adeptware

Technical advising and code audits

Sometimes you do not need a whole project, just an experienced set of eyes. We help business owners and development teams make good technical decisions before they get expensive.

Ask for a second opinion Common questions

Overview

Clear answers when the stakes are high.

Technical decisions are hard to judge from the outside. Is the codebase in good shape? Is that estimate realistic? Should you build something custom or buy a product off the shelf? Getting it wrong can cost months and a lot of money.

We have spent two decades building, maintaining, and rescuing web applications, most of them in Ruby on Rails. We use that experience to give you a straight, practical assessment in plain language, with recommendations prioritized by what matters most to your business.

Advising engagements are short and focused. You get a clear written summary you can act on, whether that means working with us, with your own team, or with someone else entirely.

Sound familiar?

When clients usually call us

  • You inherited a codebase

    A developer or agency has moved on, and you need to know what you have and what shape it is in.

  • A project has stalled

    Deadlines keep slipping, bugs keep returning, and you are not sure whether to push on or change course.

  • You are weighing build versus buy

    You need an unbiased view on whether custom software is worth it for your situation.

  • You are about to hire or invest

    You want an outside review of a technical team, an estimate, or a product before you commit.

What's included

Focused engagements with clear deliverables.

  • Code and architecture reviews with a clear, prioritized list of findings and recommendations.
  • Project rescue to stabilize a troubled application and get delivery back on track.
  • Build versus buy guidance comparing custom development against existing products for your needs.
  • Estimates and scoping for projects your own team will build.
  • Security and dependency audits for applications handling customer or payment data.
  • Upgrade readiness assessments that show how far behind an application is and what it will take to catch up.
  • Hosting and infrastructure reviews to reduce cost, improve reliability, or plan a migration.
  • Vendor and proposal reviews so you can compare bids from other firms with confidence.
  • Mentoring for developers growing into Ruby and Rails.
  • Plain-language reports written for business owners, not just engineers.

How it works

Short engagements, clear outcomes.

  1. Frame

    We agree on the questions you need answered and what a useful outcome looks like.

  2. Review

    We dig into the code, infrastructure, documents, and conversations with your team.

  3. Report

    You get a written summary with findings, risks, and prioritized recommendations.

  4. Next steps

    We walk through the results with you and help plan what comes next, whoever does the work.

Experience

Where we have done this before.

Experience

Two decades of Rails

We have built Rails applications since the framework's early days, spoken at Ruby conferences, and maintained open source Ruby libraries used in production.

Long-term view

We live with our own code

Some of our client applications have been in our care for more than thirteen years, so our advice reflects what actually holds up over time.

Questions

Frequently asked questions.

Have a question that is not answered here? Get in touch and we will give you a straight answer.

What do we get at the end of a code review?

A written report that summarizes the overall health of the application, lists specific findings ranked by risk and business impact, and recommends what to do next.

Do we have to hire you to do the follow-up work?

No. Our recommendations are meant to be useful whether you work with us, with your own developers, or with another firm.

How long does an advising engagement take?

Most are short, from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the size of the codebase and the questions involved. We agree on scope before we start.

Can you review code that is not Ruby on Rails?

Rails is our specialty, and that is where our reviews go deepest. We can also review general web architecture, hosting, JavaScript front ends, and SwiftUI apps.

Related services

Other ways we can help.

Rails upgrades and maintenance

Keep your application secure, fast, and current. We upgrade aging Rails apps and look after them for the long haul.

Rails upgrades and maintenance

Custom web applications

Tailored Ruby on Rails applications that fit the way your business actually works, from customer portals to internal tools.

Custom web applications

E-commerce and integrations

Shipping carriers, freight, payments, and third-party APIs, wired together reliably so orders flow without manual work.

E-commerce and integrations

Need a straight answer?

Tell us what decision you are facing. We will let you know how we can help, or point you somewhere better if we are not the right fit.

Start a conversation