Buy-Side Due Diligence Framework

Trust is never assumed at TrustTech Advisory. Our buy-side framework shows where teams earn confidence and where risk remains. Each section helps investors decide whether a technology organisation deserves the TrustTech halo.

Introductions

Align objectives, cadence, and expectations before deeper work starts.

Meet the core team and confirm who owns each decision.
Explain TrustTech Advisory’s focus on evidence-backed trust.
Set goals based on the data room and investor thesis.
Review the schedule and key decision points.

Product or Service Overview

Check that the product story matches what customers experience.

Clarify flagship products, services, and target market segments.
Stress-test the value proposition, personas, and user scenarios.
Observe a product demo (when appropriate) to validate claims.
Document product strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators.

Product Management

Link strategy, roadmap, and delivery reality.

Review product strategy when not covered in the overview.
Assess the competitive landscape at a practical level.
Inspect the top five roadmap initiatives and business cases.
Discuss prioritisation pressure, delivery track record, and roadmap hygiene.
Map the product management org and its alignment with engineering.
Confirm legacy migration or sunset strategy where relevant.

Organisation

See how structure, roles, and incentives support execution.

Walk through the organisation chart and reporting topology.
Detail roles, responsibilities, and cross-functional ownership.
Identify key employees, succession risks, and leadership depth.
Review hiring pipeline, recruiting strategy, attrition, and cost profile.
Understand performance management methodology and rituals.
Use whiteboarding to show how decisions actually flow.

Software Architecture

Test whether the architecture can scale safely.

Document guiding architecture principles and prevailing patterns.
Probe scalability characteristics, performance bottlenecks, and latency budgets.
Run a focused product security review on high-risk surfaces.
Trace the data architecture from storage through pipelines to governance.
Spot-check critical libraries through a high-level code walkthrough.

Infrastructure

Surface operational resilience, automation maturity, and observability.

Explain hosting/infrastructure topology, deployment paths, and automation.
Quantify availability targets, reliability posture, DR coverage, and security layers.
Review operational KPIs that back up uptime and performance narratives.
Connect infrastructure choices to software development lifecycle controls.

Software Development Lifecycle

Confirm that product, dev, and QA loops maintain quality without stalling delivery.

Describe project management, engineering, and QA methodologies.
Evaluate backlog management discipline and NFR coverage.
Track end-to-end practices for issue triage, root cause, and defect management.
List the tooling/metrics stack used for build, automation, and deployment.

Product Security

Check that security is built in rather than bolted on.

Review application logging, monitoring depth, and access models.
Inspect authentication, authorisation, and privileged access processes.
Map data encryption standards in transit and at rest along with secrets hygiene.
Evaluate secure development practices baked into the SDLC.

CIS Controls v8 Focus

Use CIS Controls v8 to highlight strengths and gaps.

Catalogue recent security incidents and the response posture.
Understand the security organisation and decision rights.
Inventory asset management, data protection, and configuration hygiene.
Review account management, access control, and audit logging.
Probe vulnerability management cadence and depth.
Inspect malware, email, and browser protections plus user awareness programs.
Validate incident response, data recovery, and third-party governance.
Trace application/product security guardrails and network defense layers.

Customer Support

Use support signals to understand customer trust.

Outline support processes, team roles, and escalation triggers.
List the most common support issues and related metrics.
Explain collaboration between support and engineering for fast resolution.

Professional Services

Review how implementation work affects time to value.

Document implementation/customisation methodology and tooling.
Share representative customisation examples that stretched the product.
Highlight recurring services challenges and how they tie back to the product.

TrustTech Advisory’s diligence work shows where trust exists and where it does not. Ready to test an investment thesis? Reach out and we’ll run the framework together.

Need to move fast on an acquisition?

Book time with TrustTech Advisory and we’ll walk you through how this framework maps to your specific deal.

Introductions
Align objectives, cadence, and expectations before deeper work starts.
- Meet the core team and confirm who owns each decision.
- Explain TrustTech Advisory’s focus on evidence-backed trust.
- Set goals based on the data room and investor thesis.
- Review the schedule and key decision points.

Product or Service Overview
Check that the product story matches what customers experience.
- Clarify flagship products, services, and target market segments.
- Stress-test the value proposition, personas, and user scenarios.
- Observe a product demo (when appropriate) to validate claims.
- Document product strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators.

Product Management
Link strategy, roadmap, and delivery reality.
- Review product strategy when not covered in the overview.
- Assess the competitive landscape at a practical level.
- Inspect the top five roadmap initiatives and business cases.
- Discuss prioritisation pressure, delivery track record, and roadmap hygiene.
- Map the product management org and its alignment with engineering.
- Confirm legacy migration or sunset strategy where relevant.

Organisation
See how structure, roles, and incentives support execution.
- Walk through the organisation chart and reporting topology.
- Detail roles, responsibilities, and cross-functional ownership.
- Identify key employees, succession risks, and leadership depth.
- Review hiring pipeline, recruiting strategy, attrition, and cost profile.
- Understand performance management methodology and rituals.
- Use whiteboarding to show how decisions actually flow.

Software Architecture
Test whether the architecture can scale safely.
- Document guiding architecture principles and prevailing patterns.
- Probe scalability characteristics, performance bottlenecks, and latency budgets.
- Run a focused product security review on high-risk surfaces.
- Trace the data architecture from storage through pipelines to governance.
- Spot-check critical libraries through a high-level code walkthrough.

Infrastructure
Surface operational resilience, automation maturity, and observability.
- Explain hosting/infrastructure topology, deployment paths, and automation.
- Quantify availability targets, reliability posture, DR coverage, and security layers.
- Review operational KPIs that back up uptime and performance narratives.
- Connect infrastructure choices to software development lifecycle controls.

Software Development Lifecycle
Confirm that product, dev, and QA loops maintain quality without stalling delivery.
- Describe project management, engineering, and QA methodologies.
- Evaluate backlog management discipline and NFR coverage.
- Track end-to-end practices for issue triage, root cause, and defect management.
- List the tooling/metrics stack used for build, automation, and deployment.

Product Security
Check that security is built in rather than bolted on.
- Review application logging, monitoring depth, and access models.
- Inspect authentication, authorisation, and privileged access processes.
- Map data encryption standards in transit and at rest along with secrets hygiene.
- Evaluate secure development practices baked into the SDLC.

CIS Controls v8 Focus
Use CIS Controls v8 to highlight strengths and gaps.
- Catalogue recent security incidents and the response posture.
- Understand the security organisation and decision rights.
- Inventory asset management, data protection, and configuration hygiene.
- Review account management, access control, and audit logging.
- Probe vulnerability management cadence and depth.
- Inspect malware, email, and browser protections plus user awareness programs.
- Validate incident response, data recovery, and third-party governance.
- Trace application/product security guardrails and network defense layers.

Customer Support
Use support signals to understand customer trust.
- Outline support processes, team roles, and escalation triggers.
- List the most common support issues and related metrics.
- Explain collaboration between support and engineering for fast resolution.

Professional Services
Review how implementation work affects time to value.
- Document implementation/customisation methodology and tooling.
- Share representative customisation examples that stretched the product.
- Highlight recurring services challenges and how they tie back to the product.