Get an independent view of the architectural risks slowing delivery, increasing operational cost or making every release harder than it should be, together with a practical plan for what to address first.
A focused review built around your platform
Most focused reviews run over two to three weeks. The exact fee and scope are agreed after a short initial conversation, with no obligation to commission further work.
Is this the right review for you?
It is designed for CTOs, engineering leaders and founders who need evidence before committing budget or choosing a modernisation direction. It is particularly useful when:
- The platform has grown organically and nobody has a reliable end-to-end view
- Releases are slow, risky or dependent on a small number of people
- Recurring performance, resilience or integration issues are affecting customers
- Technical debt is discussed frequently but is difficult to prioritise commercially
- You are considering a rewrite, cloud migration or major investment and want an independent challenge
What the review covers
The scope is shaped around the decisions you need to make. The review considers the platform as a working socio-technical system, not merely a set of diagrams or repositories.
- Application boundaries, coupling and dependency direction
- Data ownership, integrations and failure modes
- Deployment, release and rollback practices
- Performance, scalability, resilience and observability
- Security and operational considerations relevant to the architecture
- Technical debt actively constraining delivery or increasing business risk
- Ownership, decision-making and the relationship between teams and system structure
How the engagement works
1. Frame the decision
A short call establishes the business context, the decisions the review must support and who needs to be involved.
2. Gather evidence
I review relevant documentation, selected code and operational evidence, then run focused walkthroughs with engineering stakeholders.
3. Prioritise action
You receive the findings, recommendations and a facilitated session to align technical and business stakeholders.
What you receive
- An executive summary written for technical and business stakeholders
- A concise current-state architecture narrative
- A prioritised register of architectural risks and constraints
- Immediate stabilisation actions where appropriate
- A staged 90-day and longer-term improvement roadmap
- Clear recommendations for what not to change yet
- A findings and Q&A session for key stakeholders
Scope and engagement
Each review is scoped around the principal platform and the decisions you need to make. Broader estates, multiple teams, extensive code review or regulated operational requirements can be shaped into a larger or phased engagement. The scope and fee are agreed after a short initial conversation, before work begins.
The review is independent. There is no requirement to retain me for implementation, and recommendations are not shaped around selling a rewrite, cloud migration or a particular technology.
The perspective I bring
My experience includes large .NET Framework applications, modern .NET services, React interfaces, SQL Server, Azure services, messaging, third-party integrations, payment workflows and multi-tenant lending platforms. The review therefore accounts for the difficult realities around continuity, data, release risk, regulation and accumulated business rules.
Get clarity before committing to a major programme
Send a short outline of the platform, the concern you want investigated and the decision you need to make. I’ll confirm whether a focused architecture review is the right next step.
