See how world class organizations use Sema to deliver engineering intelligence

Safeguard the company’s Intellectual Property and customer trust, mitigate risks, and meet regulatory requirements.

CISOs

• The Sema report produces a comprehensive and detailed assessment of key risks from three vectors: how the code is written, how the public-facing web assets are set up, and how developers are using third-party / Open Source code.

• Legal and cyber compliance measures help safeguard the company's intellectual property, proprietary software, and sensitive data from unauthorized access, theft, or misuse, preserving the company's assets and competitive advantage.

• Legal / regulatory compliance reduce the risk of legal liabilities and adverse reputational events, thereby protecting the company's financial stability and brand reputation.

• Adhering to legal and cyber compliance standards demonstrates the company's commitment to ethical practices, risk management, and responsible governance, instilling confidence in investors and attracting potential acquirers, thereby facilitating growth opportunities and potential exit strategies.

• Snapshot

• If results are within a company-acceptable tolerance level, consider a yearly Snapshot to ensure continued compliance

• If results are not in range, add a Health Check to dive deeper and build the remediation plan

• Metrics from the Snapshot / Health Checks can be added to CISO / General Counsel sections of Board decks

• When C-suite has a need to assess compliance risk, or reason to believe there could be inadequate controls

• Reduction of regulatory, financial, and reputational risk

• Smooth, shortened, and successful technical due diligence process at exit

Deliver operational efficiency, sustainable growth and innovation, and prepare for a smooth and successful exit.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering

• Creating a baseline of the overall quality, consistency, security and compliance of the codebase and Engineering efforts gives the C-Suite a starting point to measure their future efforts and lowering the friction and uncertainty during budgeting processes.

• Board members can quickly understand the metrics, leading to faster approval of investment decisions and more support for Engineering choices. One common example: Engineering teams are frequently asked to increase their velocity for new feature development. C-Suite can use the Sema metrics to demonstrate that an investment in non-functional requirements such as adding unit testing and reducing security debt is critical for exit.

• Leading investors and acquirers use the Sema metrics to determine the go/no decision in technical due diligence. Using the Sema metrics along the way “is measuring with the end in mind,” delivering confidence that the company will pass.

• Health Check at kickoff

• Snapshot or Health Check ongoing

• Metrics from the Health Checks/ Snapshots added to Board decks

• Health Check at Investment or time 0

• Snapshots or Health Checks 2-4X/ year

• Smooth, shortened, and successful technical due diligence process at exit

• Proper investment in non-functional requirements

• Happy developers because they are supported in paying down technical debt

Keep third party development shops on track and in alignment.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering

• Sema metrics allow companies to assess and compare the performance and consistency of offshore development organizations objectively. By tracking key metrics such as productivity, quality, and developer turnover, buyers can identify top-performing vendors and make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and optimize resource allocation.

• Buyers can also use the data to make informed decision-making regarding vendor selection, renegotiating contracts, or potentially reallocating resources to achieve cost optimization and quality goals.

• Sema metrics also enable buyers to proactively identify and address potential risks or issues related to offshore development—whether it’s at a single company or across an investor’s portfolio. Those risks can include too much staff turnover, unexpected resource shifting, and an out-of-SLA level of security or intellectual property risk. This data-driven approach minimizes risks, enhances quality control, and promotes efficient issue resolution, ultimately safeguarding the success of offshore development initiatives.

• Snapshot

• If results are within a company-acceptable tolerance level, conduct a Snapshot ongoing

• If metrics are not in range, add a Health Check to dive deeper and build the remediation plan 

• After 1-3 months of working with Third-Party development shop, or when questions emerge about SLA compliance Snapshot at kickoff

• Snapshots or Health Checks 2-4X/ year

• Performance and resource optimization

• Risk avoidance and mitigation

• Assurance that the code is sufficiently strong to pass future technical due diligence rounds

“Know your score before you take the test”—understand how your company will fare on technical due diligence in advance.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering

• The world’s top investors, from VC to mega PE, trust Sema analytics as part of their technical due diligence process. Companies planning to seek investment in the next 3-18 months can understand how they’ll be rated using the identical set of metrics.

• In three months or more, companies can make meaningful progress on improving their chances of passing tech due diligence, for example by making targeted investments in improving intellectual property or security risk. 

• Even if the diligence is right around the corner, companies can prepare answers to tough questions rather than getting surprised on the spot and scrambling for answers. 

• Snapshot

• If the results are favorable, use the provided interview guide to prepare specific answers. Clients can choose to affirmatively share the Snapshot with potential investors.

• If the answers are not favorable, use the interview guide and results to prioritize remediation, or purchase a Health Check to go deeper and get specific, prioritized cleanup worksheets

• 1-12 months before planned investment round 

• Smooth, shortened, and successful technical due diligence process 

• Getting an edge on competitors by proactively proving a high quality codebase

• Organizing the remediation effort to make the best of limited resources

Get a comprehensive assessment of the technology to speed up diligence and understand the potential risks and opportunities.

Technical Due Diligence Consultancies, CTOs and VPs of Engineering leading technical due diligence

• Sema is the leading provider of comprehensive codebase scans—that evaluate code quality, code security, cyber security, Open Source / intellectual property risk, process, and team, with over $200BN of deals evaluated from 1 person tuck-ins to multi-billion take-privates.

• Leading advisory firms and acquirers of software assets use the Sema analytics in combination with interviews to dive deeper and faster on the key risks of an acquisition / investment, saving Target time and de-risking the investment.

• These results are also used to accelerate value creation, for example through detailed worksheets of security, legal and cyber risk items that Engineering teams can use to remediate. 

• Snapshot for very small companies / when TDD budgets are very tight

• Health Check in other situations 

• Snapshot early in the diligence process

• Health Check post LOI

• Smooth, shortened, and successful technical due diligence process at exit

• Proper investment in non-functional requirements

• Happy developers because they are supported in paying down technical debt

Get valuable insights into the technical health, risks, and alignment with business strategy at moments of investment or transformation.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering

• Strategic digital transformation projects such as refactoring or application rationalization are among the most expensive and most risky projects a company can pursue – but also projects that can deliver the most value when carried out correctly, and when they are truly necessary.

• A strategic assessment of the codebase allows the company to gain a comprehensive understanding of the existing software architecture, technology stack, and potential technical debt, enabling informed decision-making for a transformational project.

• The company can identify areas that require modernization, optimization, or refactoring to support the desired transformation objectives, ensuring that the project is planned and executed effectively.

• The initial assessment helps identify potential risks and challenges associated with the codebase, allowing the company to proactively address them during the transformation project, reducing the likelihood of disruptions, minimizing costs, and maximizing the overall likelihood of success.

• An ongoing assessment of the transformation can ensure that there are no “gotchas” along the way and the project stays on track.

• Health Check

• Health Check at time 0

• Snapshots or Health Checks 2-4X/ year 

• Avoidance of wasted resources by validating that the transformation project is needed

• Increased likelihood of on-time, in scope project completion

Set a baseline to measure progress and success, identify key risks early, and produce metrics that the rest of the C-Suite and Board quickly grok.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering

• The first 90 days of a new CTO or Head of Engineering are critical for their long term success. 

• By clearly understanding the “ground truth,” with a crisp, contextualized and clear codebase scan, the leader can communicate the baseline to the C-Suite and Board members so they understand the strengths, risks and investment needs. 

• That baseline then serves as a measuring post for the leader’s ongoing success. 

• Since these identical metrics are used by leading investors and acquirers, the CTO can align the in house and third-party Engineering teams towards strategic company goals.

• Snapshot

• If results are strong, then the Engineering organization already has sufficient process, tools, and resource allocation

• If results are not in range, add a Health Check to dive deeper and build the remediation plan

• Metrics from the Snapshot / Health Checks can be added to CTO / Head of Engineering section of Board decks

• Snapshot before the new CTO arrives, or within the first month

• Snapshots 2-4X/ year

• Alignment on the state of the Engineering team that the new leader is inheriting 

• Greater support from the C-suite and Board for necessary changes

• Successful exit / investment rounds

Speed up the integration of add-ons / tuck-ins, keep the project on track, and help key stakeholders stay informed.

CTOs, VPs of Engineering, Heads of M&A, Integration Leads

• First, code scans thoroughly analyze and review the add-on / tuck-ins merged entities' codebases, identifying potential security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and inefficiencies.

• Next, the metrics generated from these scans are executive-ready: they can be shared with the C-Suite and the Board to provide “ground truth” on how much needs to be spent to ensure a smoother integration.

• Finally, a regular scan of both the acquired company and the platform company ensures that the appropriate amount of investment and attention is spent on the new codebase vs. the existing one.

• Snapshot or Health Check on the tuck-in / add-on pre- or post-acquisition

• Snapshots on the tuck-in / add-on and the platform company later

• Results from the scans are “Board-deck ready”

• Snapshot or Health Check on the tuck-in / add-on pre- or post-acquisition

• Snapshots on the combined company quarterly

• Set a proper investment budget faster and more precisely

• Monitor the success of the integration effort and get early warnings on risks

• Understand the impact of the integration effort on the original codebase, to ensure that it doesn’t recede