Software to take up and assess (8)
I believe the answer is:
appraise
'assess' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'software to take up' is the wordplay.
'software' becomes 'app' (software application).
'to take' says to put letters next to each other.
'up' becomes 'raise' (I've seen this in another clue).
'app'+'raise'='APPRAISE'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for appraise that I've seen before include "Tip off" , "Estimate (worth) - assess (performance)" , "Evaluate or estimate" , "Make assessment of value or quality" , "Assess (a thing's) quality" .)