AKF Blog
Scalability and Technology Consulting Advice for SaaS and Technology Companies
The Scale Cube is a model for segmenting services, defining microservices and scaling products. It also creates a common language for teams to discuss scale related options in…
Marty Abbott
We can tell a lot about a company within the first hour or so of any discussion. Consider the following statement fragments:“We have a lot of smart people here…”Or“We have…
The Relative Risk EquationTechnologists are frequently asked: what are the chances that a given software release is going to work? Do we understand the risk that each…
AKF
During due diligence and in-depth engagements, we often hear feedback from client employees that policies either do not exist - or are not followed.All too often we see policies…
Pete Ferguson
The Three Sentence RuleVariations of the Three Sentence Rule have been around for a long time. The differences are multiplicative but the base rule is a useful and often necessary…
The decomposition of monoliths into services, or alternatively the development of new products in a services-oriented fashion (oftentimes called microservices), is one of the greatest…
It seems as though a week cannot go by without news reports of yet another data breach at a large, recognizable company. One wonders what has been compromised but not yet detected…
Greg Fennewald
Technical due diligence is not about calculating a risk number to 6 digits of precision. It’s not just science, and it’s not just art: it's both. The art is in ensuring alignment of people, process and technology - particularly the people component. The science is in applying a data set garnered over 11 years to help identify where the largest issues do (or are likely) to exist.
It is sad and unfortunate, but the inevitable has finally happened; we’ve suffered our first death from an autonomous vehicle. The Uber Autonomous Vehicle fatality in Tempe is…
More and more companies are waking up from the 20th century, realizing that their on-premises, packaged, waterfall paradigms no longer play in today’s SaaS, agile world. Migration is more than performing a ‘lift and shift’ into the cloud, successful companies also move to an Agile PDLC. Customers, tired of incurring on-premises IT costs and risks, are also pushing their software vendors towards SaaS.
Dave Swenson
You should not buy a home without an inspection by a licensed home inspector and you should not buy a used car without having a mechanic check it out for you. Diligence - it just…
Necessary But Insufficient Security ReviewsFrom a security perspective, tech product companies far too often focus solely on various ISO and/or NIST audits to help inform their…
If you have a premium product, at a premium price, it’s unlikely you would sell it out of a rundown, poorly lighted store that smells vaguely like stale meat. Yet somehow many…
Since the early 2020's we have been increasingly asked to assess artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) as part of our overall architecture, process, and people reviews. Investors want to know: - How credible are the target's AI/ML technology claims? - Are the AI/ML tools and models scalable? - How do the models differentiate this target from their competitors? - What is easy to reproduce vs. true intellectual property? When AI/ML review is part of a statement of work, we dedicate additional time to speak with the data scientists in open questioning rather than a checklist as provided below for other sections. This article delves into the transformative role of AI/ML in product management, illustrating its profound impact on user experiences, product lifecycles, and the broader industry trajectory, empowering product professionals to harness the full potential of these cutting-edge technologies.