Systems Development

Enterprise software built by engineers who've done it before

We've spent decades building the kind of systems that businesses depend on large-scale big-data platforms, multi-user applications handling millions of records, high-availability systems that can't go down, and complex architectures spanning multiple technologies and environments.

That experience shapes everything we build. We don't guess at architecture. We don't over-engineer for hypothetical futures. We design systems based on hard-won knowledge of what works in production, what scales, and what stays maintainable for years.

There's a lot of technical detail on this page - technologies, platforms, acronyms. That's deliberate: we want you to see the depth of what we can do. But you don't need to understand any of it. Our job is to guide you through the options and navigate you to the best solution for your business. You tell us what you need to achieve and we'll handle the how.

How we work

We start by listening

Every systems project starts with understanding your business, your existing landscape, and what you're trying to achieve. We don't arrive with a solution looking for a problem.

Our consultative approach:

• Assess your current systems - understand what works, what doesn't, and what's at risk
• Identify the real requirements - not just what you think you need, but what the business actually needs
• Complement what exists - we don't rip and replace. If your current systems work, we build around them
• Recommend the right technology - not our favourite, not the trendiest - the right one for your situation
• Design for the long term - architecture that supports growth without requiring a rewrite in two years

We build secure, robust systems

Security isn't a phase or a checklist. It's in every decision - from database design and API authentication to infrastructure configuration and deployment pipelines.

Security built in from day one:

• Authentication and authorisation (JWT, OAuth 2.0, SSO)
• Data encryption at rest and in transit
• Row-level security and dynamic data masking
• Network segmentation and least-privilege access
• Security scanning in CI/CD pipelines
• Regular vulnerability assessment
• GDPR and compliance-aware architecture

We use AI to build better - not to cut corners

AI is a powerful tool in our development process. We use it to enhance quality, catch issues earlier, and move faster - but always with experienced engineers reviewing, architecting, and taking responsibility for the outcome.

How AI enhances our systems development:

• Code review and analysis - AI-assisted identification of security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and architectural problems before they reach production
• Automated testing - AI-generated test cases that cover edge cases humans might miss
• Documentation - AI-assisted technical documentation that stays current
• Rapid prototyping - faster iteration on solutions during the design phase
• Pattern recognition - identifying potential issues based on patterns from large-scale systems

What AI doesn't replace: architectural judgement, security expertise, understanding of your business domain, and the hard-won knowledge of what breaks in production at scale. That comes from decades of experience.

What we build with

Microsoft .NET

Our deepest expertise. We build enterprise applications on the modern .NET platform:

Modern .NET Development

• .NET 9 (latest long-term support release)
• Dockerised container approach with Kubernetes support
• Cross-platform development (Windows, Linux, macOS)
• High-performance web applications and APIs
• Microservices architecture
• gRPC for high-performance service-to-service communication
• SignalR for real-time features
• Background job processing for processing, scheduling and AI data generation

ASP.NET Core Web API

• RESTful API design with full Swagger documentation
• API versioning, rate limiting, and throttling
• Authentication and authorisation (JWT, OAuth 2.0)
• API gateways and reverse proxies
• External API support for external development with key generation, permissions

Entity Framework Core

• Code-first and database-first approaches
• LINQ for type-safe data access
• Complex query optimisation
• Migrations for schema management
• Raw SQL when needed for performance
• Support for multiple database technologies such as MongoDB and SQL Server

Desktop & Background Services

• WPF and .NET MAUI for desktop applications
• Windows Services and Worker Services
• Message queue processing (Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ)
• REDIS cache services and management

Database Systems & Architecture

We've designed and managed databases at every scale - from single-server applications to sharded clusters handling billions of records.

SQL Server

• Database design and normalisation
• Stored procedures, functions, and complex query optimisation
• Indexing strategies for performance
• Full-text search
• SSIS for ETL, SSRS for reporting
• Always On availability groups
• Temporal tables, in-memory OLTP, columnstore indexes
• Row-level security and transparent data encryption
• Multi-terabyte database management

MongoDB

• Sharded cluster design for massive scale
• Replica sets for high availability
• Document schema design and aggregation pipelines
• Change streams for real-time updates
• Atlas (managed) and self-hosted deployments
• High-write workloads: logging, telemetry, IoT

Database Architecture Services

• Data modelling and normalisation (and strategic denormalisation)
• Partitioning and archival strategies
• Caching (Redis, Memcached)
• High availability and disaster recovery
• Zero-downtime migrations
• Performance tuning and query analysis

Cloud Infrastructure

We design, deploy, and manage cloud infrastructure on AWS and Azure - and know when dedicated servers are the better choice.

Amazon Web Services

• EC2, ECS, EKS, Lambda, Fargate
• S3, EBS, EFS for storage
• RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, DocumentDB, ElastiCache
• VPC design, Direct Connect, CloudFront CDN, API Gateway
• IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, WAF, GuardDuty
• SageMaker, Bedrock, Rekognition for AI/ML
• AWS account setup, landing zones, migration services
• Well-Architected Framework reviews

Microsoft Azure

• Virtual Machines, App Service, AKS, Azure Functions
• Blob Storage, Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Azure Cache for Redis
• Virtual Networks, ExpressRoute, Front Door
• Entra ID, Key Vault, Security Centre, Defender for Cloud
• Azure OpenAI Service, Cognitive Services, Bot Service

Dedicated & Hybrid

• Dedicated physical servers for predictable high-volume workloads
• On-premises AI model hosting with GPU servers
• Air-gapped deployments for maximum security
• Hybrid cloud architectures - sensitive data on-premises, elastic workloads in cloud

IoT & Microcontroller Development

We've built server-side infrastructure that handles connections from thousands of concurrent IoT devices, and we develop the firmware that runs on the devices themselves.

IoT Platform Integration

• Third-party IoT device integration at scale - thousands of concurrent connections
• MQTT and AMQP message broker architecture for reliable device communication
• Real-time telemetry ingestion, processing, and storage
• Device provisioning, authentication, and secure onboarding
• Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates
• AWS IoT Core and Azure IoT Hub integration
• Edge computing for local processing before cloud transmission

Microcontroller Development

• ESP32 - Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled systems, sensor integration, low-power applications
• STM32 - High-performance ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers for industrial and precision applications
• Firmware development in C/C++ and MicroPython
• Communication protocols: MQTT, HTTP, WebSocket, BLE, LoRa
• Sensor data acquisition and processing
• Power management for battery-operated deployments
• Hardware/software co-design with prototyping and testing

End-to-End IoT Systems

• Device firmware through to cloud backend and user-facing dashboards
• Scalable ingestion pipelines handling high-frequency data streams
• Alerting, monitoring, and anomaly detection
• Integration with existing enterprise systems and databases
• Security at every layer - device authentication, encrypted transport, secure storage

Containerisation & Kubernetes

Docker

• Dockerfile creation and optimisation
• Multi-stage builds, container security best practices
• Image scanning and vulnerability management
• Microservices architecture with service discovery and circuit breakers

Kubernetes Orchestration

• Cluster setup on EKS, AKS, GKE, or self-managed
• Deployment strategies (rolling, blue-green, canary)
• ConfigMaps, Secrets, persistent volumes, RBAC
• Helm charts for package management

Elastic Processing & Auto-Scaling

• Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) for demand-based scaling
• Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA) for resource optimisation
• Cluster Autoscaler for node-level elasticity
• KEDA for event-driven scaling from queues and custom metrics
• Spot/preemptible instances for cost-effective burst capacity

Kubernetes Migration

• Assessment and migration readiness
• VM-based to containerised workloads
• Cross-cloud provider migration
• Zero-downtime migration planning
• Service mesh implementation (Istio, Linkerd)
• Observability setup from day one

DevOps & CI/CD

Continuous Deployment

• Automated deployment across dev, staging, and production
• Deployment approvals and rollback capabilities
• Infrastructure as Code through Terraform

Monitoring & Observability

• Prometheus and Grafana
• Azure Application Insights, AWS CloudWatch
• Distributed tracing (Jaeger, Zipkin)

Web Development

Frontend

• Angular 21+, React, Vue.js, Next.js
• TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, responsive design
• Progressive Web Apps and performance optimisation
• Core Web Vitals and accessibility compliance

Backend

• RESTful APIs primarily with .NET Core but we also develop for Next.js, Node.js, or Python dependant on the correct solution.
• WebSockets for real-time features
• Headless CMS integration
• SEO and AI friendly

E-commerce

• Custom e-commerce development
• Shopify integration
• Payment gateways (Stripe, Square, PayPal, WorldPay)
• PCI DSS compliance, 3D Secure, Apple Pay, Google Pay
• Inventory, fulfilment, and subscription billing

Our development approach

Quality at every stage

• Agile delivery - 2-week sprints, frequent demos, continuous delivery through JIRA
• Testing at every level - unit, integration, end-to-end, performance, security, UAT
• Peer code reviews - every change reviewed by experienced engineers through auditable source control pull requests.
• Architecture decision records - we document why, not just what

Knowledge transfer

We don't build black boxes. Every project includes:

• Architecture and API documentation
• Deployment runbooks and configuration guides
• Training sessions
• Full access to all code and infrastructure

Industries we've built for

• Financial services - transaction processing, trading platforms
• Healthcare - patient management, medical records
• Retail & e-commerce - online stores, inventory systems
• Manufacturing - production management, quality control
• Telecommunications - network management, customer systems
• Vehicle security - real-time tracking, fleet management, operations centres
• Construction materials - loyalty platforms, CRM integration

Why Glusoft

• Decades of experience building large-scale, mission-critical systems
• Consultative approach - we find the right solution, not just the obvious one
• AI-enhanced, not AI-dependent - better quality, better security, experienced oversight
• All UK-based - every developer employed directly, no outsourcing
• Built to last - clean code, automated testing, security built in, knowledge transfer included
• Flexible engagement - fixed price, retainer, time & materials, or hybrid