Custom Software Development
Applications built around how your business actually works. We take on the whole path — architecture, build, integration with the systems you already run, and the long-term maintenance most shops hand back to you.
Austin, Texas · Since 2003
Developing custom applications for over twenty-three years: concept and design, integration, build, maintenance and support.
Applications built around how your business actually works. We take on the whole path — architecture, build, integration with the systems you already run, and the long-term maintenance most shops hand back to you.
The environments your applications live in, designed and operated properly. Provisioning, deployment pipelines, monitoring, backup and recovery, and the security and compliance work that comes with them.
Day-to-day ownership of the platforms your business runs on. Licensing, configuration, integration between tools, user access and audit — and one point of accountability when something breaks.
History
1995–2002
Before founding Stella, James Hudson and Andy Sharp built integration systems and early web applications at Ernst & Young, BP, British Telecom, and Reebok — first in London, then Austin.
EDI · C++ · HTML · VBScript · ASP · SQL Server · Flash
2003
A custom development shop building static sites and database-driven systems for hospitals, insurance, government, and private sector clients.
PHP/MySQL · ASP/.NET · SQL Server
2005–2006
Graphic designers in Austin and Dallas in 2005, then the first overseas development teams a year later. Stella has worked with distributed teams ever since.
2008
Custom development evolves into framework building and integration work with accounting systems, alongside CRM development. Stella begins managing physical servers for clients in an Austin colocation facility.
.NET/SQL Server · PHP/MySQL · WordPress
2012
With investment partners, Stella builds what becomes Simplified Lending Solutions, a software platform for real estate banking. Stella still builds and supports the platform today.
CakePHP · .NET MVC
2016
An iPhone application integrated into the Simplified platform, handling real estate financial transactions.
iOS · .NET MVC
2020
A statewide platform rebuilt from a single-tenant application into a multi-tenant system serving government agencies. Compliance automation with centralized audit and oversight, and HIPAA-protected healthcare systems.
ASP.NET MVC Core · SAML · SSAE16 / SOC reporting
2023
A dedicated AI department, building OCR, document processing at scale, and logistics tooling into client systems. AI tooling rolled out across the whole development team — with experienced engineers directing the work.
OCR · Document processing · Applied AI
Our team
We have managed distributed teams since 2006 — in India and Pakistan, and across Europe and the UK. Today our development team is in Dhaka, Bangladesh: 25 engineers full time, with a partner bench of several hundred when a project needs to scale quickly. Ownership and client leadership are in Austin, Texas.
Many of our clients have been with us for over a decade.
Tell us what you are building or what needs taking over. We read every message and reply ourselves.