Dark Bears

Based in India, Dark Bears builds software for businesses in three broad areas: enterprise systems, mobile and web applications, and digital marketing. Each area is split into named services, so a client can commission a single piece or a larger programme.

Enterprise systems and legacy modernisation

Enterprise work covers custom enterprise applications designed around a client's own processes, system integrations that link existing software so that information moves between systems, and cloud-based solutions. The firm also takes on legacy system modernisation, which means reworking older systems that a business still depends on. The site describes its output as scalable, secure and high-performance software, and it presents enterprise work as the first of its service areas.

Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android

Native development is offered for iPhone and iPad, for Apple Watch and for Android. The firm also lists iBeacon app development, a service named without further detail, and hybrid mobile apps that run on more than one platform from shared code. For hybrid work it names React Native, Flutter and Ionic, and progressive web apps are offered as a further option. The site says its mobile process is meant to put an app on the top charts of the App Store and Google Play, which is the firm's own aim rather than a result it reports.

Connected devices, machine learning and blockchain

Under its advanced computing heading the firm lists Internet of Things work, artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrency development, and testing and automation. The site says the aim is to combine these techniques with conventional software, so that connected hardware, learning models and automated checks sit inside one product. Its AI services are described as using machine learning and automation to improve business efficiency and digital transformation, and its IoT work as foundational technology for connected products.

Web builds on PHP, JavaScript and Shopify

Corporate websites, web applications and Shopify stores form the web group. For PHP projects the firm lists Laravel, CakePHP, core PHP, CodeIgniter and Yii. For full-stack JavaScript work it lists AngularJS, Node.js, MEAN and MERN stacks, and ReactJS. The framework follows the project, so a client with an existing PHP system and a client starting from nothing can both be served by the same team.

Digital marketing, testing and commercial terms

Marketing covers search engine optimisation, pay-per-click management, social media optimisation and email marketing solutions. Software testing and test automation sit alongside them in the list of services. On commercial terms the site names three routes: project work on a time and material basis, fixed cost projects, and a build-operate-transfer model, in which the firm builds and runs a system before handing it over to the client. The site also lists the technologies and platforms it uses, which span the frameworks named above.