Enterprise Software Development and Legacy Modernisation
Most enterprise work is not greenfield. It is a system that already runs the business, that nobody fully understands any more, and that cannot be switched off. The interesting engineering is in changing that safely while it keeps operating.
We build internal platforms, integrate systems that were never designed to talk to each other, and modernise software that has outlived the assumptions it was written under.
What we build
- Internal platforms and back-office tools — the operational software a business runs on, which rarely justifies a commercial product but decides how efficiently people work.
- System integration — connecting ERP, CRM, finance, HR and bespoke systems so a record means the same thing everywhere.
- Workflow automation — approvals, document handling and exception paths, including the exception paths, which is where automation projects usually fail.
- Legacy modernisation — incremental extraction of capability from systems that cannot be replaced wholesale.
- Reporting and data consolidation — one defensible version of the numbers instead of five spreadsheets that disagree.
How we approach modernisation
We do not recommend rewrites. A full replacement of a working system means running two truths in parallel for as long as it takes, and the projects that go wrong tend to go wrong precisely there. Instead we put a boundary around the old system, move one capability at a time behind an interface that both sides can speak, and keep each step independently shippable and reversible. It is slower to describe and considerably safer to execute.
The first deliverable is usually not code. It is an accurate map of what the current system actually does, including the behaviour nobody documented and the workarounds people rely on, because those are what break when a rewrite goes live.
Compliance obligations now reach ordinary systems
Several regimes have widened what counts as in scope. Network and information security rules extend obligations across supply chains, so enterprise buyers increasingly pass security requirements down to suppliers contractually. The EU Cyber Resilience Act brings security requirements and vulnerability handling to products with digital elements. And the EU AI Act's Annex III high-risk categories, enforceable since 2 August 2026, reach a great deal of ordinary business software — recruitment and worker management, credit scoring and access to essential services among them — often inside tools nobody thought of as AI systems.
In practice this means an inventory of what you run and what it decides is now a prerequisite rather than good housekeeping. We build that alongside the software.
Where we would push back
Bespoke enterprise software is expensive to own, not just to build. If a commercial product covers eighty per cent of a requirement, the honest comparison is usually adapting your process to the product against maintaining a custom system for a decade. We build custom where a process is genuinely a competitive differentiator, where integration requirements defeat off-the-shelf options, or where licensing at your scale costs more than owning the code.
Our enterprise expertise
- System integration
- Incremental modernisation
- Workflow automation
- Access control and security
- Reporting and consolidation
- Auditability and compliance evidence
Frequently asked questions
Should we rewrite our legacy system or modernise it incrementally?
Incrementally, in almost every case we have seen. A full rewrite requires running two versions of the truth in parallel until the switch, and that is where these projects fail. Putting a boundary around the old system and moving one capability at a time keeps every step shippable and reversible, which matters more than finishing quickly when the system runs your business.
Nobody here fully understands the current system. Is that a problem?
It is normal, and it is why our first deliverable is usually a map rather than code. Undocumented behaviour and the workarounds people have built around it are exactly what breaks when a replacement goes live, so surfacing them early is the cheapest risk reduction available.
Should we build custom software or buy a product?
Buy, unless there is a specific reason not to. Custom software is expensive to own for a decade, not just to build. It earns its place when a process is genuinely a competitive differentiator, when integration requirements defeat off-the-shelf options, or when licensing at your scale exceeds the cost of owning the code.
Do new EU rules affect our internal business software?
They may, more than most teams expect. Network and information security obligations now flow down supply chains contractually, the Cyber Resilience Act brings security and vulnerability-handling duties to products with digital elements, and the EU AI Act's high-risk categories — enforceable since 2 August 2026 — cover things like recruitment and worker management that often sit inside ordinary internal tools.
Can you work alongside our in-house team?
Yes, and on modernisation work it tends to produce a better outcome. Your team holds the domain knowledge that is not written down anywhere; we bring capacity and experience of doing the migration safely. We aim to hand back a system your own people can extend without us.
Contacts
We are always happy to talk with you.
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