Technology Assessments

Engaging at the deepest levels

Product Perfect specializes in providing senior executives with meaningful, robust assessments in architecture, application topology, and potential modernizations

Sample Deliverables for Tech Assessment Engagements

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Our Assessment Engagements

7 types of assessment engagements are offered. All of which are offered onsite, offsite, or as a hybrid of both.

Application Topology

As our most common type of engagement, the app topology assessment engagement provides C-level executives with a comprehensive view of applications in their enterprise. These typically will include:

  • How and where applications are integrated today
  • Points of integration friction
  • A,B,C’s of integration (Addresses, Bindings, & Contracts)
  • Inbound and outbound file and data movements
  • Applications tagged for removal, migration, or remediation
  • Licensing obscurities or licensing budget targets

Data & DB Integration

The database integration assessment engagement showcases all databases in the enterprise with a focus on:

  • Data flow from app/area to app/area
  • Data transformation, ETL, and ELT processes
  • Data in transit, at-rest, and at-issue
  • Database structures, relational diagrams, ERWIN models, data entity/object models
  • Database licensing
  • NoSQL / Blob storage
  • Cloud migration opportunities

Limited Integration

The limited integration assessment engagements are typically narrowly scoped to focus on a few key applications as they seek to integrate. This may include:

  • Points of integration
  • Protocols, connection models, sample code
  • Application integration toolkits and SDK’s
  • API development or API materials formulation
  • UX/UI reconstruction for pre/post integration assistance, analysis and materials formulation around the user experience and application extensibility considerations

IT Roadmap/Strategy

As an extension of senior IT leadership, the IT roadmap and strategy assessment engagement provides formulation or refinement of:

  • Multi-year, multi-phased IT roadmaps
  • Planning materials for projects, programs, and applications
  • Migration planning
  • Systems redevelopment planning
  • Multi-year financial modeling and budgeting
  • Executive level presentation formulation and iterative refinement

Application Integration Assessments

An engagement focused on granular documentation that depicts all integrations between specific applications, and how those integrations may be improved, replaced, or migrated.

  • Web and Desktop Applications
  • Server/Infrastructure
  • Standalone Database Applications
  • Redundant Sidecar Applications
  • AI/Machine Learning Opportunities
  • Mainframe/Legacy Systems Integration

Private Equity Acquisition Assessments

Prior to acquisition, buyers will seek to de-risk the opportunity. Our team of technical engineering consultants can engage on:

  • Viability & Feasibility
  • Product Integration Planning
  • Fault Threshold Testing
  • Total Cost of Ownership
  • Value Forecasting
  • LiceMulti-year Application Consolidation Planning

Application Redesign Assessments

UX/UI expert product designers and consultants work with client product leaders and senior developers to ascertain a best possible path forward for an application that may require either a facelift or a full rewrite. Their focus can include:

  • Architectural Assessments
  • Source Code Evaluations
  • UI / UX Wireframes, Mockups, and Prototypes
  • Design Option Models
  • Innovation and Experimentation Sprints
  • Style Guide Formulation
  • Digital Product Strategy
  • What-If Scenarios Built Out

20%

of the average IT budget is attributed to technical debt

2020 McKinsey Digital “Tech Debt: Reclaiming Tech Equity.”

Assessment Artifacts

A technology assessment looks at the effects, consequences, and risks of implementing a specific technology. Done right, business gain new paths for improving processes, optimizing operations, and enhancing their most valuable assets: their employees. 

The AS-IS Topology Diagram

As your technology landscape splinters into a multiplicity of offerings and services, it becomes inefficient and atrophied. A technology assessment cuts through the various option and provides a company with the best options for its unique situation. The first diagram on this assessment journey is the AS-IS topology diagram. This takes the form of a typically wall-sized map of all integrated applications in the enterprise, showing connective tissue, endpoints, and protocol between the applications.

Transitional State Process Diagrams

A multi-step process diagram artifact encapsulates a business’s internal data and transactional processes. It’s formed by analyzing and documenting the organizational systems, internal processes, and people-alignment.

TO-BE Topology Diagrams

Taking the AS-IS topology diagram as a starting point and input to the assessment, and following the multi-stage/multi-year plan, this TO-BE diagram provides the future state of the enterprise and all its interconnected systems. This can be optionally broken-out into phases to showcase the interim states of the enterprise.

Data Flow Diagrams

From left to right, this visual captures the fluidity of data as it traverses through applications in the enterprise. This often leads to new revelations on applications and their involvement in the composition of systems as a whole.

Dependency Diagrams

This artifact organizes a calibrated stacking of dependencies between applications in the enterprise. Each application and its partial or full dependency on another is demonstrated. While some levels of abstraction are inevitable, most of the detail of the entire application topology is present. It typically provides executives, technology management, and technology operations with enough clarity to plan, formulate, and budget around.

Samples from a few of our popular engagement types

Our assessment engagements typically produce comprehensive, diagnostic, wall-sized diagrams that have garnered some critical conversations.

Enterprise Application Topology Engagements

A comprehensive suite of diagrams showing systems, applications, databases, and server infrastructure.

Download Samples

Application Integration Assessment Engagements

An effort aimed at narrowly documenting how specific applications integrate in the enterprise, and what options may exist for enhancing, replacing, or migrating those integration points.

Download Samples

IT Roadmap and Strategy Engagement

Working with IT leadership to compose artifacts that shape the budget, staffing, integration/migration planning, and all other projects in scope.

Download Samples

Engagement models offered

Onsite Intensive

In this final model, consultant(s) will travel onsite to the client location for a rough average of 80% of the time each month. This approach is reserved for situations where teams require intense and detailed interaction to work through complex systems analysis or deep execution work. Artifacts are prepared and refined throughout the engagement, delivered onsite.

Limited Onsite

In this model, consultant(s) will travel onsite to the client location for a rough average of 50% of the time each month. This approach makes plenty of sense where teams require larger volumes of face-time and whiteboard sessions to sufficiently serve formulation and planning stages of effort.  Artifacts are prepared and refined throughout the engagement, and delivered onsite.

Limited Remote

In this model, consultative services are offered via remote zoom/teams video calls, engaging with all necessary levels of the technology leadership and operations groups. Artifacts are prepared, refined, and iteratively delivered remotely as well.

Hybrid

In a hybrid approach, consultant(s) will work partially onsite and partially remotely, with the average onsite presence being 1-2 days per month. Artifacts are prepared, refined, and iteratively delivered in either onsite or remote sessions, depending on the locations of the client operations and consultant(s).

"The future state diagrams can serve as materials for architectural analysis, planning, and even budgeting."

Shawn Livermore, Senior Consultant, Product Perfect

"These IT Roadmap materials have become so critical for our clients' migration and roadmap planning."

Russ Langel, Enterprise Cloud Architect, Product Perfect

"These wall-sized intricate analysis artifacts are absolutely critical for carving a path for IT modernization."

Chad Collins, Senior Consultant, Product Perfect

Connect with our team to explore any of these assessment types for your business.

Schedule Call

Assessment Discovery Call

Senior consultants with previous experience with these 7 types of assessments can set the stage for a well-framed engagement.

Discovery Call Details

Product Deep-Dive

A focused session on your specific software applications, platforms, or projects. Typically this includes technical resources from both sides.

Deep Dive Call Details