Most assessments produce a deck. This one produces a verdict.
The Architecture Debt Index measures architecture debt across eight dimensions and returns a score from 0 to 100, with your highest-risk area, primary business constraint, and named red flags. No email required to see your score.
Where systems land, the five tiers
ADI / 100, HIGHER MEANS MORE DEBTOptimized
0 to 20, architecture enables the business
Manageable
21 to 40, debt is controlled
Elevated
41 to 60, measurable friction
High
61 to 80, materially constraining
Critical
81 to 100, a business constraint
WHAT IT MEASURES
Eight dimensions, four questions each
Debt measured where it shows up, in the business rather than only in the codebase. Your highest-risk dimension is what to fix first.
Architecture & Modularity
How effectively system boundaries isolate ownership, change, deployment, and failure.
IMPACT · ENGINEERING VELOCITY
Scalability & Performance
Whether the platform grows without disproportionate cost or manual intervention.
IMPACT · GROWTH ECONOMICS
Reliability & Resilience
How likely failures are to stay isolated instead of reaching customers.
IMPACT · CUSTOMER IMPACT
Security & Compliance
Whether identity, secrets, and data controls create material exposure.
IMPACT · RISK EXPOSURE
Delivery & DevOps
How much the architecture adds to the cost of releasing software.
IMPACT · TIME TO MARKET
Observability & Operations
How quickly teams can see, diagnose, and resolve production problems.
IMPACT · TIME TO RESOLUTION
Data & Integration Architecture
Whether data ownership and API boundaries enable independent change.
IMPACT · INDEPENDENT CHANGE
Maintainability & Modernization
Whether the architecture can evolve economically as technology and staffing change.
IMPACT · STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY
HOW IT SCORES
Five tiers. Two are uncomfortable to read.
0 to 20
Optimized
Architecture is generally enabling the business.
21 to 40
Manageable
Debt exists but remains largely controlled.
41 to 60
Elevated
Architecture is creating measurable friction.
61 to 80
High
Architecture debt is materially constraining the organization.
81 to 100
Critical
Architecture has become a significant business constraint.
What you walk away with
- Your Architecture Debt Index and tier
- Eight dimension scores, strongest to highest risk
- Business risk, modernization urgency, primary constraint
- Named red flags and a recommended starting point
Why scenario-based questions
The questions describe how the system actually behaves under real operating conditions, not whether you follow best practices on paper.
Certain answers surface as named architecture red flags, things like shared database coupling, untested disaster recovery, and knowledge concentration, independent of the aggregate score.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for leaders responsible for consequential software.
CTOs, CIOs, VPs of Engineering, and executives inheriting legacy platforms. Anywhere software has become strategically important enough that architecture quality affects growth, operations, customer experience, or risk.
It is not intended to grade individual engineers or evaluate coding style. And it will not tell you it is fine when it isn't.
SELF-SERVE · 7 TO 10 MIN
Get your index.
Answer as the system actually behaves, not as it should. The uncomfortable answers are the useful ones.
Start the assessmentSENIOR-LED · 90 MIN
Need more than the score?
The free 90-minute architecture review determines why the constraint exists, what it costs, and which changes are worth making. Four slots a month, ending in a one-page findings memo, no obligation.
Request a review