Choosing the Right Technology Stack for Your Project

"So, what tech stack are you using?"

If you’ve ever been in a meeting and heard that question, you might have felt a familiar sense of dread. The conversation quickly fills with acronyms and brand names, leaving you, the business owner, wondering what any of it has to do with your actual company.

It’s a common scenario. Technology is often presented as a complex world accessible only to the developers who build it. But the truth is, the choice of a "technology stack" is one of the most important business decisions you can make. It has a direct impact on your budget, your security, your efficiency, and your ability to grow.

Getting it wrong can mean wasting thousands of pounds on a system that doesn't work. Getting it right can give you a powerful engine for growth for years to come.

We’re Ashley and Jacob, the founders of CloudBrew. As engineers, we love technology, but as business owners ourselves, we know what really matters. It’s not about using the trendiest new tool; it’s about using the right tool for the job. This post is our plain English guide to help you understand what a tech stack is and how to make the right choice for your business.

First, What Exactly is a "Tech Stack"?

Let’s start by defining our terms.

A technology stack is the collection of software, frameworks, and programming languages used to build and run a digital product, like a web application or a mobile app.

Think of it like building a house. You need a foundation (like cloud infrastructure), structural beams (the back-end language), walls and windows (the front-end framework the user sees), and plumbing and electricity to make it all work together (the database and integrations).

Each of these components is a choice. And while a developer will know the technical pros and cons, you, the business owner, need to ask the questions that connect those choices to your company's future.

Key Questions to Ask Before You Choose

When we start a new project, we don't begin by talking about technology. We begin by talking about the business. Here are the key considerations that should guide your decision, framed as simple business questions.

1. Will It Grow With You, or Hold You Back?

This is arguably the most important question. Many businesses are held back because the technology that worked for a team of five becomes a bottleneck for a team of fifty. This "scale-up ceiling" is a common problem for UK SMEs, where systems that were once "good enough" suddenly start to creak and break under the pressure of growth.

A scalable technology stack is designed with the future in mind. It uses flexible cloud solutions that let you expand your resources as you need them, so you only pay for what you use. It’s about building a system you can grow into, not one you’ll quickly outgrow, saving you the immense cost and disruption of having to rebuild everything in a few years.

2. What Is the Real Long-Term Cost?

The upfront price of software is often misleading. Off-the-shelf products might seem cheaper initially, but they come with hidden costs like recurring subscription fees, charges for essential updates, and expensive add-ons to get the functionality you actually need.

This is what’s known as the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). With bespoke software, the initial investment is higher, but you own the asset. There are no recurring license fees, and it becomes a valuable piece of intellectual property that adds to your company's valuation. An honest conversation about technology isn’t about the price tag; it’s about the long-term value and ROI for your business.

3. How Secure Is It, Really?

Cybersecurity is now the number one concern for UK SMEs. With 43% of all businesses reporting an attack in the last year, the idea that small companies are not a target is a dangerous myth. In fact, smaller businesses are often seen as easier targets because they lack the robust security of larger corporations.

Security shouldn't be an afterthought. It needs to be built into the foundation of your technology. As our co-founder Jacob always says, a "security-first" approach is essential. Some technologies are inherently more secure than others. A custom-built application also presents a much smaller target for hackers compared to a widely used off-the-shelf product with known vulnerabilities.

4. Will It Connect to Your Other Systems?

Most businesses run on a patchwork of different tools: one for accounting, one for customer relationships (CRM), another for operations, and countless spreadsheets holding it all together. The result is often "data chaos," where information is trapped in disconnected silos, making it impossible to get a clear view of your own business.

System integration is the solution. It’s the process of getting all your different software to talk to each other automatically. When choosing a technology stack, you must consider how easily it can connect with the tools you already use. A well-integrated system creates a "single source of truth," saving hundreds of hours of manual data entry and giving you reliable data to make better decisions.

Our Approach: Partnership Over Prescription

At CloudBrew, we are technology-agnostic. This means we don’t have a single "favourite" stack that we use for every project. Instead, we have a philosophy.

We believe in using our expertise to choose the right tools for your specific business goals. That process is a partnership. We take the time to understand your operations, your challenges, and your ambitions for growth. Then, we bring our experience to the table—from Ashley’s background in software quality to Jacob’s deep knowledge of security-first development—to recommend a solution that is robust, scalable, and secure.

Choosing your technology is a foundational decision, but it doesn’t have to be a confusing one. The goal is to find a solution that serves your business, not the other way around.

If you’re ready to have a conversation about building technology that works for you, let’s talk.

All the best,

Ashley & Jacob Co-Founders, CloudBrew