MODERNIZATION ASSESSMENT · ONE WAY INTO THE ROOT-TO-CANOPY™ METHOD
A fixed-price, 2–4 week assessment led by Salana Adhikari. We map every dependency before anything changes, then give you a phased plan: what to keep, fix, connect or retire.
Fixed price, quoted after a call · 2–4 weeks
WHEN TECHNOLOGY CREATES FRICTION
The problem is rarely just one old application
Organizations may know that a system is no longer working well, but the underlying challenge often extends across workflows, data, integrations, user experience, security, and operational practices.
Our tools don’t connect
Data sits in separate systems, so reporting means copying and pasting.
Everything runs on workarounds
Spreadsheets, email approvals and re-entry fill the gaps.
Nobody knows what breaks if it changes
The system works, but the people who understood it have moved on.
A clear modernization direction starts with seeing the connected system—not just the visible symptom.
IS THIS ASSESSMENT RIGHT FOR YOU?
For Organizations Ready to Improve—but Unsure Where to Begin
This engagement is designed for organizations that recognize operational or technical friction but need a practical understanding of the problem before selecting, rebuilding, replacing, or integrating technology.
01
An Important Application Is Aging
Your existing system is difficult to maintain, no longer supports current needs, or depends on outdated technology.
02
Reporting eats the week
Staff rebuild the same reports by hand from several systems.
03
Systems and Data Do Not Connect
Teams move information manually between tools, resulting in duplication, delays, incomplete records, or reporting challenges.
04
Users Struggle With the Experience
Staff, partners, or community members find the current system confusing, inaccessible, slow, or difficult to use.
05
Too risky to touch
Unsupported technology, security gaps, or one person who holds all the knowledge.
06
Modernization Feels Too Large
You know change is needed but need help determining what to retain, replace, integrate, automate, or improve first.
Every assessment is grounded in real work, realistic constraints, and practical options for moving forward.
Book a 30-minute fit call
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
What you leave with
A practical, prioritized plan that starts with a map of every dependency.
The Assessment Includes
• A map of every system, workflow and dependency, before anything changes
• Stakeholder and user findings
• Bottlenecks, risks and key-person dependencies
• Data and integration findings
• Accessibility, security and maintainability review
• A keep, fix, connect or retire call for each part
• Prioritized modernization opportunities
• Recommended future-state direction
• Architecture and integration approach
• A phased roadmap
• Recommended next steps
• Delivery and investment estimate
FINAL OUTPUT
An assessment report, a phased roadmap, and a decision session with your stakeholders.
You will receive a prioritized roadmap and a facilitated decision session with your stakeholders.
Book a 30-minute fit call
2–4 weeks · Fixed price, quoted after a call · Useful whether or not we build it
WHAT WE ASSESS
How the assessment works
It covers the Roots and Trunk of the Root-to-Canopy™ Method: understand what exists, then agree on the path.
01 — UNDERSTAND
Understand the Current Environment
Develop a shared understanding of applications, workflows, users, business needs, and constraints. Activities may include stakeholder interviews, tool review, documentation and architecture review, and modernization goal setting.
02 — MAP
Map Workflows and User Friction
Examine how work is actually completed through workflow mapping, user and staff journey analysis, bottleneck review, and observations of handoffs, workarounds, accessibility, and high-risk process points.
03 — EVALUATE
Evaluate Systems, Data, and Integrations
Assess the digital foundation: applications, architecture, data flow and quality, APIs, cloud readiness, security, privacy, scalability, maintainability, technical debt, and operational risk.
04 — IDENTIFY
Identify Modernization Opportunities
Translate findings into practical options: improve the current application, redesign workflows, automate repetitive processes, connect or consolidate systems, migrate selected capabilities, or replace unsupported technology in phases.
05 — PRIORITIZE
Prioritize the Path Forward
Evaluate options based on organizational value, urgency, risk, feasibility, cost, and implementation readiness—showing what should happen first, what can wait, and how to protect essential operations.
The assessment is a complete and useful engagement on its own, creating a foundation for informed implementation when and how your organization is ready.
OUR APPROACH
Modernization should reduce complexity, not just replace technology
We design modernization around practical work, existing value, realistic phasing, and long-term stewardship.
01
Begin With the Work
Technology decisions should reflect how staff, users, partners, and communities actually interact with the system.
02
Preserve What Still Creates Value
Modernization does not always require a complete rebuild. Useful capabilities, data, and institutional knowledge should be retained where appropriate.
03
Improve in Practical Phases
Prioritized improvements can reduce risk, create early value, and make larger modernization efforts more manageable.
04
Design for Long-Term Stewardship
Security, accessibility, maintainability, cost, scalability, and organizational capacity should be considered from the beginning.
The goal is a stronger, more usable digital foundation—one that reduces friction today and supports change over time.
WHO WE SERVE
Designed for Organizations With Essential Systems and Complex Work
This assessment is especially suited for organizations whose technology supports important public, environmental, humanitarian, operational, or community-facing work.
Climate and environmental nonprofits
Sustainability and resilience programs
Government agencies and public-sector programs
Foundations and climate funders
Mission-driven organizations managing essential digital services
THE OUTCOME
Know What to Modernize, What to Prioritize, and How to Move Forward
01
Where friction is greatest
Which applications and workflows create the greatest friction, and where operational, technical, or security risks exist.
02
What to retain and improve
Which systems, data, and capabilities should be retained—and what should be improved, integrated, replaced, or automated.
03
Which priorities come first
The modernization priorities that will create meaningful value or reduce the greatest risk.
04
How to move into implementation
What is required to move from assessment into implementation through XylonTech, an internal team, procurement, or another partner.
By the end of the assessment, your organization will have a shared view of digital friction, a practical modernization direction, and a roadmap for moving forward with greater confidence.
BUILD A STRONGER DIGITAL FOUNDATION
Start With a Clear View of What Needs to Change
We’ve done this before. For a U.S. government contractor in environmental remediation and disaster recovery, we cut purchase approvals from 5.5 days to about 20 minutes and moved 50,000 invoices off legacy SharePoint without losing history.
The assessment creates value whether XylonTech supports the next phase or your organization proceeds through an internal team, procurement process, or another implementation partner. When appropriate, we can continue into experience and workflow redesign, application modernization, integrations, cloud migration, data migration, workflow automation, quality engineering, and ongoing delivery.
FROM ROADMAP TO IMPLEMENTATION