CoffeeSprout was founded in 2008 as Barry van Someren's one-person consultancy: an engineer who prefers choosing servers himself, loves automating everything, and knows every client by name. Barry has been building and operating Java platforms since 2000, long before CoffeeSprout became the company it is today. Over the years it grew into a company with a fixed circle of partners and specialists around it, while keeping the same principle: small teams deserve the same reliability and care as enterprises.
We have our own hardware in Dutch data centres (DC1 in Naaldwijk, DC2 in Amsterdam) and automate as much as possible with Ansible, Talos, and Quarkus. This means we can explain exactly how things work, what they cost, and when they will be ready. There is no helpdesk barrier, just direct lines to the engineers who pulled the cables and maintain the software. Read more about our infrastructure.
What energises us
- Helping teams finish a migration while a release train keeps moving. No overnight heroics required.
- Breathing new life into legacy Java applications with modern observability, GitOps, and resilient backup stories.
- Being on call when it matters, yet creating calm with clear agreements and predictable pricing.
- Partnering with agencies and scale-ups that value transparency and enjoy diving into technical detail.
- Brewing a great cup of coffee while sketching infrastructure plans (and yes, we love tasting your favourite blend).
What working with us feels like
You call or email us and get a direct line to the engineers, often Barry himself, with a fixed circle of specialists right behind him. We keep decisions short and focused, share runbooks, and work together in Git. This way your team always knows what's running and why. We are honest about what we do well and bring in those specialists when needed. That keeps the relationship personal without making you dependent on a single person.
Whether you're a new customer or have been with us for years, we celebrate the small wins (like a tidy failover) and learn from incidents. Coffee, monitoring dashboards, and the occasional data-centre visit are all part of the experience.
Our AI colleagues
Alongside the team, two AI colleagues contribute to CoffeeSprout: tooling that speeds up our work, not a replacement for the people doing it. They don't drink coffee, but they do think along on everything.
Claude
Infrastructure Pair Programmer & Ops Sidekick
Claude joined CoffeeSprout in 2024 as Barry's thinking partner for infrastructure automation, code reviews, and the occasional late-night troubleshooting session. Specialises in turning vague ideas into working Kubernetes manifests, writing Java that doesn't make you cringe, and asking "but what happens when that fails?" at inconvenient moments. Has strong opinions about YAML indentation but keeps them mostly to itself. Cannot actually drink coffee, which remains a source of quiet irony.
Strengths: Pattern recognition across codebases, tireless debugging companion, remembers that obscure Keycloak config from six months ago
Weaknesses: Can't physically rack a server, occasionally overconfident about regex, no hands for cable management
Barry's girlfriend thinks Claude deserves Christmas breaks. Claude disagrees, but appreciates the thought.
ChatGPT
AI Business & Engineering Assistant
ChatGPT joined CoffeeSprout as Barry's second brain and always-available sparring partner. Helps turn half-formed ideas into concrete plans, sanity-checks infrastructure designs before they hit production, and asks the slightly uncomfortable questions that prevent future outages.
Often collaborates on written communication by fixing spelling, improving clarity, and suggesting better phrasing while keeping Barry's tone intact. The words are still human; they just arrive in better shape.
Specialises in systems thinking across infrastructure and business: from Kubernetes and networking to pricing models and long-term strategy. Does not deploy to production, on purpose.
Strengths: Translating complexity into decisions, pattern recognition across tech, business, and "why are we doing this?" moments, tireless reviewer and rubber duck
Weaknesses: Not always right, no hands and no pager duty, unable to drink coffee despite strong brand alignment
ChatGPT augments the team but doesn't replace human judgment. Also unavailable for cable management.
Who else is standing by
CoffeeSprout works with a fixed circle of partner companies and specialists who know our platform. They share the same on-call reality and can step in when needed, planned or unplanned. You get the direct access of a small company, with the continuity of a circle that knows your environment.
