About
We build software, and we run it.
Recode Apps designs and engineers digital products, business systems and technology platforms. We also build and operate products of our own — which means we live with the same reliability, support and scale questions we design around for clients.
What we believe
Good software solves a real problem, is easy to use, and can still be changed a year later.
Most software that disappoints does not fail on any of the things that get discussed in a pitch. It fails because the problem was never sharply defined, because the first release was too large to learn from, or because nobody planned for the part after launch where the system actually has to run.
How we work
Product thinking, engineering and technology in one team.
The people who scope your project are the people who build it. Design and engineering sit together, so the interface and the system underneath it are decided at the same time rather than negotiated afterwards. Work is phased, so you are looking at real software early and making scope decisions against something you can use.
Why Recode
What actually makes a difference.
Every software company says it is experienced, reliable and client-focused. These are the things we would want to know if we were buying.
We run our own software in production
KalHR is a product we build and operate, with real users, real payroll runs and real support. Every reliability, migration and scale problem we would design around for you, we have had to answer for ourselves.
Senior engineers, on your work
The people who scope your project are the people who build it. Nothing is sold by one team and handed to another.
Built to be handed over
Documentation, tests, pipelines and infrastructure as code are part of delivery. You should be able to take the system elsewhere — that is the point.
We will tell you not to build it
If an off-the-shelf tool solves it, or the idea needs validating before it needs engineering, we will say so. A project that should not exist is bad business for both of us.
KalHR is the clearest example — a workforce platform we designed, built, shipped and support ourselves.
See KalHRWho we work with
You'll recognise yourself here, or you won't.
We do our best work for organisations in one of these four situations. If none of them describes you, say so anyway — we would rather point you somewhere better than take on work we are wrong for.
Founders taking a product to market
You have a clear problem and paying interest, but no engineering team to turn it into software people can buy.
You need a first release that proves the idea and survives the second one.
Businesses that outgrew their tools
The operation runs on spreadsheets, email threads and an off-the-shelf system that never quite fit.
You need a system built around how your business actually works.
Teams that need engineering capacity
You have a product and a roadmap, and more on it than your current team can deliver this year.
You need senior engineers who can be useful in weeks, not quarters.
Companies with software they can no longer change
It still runs, but every change is risky, slow and dependent on one person who understands it.
You need it modernised without stopping the business.
Principles
What we hold to
These are not values on a wall. They are the four things we will not trade away to hit a date.
- Engineering-led
- We think beyond features and screens. Architecture, security, performance and maintainability matter.
- Business-aware
- We build around how businesses actually operate.
- Production-minded
- We care about reliability, deployment, monitoring and the realities of running software.
- Built to evolve
- We build systems that can change as the business changes.
How we work
From problem to production.
Five phases. You see working software from the third one onwards, not at the end.
- 01
Discover
Understand the business, users, requirements and problem.
- 02
Design
Define the product experience and technical direction.
- 03
Build
Engineer, test and iterate.
- 04
Launch
Deploy, integrate and get the product into production.
- 05
Evolve
Monitor, maintain and continuously improve.
Team
Recode Apps is a small team of senior engineers and designers. You work with the people building your software, not an account manager relaying messages to them.
Team profiles are published only from information supplied by Recode Apps.
Looking to work with us rather than hire us? Get in touch.
Want to know if we're a fit?
A 30-minute call is usually enough to tell. No deck, no discovery call disguised as a sales call.