Distributed systems
Event-driven architectures, queues, microservices and high-throughput pipelines.
Independent IT studio · Since the open web
Software, cloud and
cybersecurity built with
uncommon care.
SUNSCREEN & DOOR is a small team of senior engineers, designers and security specialists. We design durable systems for organisations that treat software as infrastructure, not feature.
- Founded
- 2016
- Engineers
- 38
- Engagements
- 210+
Software ·Cloud ·Cybersecurity ·Automation ·Consulting ·Platform ·Data ·Realtime ·Applied AI ·Software ·Cloud ·Cybersecurity ·Automation ·Consulting ·Platform ·Data ·Realtime ·Applied AI ·
§ 01 — The studio
We build the systems other firms struggle to maintain. Software that holds up under load, under audit, and under the quiet pressure of years.
A multidisciplinary team operating from a single studio. No agency layers, no offshore handoffs — the engineer who designs your system is the engineer who maintains it.
We work small and senior. Most engagements are run by three to seven people. Decisions reach implementation in days, not quarters.
Our work is judged on what survives. Reliability, security posture, total cost of ownership and the clarity of the codebase a year after handover.
§ 02 — Core expertise
Four practices, deeply rehearsed.
Applied AI
LLM orchestration, retrieval, fine-tuning and production inference systems.
Platform engineering
Internal developer platforms, CI/CD, observability and golden paths.
Edge & realtime
WebSockets, CRDTs, sync engines and globally distributed edge runtimes.
§ 03 — Software development
Custom software, engineered for the decade ahead.
From the database schema to the design system, we build production software end-to-end. Greenfield platforms, system rewrites, specialised internal tooling.
- →Full-stack applications
- →API & service architecture
- →Internal tools & admin platforms
- →Mobile and progressive web apps
- →Legacy modernisation
§ 04 — Web & cloud solutions
Cloud architectures that scale economically.
Multi-region deployments on AWS, GCP and Cloudflare. Cost-aware architecture, autoscaling, infrastructure as code, observability and disaster recovery built in from day one.
99.99%
uptime SLO
–42%
avg infra cost
§ 05 — Cybersecurity & data protection
A security posture that survives the audit and the breach drill.
Threat modelling, secure SDLC, identity and access architecture, penetration testing, incident response playbooks and compliance alignment for SOC2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR.
Zero-trust networks
Threat modelling
Pen-testing & red team
Identity & access
Incident response
Compliance & audit
§ 06 — Automation
Replace the workflow that quietly costs you a team.
Process discovery and mapping — we sit with the people doing the work and trace the seams between systems.
Robotic process automation, event-driven workflows, agentic AI orchestration and bespoke internal tools.
ROI tracking, exception handling and human-in-the-loop design so automation degrades gracefully, never silently.
§ 07 — IT consulting
“The right architectural decision in week one saves a year of remediation in year three.”
Technology strategy, due diligence, architectural review and CTO advisory for founders, executives and investment teams. Engagements span single-session reviews to multi-quarter accompaniment.
§ 08 — Industries
Domains we know past the surface.
Sector
Fintech
Sector
Logistics
Sector
Healthcare IT
Sector
Industrial
Sector
Media & Publishing
Sector
Retail Tech
Sector
Public sector
Sector
B2B SaaS
§ 09 — Process
A predictable cadence, transparent to the day.
Phase 01
Discovery
Stakeholder interviews, architecture audit and constraint mapping.
Phase 02
Definition
Roadmap, success metrics, risk register and delivery cadence.
Phase 03
Engineering
Iterative delivery in two-week increments with continuous review.
Phase 04
Operation
Observability, on-call rotation and progressive optimisation.
§ 10 — Technology stack
A stack chosen for longevity, not novelty.
We default to boring, well-understood tools. Novelty is reserved for problems that genuinely require it.
- Languages
- TypeScript · Go · Python · Rust · SQL
- Frontend
- React · Next.js · TanStack · Svelte
- Backend
- Node · FastAPI · NestJS · gRPC
- Cloud
- AWS · GCP · Cloudflare · Fly.io
- Data
- Postgres · ClickHouse · Redis · Kafka
- Infra
- Terraform · Pulumi · Kubernetes · Nix
- AI/ML
- OpenAI · Anthropic · LangGraph · pgvector
- Security
- OAuth · SOC2 · Vault · Zero-trust
§ 11 — Why us
What clients actually keep telling us.
97%
Retention beyond first engagement
11y
Median engineer tenure
2wk
From contract to first commit
0
Outsourced engineering, ever
§ 12 — Selected work
Three engagements, three outcomes.
Case 01 · Logistics platform
Re-architected a 14-year-old shipment system around event sourcing.
63%
median latency reduction
Case 02 · Healthcare SaaS
Shipped HIPAA-compliant patient portal in six engineering weeks.
12k+
patients onboarded month one
Case 03 · Industrial IoT
Built a telemetry pipeline ingesting 4 billion events per day.
99.99%
pipeline availability
§ 13 — Studio & culture
A small studio, on purpose.
We hire slowly and keep the team small enough that everyone knows what everyone else is shipping. Engineers own decisions end-to-end; designers sit with the code; security review happens at every PR.
We work a four-day week. We publish open-source. We refuse work that asks us to ship things we wouldn't run ourselves.
§ 14 — Visibility
Every system we ship is measurable on day one.
Custom dashboards, SLI/SLO tracking, business KPI surfacing and alerting that doesn't cry wolf. You see what the system is doing — and what it cost.
§ 15 — Common questions
Frequently asked.
- Do you work as a full project team or augment our existing staff?
- Both. We embed end-to-end squads with delivery leads, or fold senior engineers into your team under your processes.
- What is the typical engagement length?
- Discovery sprints run two to four weeks. Full builds usually span three to nine months. Long-term platform partnerships span years.
- Do you sign NDAs and operate under client compliance regimes?
- Yes — mutual NDAs, MSAs, SOC2 alignment and sector-specific frameworks such as HIPAA or PCI.
- Which time zones do you cover?
- Core hours in EU and US Eastern, with on-call coverage across the day for production systems.
- How do you price?
- Fixed-scope phases for discovery, time-and-materials for ongoing engineering, retainers for platform operations.
§ 16 — Contact
Write to the studio.
bobbiehick64@gmail.com
Web
sunscreenanddoor.com
For
Engineering & partnership enquiries
Reply within
One business day