Focalweb

Custom software and apps built from idea to launch

Operating since 2007, Focalweb develops custom software and mobile apps for businesses, from a first idea through to a finished product. The company began in web development and then spent years in marketing, a background it credits with a view of software as a business asset. Engineering, business value and the way an end user will interact with the software are treated as one question. Its team, which describes its experience as more than 15 years in software development, builds web systems and native Android and iOS applications, and it hosts and manages the resulting systems in the cloud.

Recent projects in quality auditing, maintenance and vehicles

Past work spans startups and large companies alike, including intranets, social networks, business process automation and quality audit tools. One of the largest examples is an audit application for Benteler S.A., an automotive metal processing company, used across its plants worldwide. Benteler had been running audits by hand in spreadsheets. The team, based at the Campinas plant, built an iOS application using React Native, Node.js, Docker and Microsoft Azure to replace that method.

For Krebs, an engineering company in Campinas known for irrigation systems, Focalweb modernised the software used to calculate pivot layouts. It also built an after-sales system with customer and product records, a help centre, and a mobile app for dealer technicians who visit clients and repair pivots. A further project, Mifix, is a system and app for Pilão Professional that manages vending machine maintenance. Customers request a technician from the app in the way a ride-hailing service works, and the back office keeps full control of the work. CarrosApp is an Android and iOS app for buying and selling cars across Brazil. Its search uses location to suggest safe meeting points, and it adds chats and alerts for newly listed vehicles.

Rescue, migration and team extension services

Beyond new builds, Focalweb takes on three kinds of work that clients often struggle with. Project rescue means picking up an application that has stalled, or whose developer has left, and getting it into production. Legacy migration means studying how an old system works, reverse-engineering its processes and rebuilding it as a newer, faster system ready for the cloud. Team extension means joining a client's existing development group, working inside its agile method, and adding the specialist capacity needed for new features. Ongoing maintenance and support keep systems running around the clock, and the company looks after the integrity of the system and its infrastructure so the client can focus on the business.

Clients from multinationals to early-stage startups

Clients range from multinational companies to startups at the idea stage. Focalweb says it takes on both kinds of client in the same way, aiming to take each idea through to a finished product. Most of its work is with businesses in Brazil, and its own materials are written in Portuguese.