—Service
Backend Development
Secure server-side systems, business logic, authentication, APIs, and database architecture.
01Overview
The backend is where a product earns trust. We design clear service and data-access layers, validate every input, and treat security and data integrity as core requirements rather than afterthoughts.
02How we approach it
Backend engagements start with the data. In Discover we map what the system has to record, who is allowed to touch it, and what happens when two things try to change it at once. Define turns that into a concrete plan: the database schema, the service boundaries, the authentication model, and the order the work ships in. Most backend problems trace back to decisions rushed at this stage, so we don't rush it.
The build itself is deliberately unglamorous. We write a clear service layer over a clear data-access layer, with typed request and response contracts between them. Every boundary validates its input against a schema — nothing reaches business logic unchecked. Writes that must succeed or fail together run in transactions. Errors are structured and logged, not swallowed. None of this is exotic; it is simply done consistently, which is what makes a backend trustworthy.
Most of Validate is spent on paths a demo never shows. We test the logic that carries risk — permissions, payments, state transitions — alongside the failure cases: expired sessions, duplicate submissions, a third-party service returning nonsense. Authentication and authorisation are checked as behaviour, not just in code review. The same discipline applies to the database: migrations are rehearsed against realistic data before they run anywhere that matters.
Release goes through staged environments, with monitoring and documentation in place before real traffic arrives. After launch, Evolve keeps the system honest: dependencies stay patched, logs get read, and new features extend the existing architecture rather than working around it. If your own team is taking the system on, we hand over a documented, typed codebase they can navigate without us in the room.
03Suitable for
- Products with real business logic
- Systems handling sensitive data
- Applications requiring authentication
04Problems solved
- Fragile, untested server logic
- Insecure authentication
- Data integrity problems
05Deliverables
- Service and data-access layers
- Typed request/response contracts
- Authentication and authorisation
- Database schema and migrations
06Technical considerations
- Schema validation on every boundary
- Structured error handling and logging
- Transactional writes where required
07Common questions
Can you build on our existing system, or does it have to be a rebuild?
Both are common. Discover starts with the code and schema you already have: we read it, map the data flows, and identify what is sound and what is causing the problems that brought you to us. Where the foundations hold, we extend them. Where they don't, we say so and set out the options in the proposal, with the reasoning attached, so the decision is yours and an informed one.
What drives the cost of a backend project?
Mostly the complexity of the business logic and the number of systems it has to talk to. Authentication requirements, data sensitivity, migration from an existing database, and third-party integrations all add scope; a simple API in front of a clean schema costs far less than a multi-tenant system with payments. We don't publish prices. After you send a brief, we set out scope and cost in a written proposal before any work begins.
How does handover work if we have our own developers?
The codebase is version-controlled, typed, and documented from the start, so handover is a walkthrough rather than an archaeology project. We take your developers through the architecture, the schema, the deployment pipeline, and the reasoning behind each decision. Deliverables, ownership, and any ongoing support are defined in the written engagement agreement each project signs, so both sides know exactly what changes hands and what continues afterwards.
What happens once the backend is live?
Deploy puts monitoring and structured logging in place before launch, so problems announce themselves rather than waiting to be discovered. From there, Evolve is a choice: some teams take the system in-house; others keep us on for technical maintenance — dependency and security updates, issue resolution, and controlled improvements released through staging. Backends drift when nobody watches them, so we recommend deciding who owns that responsibility before launch, not after.
How do you approach security?
As a requirement of the build, not a hardening pass at the end. Every input is validated against a schema at the boundary, authentication and authorisation are designed during Define rather than bolted on, and writes that must not partially succeed run in transactions. During Validate we test the failure paths deliberately — bad input, expired credentials, attempts to escalate permissions. Sensible controls, applied consistently, prevent most of what actually goes wrong in production.
08Related
- API Development
Secure APIs, third-party integrations, data synchronisation, and custom service connections.
- Frontend Development
Responsive, accessible, high-performance interfaces built with modern component architecture.
- Technical Maintenance
Monitoring, updates, issue resolution, security maintenance, and controlled improvement.
- See it in practice: Forge
A developer platform concept study from our work gallery.
Discuss a backend development project.
Tell us what you need. We'll tell you how we'd build it.