Software architecture
Microservices and modular systems designed for high volumes, reliability and low maintenance. Architecture reviews, roadmaps and hands-on technical leadership.
Software engineering consultancy firm · Since 2004
Software that performs under load, stays stable, and is built to last.
Doubleforge is a small Dutch consultancy firm of senior engineers and architects. We design and build backend systems, integrations and cloud platforms, and we bring AI into both the way software is built and the software itself.
2004founded, independent ever since
30+years of hands-on software engineering
100k+transactions a day in systems we have built
2 → 25developers in teams we have led
Services
From first design to running in production
We join your team as senior engineers, take ownership of an architecture, or deliver a well-defined piece of work end to end.
Backend development
Robust services in Java and Spring Boot or Python, backed by PostgreSQL or Oracle. Clean code, automated tests and a short path from commit to production.
Systems integration
Connecting systems that were never designed to talk: REST, SOAP, messaging, payment providers, document management and government services.
Cloud & DevOps
Infrastructure-as-code with Terraform, containers on Kubernetes and Docker, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring and migrations between cloud providers.
Applied AI & LLMs
LLM-powered features and AI agents that do real work: from prompt and context design to evaluation, guardrails and integration in existing systems.
Test automation
Automated testing with Cucumber and Playwright, up to AI-driven end-to-end tests written in plain language, so teams release faster with confidence.
Applied AI
AI in two ways: how we build, and what we build
AI is not a side project for us. It is part of our daily work, used with the same engineering discipline as everything else.
An accelerator for engineering
We use AI coding tools such as Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to design, build and debug faster, without compromising on quality, review or maintainability.
A component of your application
We build AI agents and LLM features with LangChain and LangGraph on OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock or local models via Ollama, combined with deterministic decision models where reliability matters.
Measured, not hyped
Every AI component gets an evaluation approach, logging and a fallback, so you know what it does, what it costs and when it fails.
Approach
How we work
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01
Understand
We start with your business problem, your constraints and the system that is already there, not with a favourite technology.
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02
Design
A pragmatic architecture that fits the volume, the team and the budget, with clear trade-offs written down.
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03
Build
Hands-on development in short iterations, with automated tests and CI/CD from day one. Scrum or SAFe when your organisation uses it.
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04
Run & transfer
Monitoring, operations and knowledge transfer, so your team can own and evolve the system after we leave.
Ways to engage
Interim & freelanceA senior engineer, lead developer or architect in your team, full-time or part-time, on site or remote.
Project deliveryA clearly scoped system, integration or migration, delivered end to end.
Advice & reviewAn architecture review, a technical due diligence or a second opinion on an AI initiative.
Expertise
Sectors and technology
Government & public sector
E-commerce & retail
Telecom
SaaS start-ups
Healthcare
Energy
Transport & logistics
Publishing & education
Languages
Java, Python, SQL, PL/SQL
Frameworks
Spring Boot, JPA/Hibernate, LangChain, LangGraph, Angular
Data
PostgreSQL, Oracle, messaging (JMS, SQS)
Cloud & DevOps
AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, Jenkins, GitHub Actions
Integration
REST, SOAP, JMS, XML/XSD/XSLT, payment providers, identity (Keycloak)
AI
OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Ollama, AI agents, browser automation
Testing
Cucumber, Playwright, AI-driven end-to-end testing
Methods
Scrum, SAFe, DevOps
The kind of work we do
- Turned nightly batch processing into near real-time pipelines handling hundreds of thousands of documents a day.
- Built a multi-tenant SaaS platform from scratch to more than a thousand paying customers, as lead architects.
- Led international development teams growing from two to twenty-five engineers.
- Built AI agents that execute natural-language test scenarios in browsers and desktop applications.
- Migrated containerised production workloads between cloud providers, including software and data.
- Delivered self-service customer portals and the data pipelines behind them.
About
Two founders, one standard
Doubleforge was founded in 2004 by Martin Oosterom and Arjen Smedes. The name says it: two engineers forging solid software. Together they also founded Port-Ability, which builds software products for the transport and logistics sector. We are deliberately small, so you always work directly with a senior person who builds what they design.
Martin Oosterom
Co-founder · Senior software engineer & architect
More than 30 years in software, nearly 30 of them with Java. Lead developer, architect, DevOps engineer and Scrum Master for government organisations, international start-ups and large enterprises. Today his focus is on high-volume backend systems and applied AI. MSc Chemical Engineering (cum laude), University of Groningen.
LinkedIn →Arjen Smedes
Co-founder · Software engineer, Scrum Master & agile coach
Software engineer since 1995 with a strong background in Java and Python, and a special interest in leading software development projects. Experienced with AWS, Docker, Terraform and microservices, and has held several software development management roles, including time spent in Bangalore, India. Professional Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner who helps teams reach engineering excellence.
LinkedIn →Built to last
Stable, low-maintenance systems over clever ones.
Pragmatic
The simplest solution that solves the real problem.
Team players
We make your team better, and leave knowledge behind.
Contact
Have a project or an assignment?
Tell us what you are working on. We reply personally, usually within one working day.
info@doubleforge.com
Zuidhorn (Groningen), the Netherlands · Working on site across the Netherlands and remotely worldwide · English, Dutch