Backendhance
We empower your team to develop faster, more efficiently, and pragmatically.
If the frontend is the skin, then the backend is the brain, organs, and circulatory system. A person, fit from the outside, is only as capable as their internals. And just like with humans, an internal problem in software only becomes apparent when it's too late.
We help companies take care of their inner health. Our projects are successful when you don't notice your backend. When your launch goes smoothly. When your customers can use the product as intended. When you onboard new customers to your platform - and it just works. Yes, when you develop as fast as you expect. And all that at lower costs than you're used to.
My teams and I had the special challenge of renewing our aging B2B platform technology. [...] His consultation took the form of a three-day workshop with our entire development team and led to highly successful results.
Marcus proved to be extremely competent and professional. [...]
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that working with Marcus was a very positive experience. His ability to understand complex technical challenges and find pragmatic solutions has left a lasting impression on us. [...]
The goal for [the] one-day workshop was to analyze the current situation to lay the foundation to make decisions on towards which direction we should develop our tech stack and development team. Before we started, my main concern was that we wouldn't be able in just one day to produce sufficient results, thus ending up without a valid roadmap. But that wasn't the case at all. Instead, we had a very effective workshop, which was also a lot of fun and exactly met our expectations. [...]
I am very satisfied with the result and would recommend Marcus to anyone who needs conceptual guidance in structuring their tech stack and/or technology team.
Marcus is an exceptional architect and developer whose technical proficiency and pragmatic approach make him stand out in my career. He possesses a deep understanding of the tools he works with and consistently delivers effective solutions to any challenge he faces. One of his strengths is his ability to question requirements and build only what is necessary, without overcomplicating things.
Working with Marcus always has been a pleasure, both on a personal and a professional level. Understanding the technology is one thing, guiding and motivating a team to deliver results often requires a different skillset. Marcus has both skills in his toolbox, highly recommend to work with him.
As the Head of Backend Engineering with 30 employees, he wanted to build the best backend department on the planet. But reality had other plans. Shortly before the launch of a client project, it was discovered that there was no monitoring and alerting in place. Another project generated so much data that operating costs skyrocketed. In the next project, exceptions were flying around, and data was getting corrupted in live operation. And yet another project had the longest development times with the largest team. He had failed. And he couldn't get it under control. His role demanded so much time that he couldn't help his team achieve technical excellence. That was unsatisfying. The backend enables the business. It shouldn't stand in the way. It shouldn't lead to frustration for the customer.
At that point, he decided to focus all his attention on it. He stepped down from his role as department head. And after more than a decade in backend development, he started Backendhance.
After countless conversations with founders, engineering managers, project managers, and tech enthusiasts, we understand that a team doesn't just "need developers". The team needs a mentor, someone who enables the team with real-world experience and practical tips.
A backend serves the product. It empowers solving the problem for the user. And it does so smoothly and quickly. Backend applications are being developed everywhere, designed with high (unintentional) complexity. They incur high operational and maintenance costs. They run unreliably. High development costs and poor performance are the result. Our mission is to empower developers, project managers, architects, and teams. So that the project stays healthy and achieves its goal.
To achieve that, we develop workshops aimed at imparting the right mindset and the right tools to the team. They prevent the team from ending up in a dead end and enable them to make informed decisions.
Every team, every product is different. That's why we want to make you an offer that suits your situation. Get in touch with us.
AI assistants are only as good as the context they receive. In this talk, Marcus shows how architecture documentation becomes the decisive lever — for the team and for AI-assisted development.
Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt have influenced the design of modern programming languages with "The Pragmatic Programmer". Kotlin is such a modern language that combines the robustness of the JVM with modern paradigms. In this talk, Marcus provides examples of Pragmatic Programming and introduces us to Kotlin. Sit back and enjoy 20 minutes of live coding.
What do I do when my product goes through the roof? How do I set my team up for the situation? In this talk we look at the "Performance Mindset"
What do I do when my product goes through the roof? How do I set my team up for the situation? In this keynote we look at the "Performance Mindset".
How do you apply the philosophy of a Pragmatic Programmer with Kotlin? Marcus will explore this question at KKON in October.
There are many features in the Spring Framework. Marcus gave practical tips and tricks to implement the lessons from "The Pragmatic Programmer" with Spring.
Spring NRW is a cologne user group around development with Spring. Marcus presented his talk (k)lean JPA with updates from last year.
JPA has many pitfalls. These need to be revisited with Kotlin. This talk looks at the background and gives recommendations for dealing with them.
With more than 1,600 attendees, code.talks was the largest German developer conference in 2019. over 400 experienced live discussions on robust software design.
