# Technical Due Diligence *by: [Scott Booher](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbooher/)* Scott has led or participated in 20+ due diligence efforts for healthcare, publishing and consumer products companies, in both senior staff and consultant roles. His evaluation roles have been as varied as valuing healthcare platform IP, validating IT strategic plans, rating compliance programs, evaluating leadership and providing second opinions on technology vendors and product release calendars. ### Differentiators * 25-year history of senior IT and operational roles within growth-stage and enterprise healthcare organizations. * Thorough understanding of the business and technology drivers supporting the financing and delivery of healthcare today. * As a former healthcare CIO/CTO and purchaser of healthcare technology/services - he brings immediate credibility and a unique, strategic perspective to the work. * Outstanding technical depth and breadth - Scott is and remains very close to the evolving toolsets and services leveraged by growth-stage companies. Today’s healthcare entities are more likely to depend on dozens of external free, paid and open source projects and services of various sizes and maturities to deliver services, creating new valuation and risk management challenges. Is this particular orchestration of services unique, or could it be replicated easily by others? Critically, is it built to scale?? * A templatized and pragmatic approach. Although the details of each due diligence engagement will of course vary, the foundation of a technology review should be well understood and easily communicated to all parties, with a quick identification and narrowing to the key considerations for the specific target/client, ensuring capital efficiency for the client and managed impact to targets. ## Sample Due Diligence Outline ### Factors Determining Work Plan and Site Agenda - Scope of review (IT, Operations, etc.) - Depth of technology: (technology-enabled to technology-centric) - Number of products/services to evaluate - Industry vertical, market entrants and current activity - Documentation available - Management review in scope? ### Engagement Design Goals - Complement client financial analysis and product review - Make the most efficient use of time at company site - split teams/focus where possible - Keep front-of-mind the Key Considerations that will be of most value to the client - Keep it informal/collegial - Hold an ‘ownership mentality’ throughout the work ### Illustrative Deliverables TOC - Executive Summary - Site Agenda Findings and Key Considerations for client - Technology stack, appropriateness, scalability, etc - IT budget considerations, current and future investments required, etc. - IT organization SWOT, leadership and resource needs, etc. - Ability of platform to support sales targets - High-level Competitive Analysis (IT perspective, from publicly available information) - Addenda - Target company documentation - Detailed meeting notes ### Product/Service Review - Product Overview, Evolution and Demo - Product Strategy, Sales Goals and Metrics - Product SWOT, Current Gaps, Limitations and Future Plans - Principal Competitors and Differentiation - PDLC processes - Customization and Investments made to Support Key Customers - Major Customer Commitments Inked and Under Consideration - Product Development Roadmap - Customer Acquisition Process, Sales Strategy and Pipeline - Strategic Partners, External Dependencies, Services Provided, Terms and Historical Performance ### Operations Review - Operations Overview, Processes, Staffing and Investments - Key Technology Support for Ops - Recruitment, Training and Retention - Client/Customer Service Processes including Staff, Technology Dependencies and Partners - Scaling Operations to Support Sales Goals, including CapEx and Operational Investments Required ### Technology & Operations Overlap - Technology Organization Review - Key Leaders and Accountabilities - Org Structure and Hiring Plans - Budget Detail, Spend Categories and Future Estimates (Ops and CapEx) - Shared Infrastructure across Organization/Products - Business Group and IT Interaction/Dependencies - Strategic Partners, External Dependencies, Services Provided, Terms, SLAs and Historical Performance - Governance Processes - IT Strategic Plan - Security and Disaster Recovery Capabilities ### Detailed Product Technology Review (1-_n_) - Product Deep-Dive from Technology Perspective - Architectural and Development History, Key Decisions Made, etc. - Scalability, Reliability, Performance Efforts - Roadmap and Release Schedule - Product-Level Governance - Product Financials, Expenditures and Forecast (Ops and CapEx) - Technology Stack and Architectural Overview, Rationale and Future Strategy - SDLC - Phases, Timelines, Requirements Management, Release Schedule, Process Maturity, etc. - Maintenance Lifecycle - Support and Process Maturity - Technical Debt, Anticipated Write-offs and Redesigns Planned - People - Team Structure, Skill-Sets, SWOT, Recruiting, Core Capabilities and Outsourcing - External Dependencies - Services Provided, Partner Management, Terms, SLAs and Historical Performance - Scaling Product Infrastructure to Support Sales Goals