Technical Discovery and Architecture Audit for Italian Energy Startup
Techstack partnered with an Italian energy startup to conduct a comprehensive technical discovery and architecture audit of their partially built product. The goal was to assess the existing architecture, clarify the scope, and provide detailed time and cost estimations within the partner's limited budget constraints. This discovery phase aimed to deliver actionable insights and documentation to support the startup's development plans and funding efforts.
Industry:
Energy
Services:
Consulting Service
Location:
Italy
Challenge
Our partner faced several technical and strategic challenges requiring expert assessment:
1. Architecture evaluation: An existing, partially built product needed professional review to determine viability and scalability.
2. Incomplete feature definition: Our partner had a feature list that required validation, clarification, and prioritization.
3. Resource planning: Time and cost estimation was needed for proper budgeting and roadmap creation.
Solution
Techstack conducted a structured discovery phase to assess the current state of the product and provide actionable recommendations:
Performed a comprehensive review of existing documentation covering features, business model, and architecture
Conducted a demonstration session of the existing product to understand functionality and limitation
Implemented an iterative assessment process with regular partner synchronization to refine findings
Executed a detailed architecture audit that identified critical scalability issues in the existing monolithic structure
Designed and proposed a new scalable architecture including database structure, DevOps processes, security measures, and infrastructure requirements
Created detailed development effort estimates with recommended team composition and sprint planning
Developed a prioritized roadmap with clear feature dependencies and implementation phases
About the team
The discovery phase was conducted by Techstack's Solution Architect, UI/UX Designer and Project Manager.
Impact
The discovery phase delivered significant value and insights to the partner:
Comprehensive deliverables package including detailed feature lists, scalable architecture diagrams, cost estimates, team recommendations, and phased roadmap
Critical architecture findings revealed the need for a complete rebuild to ensure scalability
Feature analysis identified approximately 50% of features as missing or underdefined in the original scope
Time estimation highlighted several features that would require significantly more development effort than initially anticipated
Clear priority structure emerged, distinguishing between MVP requirements and features that could be postponed
The discovery documentation became the foundation for the partner's government funding application, which required detailed technical specifications
The deliverables provided the partner with a solid technical foundation for moving forward with their product development while addressing the underlying architectural issues that would have limited future growth.
