IT situation picture before business succession.

Without their own review, a buyer takes on the condition of the IT as it is: an open investment backlog, outdated or poorly maintained systems, ongoing licence and contract commitments, security gaps and the dependency on individual people or service providers. These risks often only show months after the handover.

Financial due diligence examines figures, contracts and balance sheet items. It does not show whether an application is technically outdated, whether an investment backlog is pending, whether knowledge exists in only one head or whether there are security gaps. These questions are answered by a technical due diligence, which complements the financial one and does not replace it.

Key-person dependencies show when access credentials, passwords, configurations or procedures are known to only one person and are documented nowhere. A key-person dependency map systematically records which knowledge is tied to which person and shows what documenting it or arranging cover costs.

Well before the first approach to buyers or the succession arrangement, so that the investment backlog and key-person dependencies can still be remedied rather than merely disclosed. Even without a concrete sale plan, the situation picture is worthwhile as soon as a succession becomes foreseeable.

Architecture and condition of the systems, security and access, running costs and contract terms, dependencies on people and service providers, the licence inventory and its transferability, and the question of whether the existing documentation is sufficient for a new team at all.

Investment backlog is technology that should long since have been renewed or replaced, but keeps running because nobody approved the investment. It cannot be quantified to the exact franc, but it can be stated as a range with a rationale per item, so that buyer and seller have a common basis for the negotiation.