Technology due diligence is only as good as the framework behind it. A one-off code review or an informal conversation with the engineering team will not give you the reliable, comparable findings you need to make a significant investment decision. Consistency, depth, and structure are what separate a genuinely useful TDD from a cursory tick-box exercise.

Here is exactly how VeryDiligent approaches every technology due diligence engagement.

A Consultative Process Built Around Your Transaction

Every engagement begins with understanding your objectives — not ours. Before any code is reviewed or documentation examined, we take time to understand the investment thesis, the strategic rationale for the acquisition, and what matters most to you as a buyer. This context shapes the emphasis of the assessment and ensures the findings we deliver are directly relevant to your decision.

Our process consists of four core activities: understanding the buyer’s investment objectives, gathering information including documentation, artifacts, and repository access, analysing through code and documentation review combined with a live discovery session with the target’s technical team, and reporting through a structured written report followed by a discussion with the buyer.

A Six-Step Engagement Model

In practice, this translates into six clearly defined stages:

1. Initial buyer kick-off. We discuss process, history, scope, timing, and investment considerations with your team. This sets the parameters for everything that follows.

2. Initial target kick-off. We introduce the process to the target company, submit our information request, and begin planning. This step is critical — how it is managed directly affects the quality of access and cooperation we receive.

3. Review and preparation. We analyse repositories, conduct automated scans, and review documentation. This is where the detailed technical work begins — examining the codebase with both open-source and commercial analysis tools, running SAST/DAST scans, and conducting dependency reviews.

4. Discovery session(s). We conduct structured interviews with the target’s technical team. This is one of the most valuable elements of the process — direct engagement with the engineers who built and maintain the platform surfaces insights that no automated tool can replicate.

5. Diligence report generation. We consolidate all findings, assign quality scores, and develop actionable recommendations. Every report follows a standardised format, ensuring consistent, comparable findings across multiple transactions.

6. Buyer review meeting. We present and discuss the findings, scoring, and recommendations with your team — addressing final questions and exploring the strategic implications of what we have found.

Four Scope Areas, Nine Dimensions of Analysis

Our assessment covers four critical areas of the target’s technology:

Application architecture and technologies — including programming languages, frameworks, software architecture, database design, messaging systems, third-party integrations, authentication, security compliance (HIPAA, PCI, GDPR), encryption strategies, and an identification of technical debt, scalability, and resilience limitations.

Codebase analysis — conducted via read-only access using open-source and commercial tools for open-source scans, SAST/DAST analysis, and dependency reviews, combined with direct discussions with target engineers. We never download, execute, or compile the target’s code.

Infrastructure architecture — covering hosting infrastructure, scalability, resiliency, backups, recovery processes, cloud and data centre strategies, regional failover capabilities, and the use of Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Software engineering organisation and SDLC — assessing engineering team structure, responsibilities, and skillsets, alongside a review of development processes, secure coding practices, automation levels, and QA maturity.

Across these four areas, we examine nine specific dimensions: documentation, architecture and design, code quality, version control and CI/CD, dependencies and third-party libraries, security, quality assurance, compliance, and performance.

Cybersecurity and Penetration Testing

Cybersecurity is treated as a core element of every engagement — not an optional add-on. During the TDD process, we identify vulnerabilities, assess regulatory compliance, evaluate authentication and authorisation controls, and review incident response capabilities.

Where a target cannot provide a recent penetration testing report from a trusted third party, we offer penetration testing as an additional service — assessing risks such as data breaches, weak access controls, and outdated systems that could impact valuation and post-acquisition integration.

Consistent Findings, Every Time

One of the defining features of our framework is standardisation. Every VeryDiligent report follows the same structure — regardless of the size, sector, or complexity of the target. That consistency matters enormously for investors and acquirers evaluating multiple transactions: findings are directly comparable, quality scores are applied on the same basis, and recommendations are structured in the same format.

Typical lead times are three to five weeks for small to large engagements, with scope and pricing agreed upfront on a fixed-fee basis — no surprises.

At VeryDiligent, our framework has been refined across multiple technology due diligence engagements. It is structured enough to be reliable and flexible enough to be relevant — whatever the transaction.

Contact us today to discuss how our framework applies to your upcoming deal.

Related reading: In-house vs External Technology Due Diligence | How Long Does a Technology Due Diligence Take? | Cybersecurity Due Diligence: The New Dealbreaker