timelines and budgets.

Common Code Due Diligence Findings

Based on 80+ code assessments, here are recurring findings we identify.

📉 Low Test Coverage

Less than 30% test coverage, missing critical path tests, flaky test suites, no integration tests. Developers afraid to refactor due to lack of safety net.

Impact: Regression risk, slow change velocity

🔄 Massive Code Duplication

Copy-paste programming, duplicate logic across modules, no shared libraries. Bug fixes require changes in multiple places, increasing error risk.

Impact: Maintenance burden, inconsistent behavior

📦 Outdated Dependencies

Libraries years out of date, known security vulnerabilities (CVEs), deprecated frameworks. Upgrade path requires significant effort.

Impact: Security exposure, compatibility issues

📝 Missing Documentation

No architecture documentation, missing API specs, outdated README files. Onboarding new developers takes months instead of weeks.

Impact: Knowledge loss, slow onboarding

🏗️ Monolithic Architecture

Large, tightly coupled codebase that can't be deployed independently. Single change requires full system deployment and testing.

Impact: Slow releases, scaling limitations

🔐 Security Anti-Patterns

Hardcoded credentials, SQL injection vulnerabilities, missing input validation, insecure session management. OWASP Top 10 violations common.

Impact: Data breach risk, compliance issues

Our Code Assessment Process

Comprehensive software quality evaluation methodology.

1

Codebase Discovery

Inventory all repositories, understand system boundaries, document technology stack, and identify critical components and dependencies.

2

Automated Analysis

Run static analysis tools (SonarQube, CodeClimate), security scanners (SAST/SCA), and generate code quality metrics across the codebase.

3

Architecture Review

Evaluate system architecture, design patterns, component coupling, API design, and scalability characteristics.

4

Technical Debt Quantification

Identify and categorize technical debt, estimate remediation effort, and prioritize based on business impact.

5

Process & Team Assessment

Evaluate development practices, CI/CD maturity, testing culture, code review process, and team capabilities.

6

Findings & Roadmap

Deliver detailed assessment with risk quantification, technical debt inventory, and modernization roadmap with effort estimates.

Need a Custom Development Technical Due Diligence Assessment?

Our software engineering experts will comprehensively evaluate your target's codebase, architecture, technical debt, development practices, and team capabilities. Understand the true state of your software investment.

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