Sthenos Technologies is a US-based enterprise software development company headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with an office in North Bethesda, Maryland. We build custom enterprise software: secure, scalable web and mobile applications, AI and machine-learning systems, and cloud platforms, and we modernize legacy enterprise systems. A senior Sthenos team stays accountable on every engagement, and through our partner NeoSOFT we add enterprise-scale delivery capacity, so you get boutique accountability with the throughput a large program needs.
Custom enterprise software development services
- Enterprise web applications: secure, scalable portals, dashboards, and internal platforms, built end to end.
- Enterprise mobile apps: native and cross-platform apps for employees, partners, and customers, integrated with your systems.
- AI and machine learning: forecasting, document and process automation, and AI assistants, engineered for production at scale.
- Cloud and data platforms: architecture, migration, and data pipelines on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Systems integration: connecting to ERP, CRM, identity, payment, and data systems across the enterprise.
- Legacy modernization: re-platforming and rebuilding aging enterprise systems while preserving data integrity and uptime.
Built to pass an enterprise vendor review
Enterprise software fails when security, integration, and reliability are an afterthought. We build them in: access controls and audit logging, encryption, a documented SDLC, and architecture designed for scale, uptime, and the vendor security reviews enterprise procurement runs. We work with your security, IT, and architecture teams rather than around them. Where enterprise-scale certifications matter, we reference our partner NeoSOFT accurately rather than claiming them as Sthenos’s own.
From prototype to production-ready
Enterprise teams often build a working prototype, sometimes with AI tools, then stall before launch because enterprise production means security, integration, and reliability a demo never had. We take prototypes, including AI-built ones, from proof of concept to secure, scalable, monitored production, with the controls enterprise buyers require.
Who we build enterprise software for
- Large commercial organizations: internal platforms and customer software that have to scale and integrate.
- Regulated enterprises: finance, healthcare, legal, and technology teams that need security and auditability.
- Government agencies and primes: as an EDWOSB small business (NAICS 541511, active on SAM.gov), we support enterprise-scale public programs and set-aside goals.
- Product and platform teams: senior engineering capacity to build and scale, fast.
Why enterprise teams choose Sthenos
- Boutique accountability, enterprise scale: a senior Sthenos lead owns your engagement, with partner NeoSOFT adding delivery capacity when the program needs it.
- Security and reliability first: we build to pass enterprise vendor security reviews and to run reliably at scale.
- Senior, accountable team: not a rotating bench, a senior team that stays with your program.
- EDWOSB and WOSB certified: a certified small business for agencies and primes with set-aside and supplier-diversity goals.
Enterprise software development FAQs
What is enterprise software development?
Enterprise software development is the design and building of secure, scalable software for large organizations, such as internal platforms, customer applications, integrations, and data systems, built to meet enterprise requirements for security, integration, and reliability.
Can a boutique firm deliver at enterprise scale?
Yes. A senior Sthenos team stays accountable on your engagement, and through our partner NeoSOFT we add enterprise-scale delivery capacity, so you get boutique accountability with the throughput a large program needs.
How do you handle enterprise security reviews?
We build with access controls, audit logging, encryption, and a documented development process, designed to pass enterprise vendor security reviews. We engineer our part to support your security and compliance requirements.
Can you integrate with our ERP, CRM, and identity systems?
Yes. We build integrations across ERP, CRM, identity, payment, and data systems so your software works with the rest of the enterprise.
Can you take an AI-built prototype to enterprise production?
Yes. Moving prototypes, including AI-built ones, from proof of concept to secure, scalable, monitored enterprise production is a core focus for us.
Enterprise software development at Sthenos is the same engineering as our software development services, carried with the governance, integration surface and scale an enterprise programme needs. The six services above are what that covers, from enterprise web applications to legacy modernization. The sections below draw them as one estate, compare the ways to buy an enterprise programme, and set out the playbook from prototype to production, what a vendor review looks for, what moves the cost, what you receive and what to ask.
From enterprise web applications to legacy modernization. Counted on this page.
Architecture, migration and data pipelines on all three, under Cloud and data platforms above.
Headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, with an office in North Bethesda, Maryland.
Per hour, depending on the seniority and mix of the team. The published Sthenos band.
On this page
- Enterprise application development services, as one estate
- Engagement models for an enterprise programme, compared
- The playbook from prototype to enterprise production
- What an enterprise vendor review looks for
- What moves the cost of enterprise software
- What you receive from an enterprise engagement
- What to ask any enterprise software development services company
- Enterprise software questions buyers ask next
- Related pages for enterprise programmes
Enterprise application development services, drawn as one estate
Figure 1 draws the six enterprise software solutions on this page as one estate around the software they add up to, with the review they are built to pass underneath, in the page's own words.
Figure 1. Six services, one enterprise estate, and the vendor review underneath it
Caption: the six boxes restate the six services listed under Custom enterprise software development services above; the centre restates the page's first paragraph and its integration answer; the band restates Built to pass an enterprise vendor review. Nothing in the figure is a measurement.
Engagement models for an enterprise programme, compared
Sthenos publishes four engagement models and what each contract commits. What changes between them is who carries the risk of the scope moving; the rate band and the costed roadmap sit under all four.
Who carries the risk when the scope moves
| Model | What you are buying | Best for | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | An outcome; the vendor carries the estimating risk | A settled specification, a discrete phase or a bounded discovery | Every change becomes a negotiation |
| Time and materials | Capacity at the published rate band; you carry the scope risk | Evolving products and work that follows what users do | No ceiling unless you set one deliberately |
| Dedicated team | A standing team, priced monthly, the same people across quarters | Continuous product work | You pay for the capacity even in a quiet quarter |
| Staff augmentation | Engineers inside your own process, board and code review | You already have the plan and the management | You own the outcome, so weak internal direction shows up fast |
The playbook from prototype to enterprise production
The section above, From prototype to production-ready, describes teams that build a working prototype, sometimes with AI tools, and stall before launch. Our guide to taking an AI-built prototype to production sets out the seven steps of work between the two.
- Code review and hardeningRead what was generated, fix security issues, remove exposed secrets and add proper access controls.
- Add testsAutomated tests, so future changes do not silently break things.
- Fix the architectureReplace demo-grade shortcuts with structure that holds up under real load and change.
- Set up infrastructureReal hosting, environments, backups and a safe deployment process.
- Monitoring and error handlingKnow when something breaks before your users do.
- Address complianceIf you touch regulated data, build in the controls regulated buyers and government reviews require.
- Document and hand offSo the system can be maintained, not just launched once.
Once that work is claimed to be done, our production readiness checklist is the other half: seven areas you score, from reliability and failure behaviour to ownership and operations.
What an enterprise vendor review looks for
The section above names what goes in from the start: access controls and audit logging, encryption, a documented SDLC and architecture designed for scale and uptime. The eight cards restate the practices our custom software development and penetration testing pages define behind words like those, each one something a reviewer can open rather than a claim.
What moves the cost of enterprise software
Enterprise work is billed at the published Sthenos rate band, and where the scope is clear we quote a fixed price for a defined outcome, with a costed roadmap before any build starts.
No two quotes for the same brief are comparable until you know which of these each vendor assumed. None carries a number here.
What you receive from an enterprise engagement
A process description says what a vendor does. This says what you end up holding, as Sthenos publishes it.
- The repository and the cloud accounts, in your name from the first commit.
- A written scope and a costed roadmap, before any build starts.
- Working software every two weeks, not a status report about software.
- Architecture and a security posture you can put in front of a reviewer.
- Infrastructure your own engineers can run once it is handed over.
- Monitoring, maintenance and a roadmap after launch, priced up front.
What to ask any enterprise software development services company
These apply to any of the enterprise software development companies on your shortlist, Sthenos included, and each one is already published on this site.
- Who writes the code: named engineers, their seniority, and whether they are employed or subcontracted?
- What happens when the estimate is wrong? The answer tells you how the relationship will actually work.
- What documentation is a contractual deliverable, not what you promise to write?
- Will the named engineers be on the contract, with a notice clause if they change?
- Where are the engineers physically? Data residency, contract terms and your own compliance review depend on it.
- What would make you decline the requirement?
Enterprise software questions buyers ask next
How much does enterprise software development cost?
Sthenos rates are $150 to $250 per hour, depending on the seniority and mix of the team, and a typical project runs $50,000 to $200,000. Where the scope is clear we quote a fixed price for a defined outcome, with a costed roadmap before any build starts.
How long does an enterprise software project take?
Sthenos works in two week sprints, so working software arrives every two weeks and a first production release typically lands in three to six months. A date more precise than that comes out of discovery, because it depends on scope.
Who owns the code you write?
You do, entirely, from the first commit. The repository and the cloud accounts are in your name, with no licence back to us and no dependency on us continuing to exist.
Do you work with government agencies and primes?
Yes. Sthenos Technologies is an EDWOSB and WOSB-certified US firm, NAICS 541511, active on SAM.gov, and it builds and modernizes custom software for federal, state and local agencies, supporting enterprise-scale public programs and set-aside goals.
Can you take over enterprise software somebody else built?
Yes. Legacy system modernization is one of the services we sell, and taking over an existing codebase is one of the ways it starts. Send us access to the repository, or a description of the system, and we will tell you what we think it would take.
Do you use AI to build enterprise software?
Yes. Sthenos builds with AI-assisted engineering, and AI-assisted code takes the same route to production as any other: code review, hardening, testing, infrastructure and monitoring, then scored against our published production readiness checklist.
Related pages for enterprise programmes
Scoping an enterprise programme? Tell us what you are trying to build and the constraint you are working against, including the review it has to pass, and you will get a straight answer on which engagement model fits and what it would take. Talk to our engineers.
Ready to build enterprise software?
Tell us what you are building and we will tell you how to get it to production at scale. Request a free consultation.