Saratoga

Saratoga Software has been delivering custom software and data solutions from offices in Cape Town, South Africa and the West Midlands, UK since 1998. The company was founded by a management consortium backing Plessey Corporation, then rebuilt through mergers—most notably combining with Alacrity Technologies in 2017 to form the current entity. In 2021, executive management purchased a majority stake. As of 2026, Saratoga is collaborating with Andersen Consulting for access to deeper global expertise. The firm counts Africa's largest and second-largest insurance groups among its longest-standing clients (22 and 15 years respectively), alongside a UK-based warehouse management systems provider (10 years), a London NPO with a consumer platform (8 years), and South Africa's fourth-largest asset manager (8 years).

Services and capabilities

Saratoga's core offering is custom software design and development backed by 25+ years of delivery experience. The company handles the full stack: software architecture and development, business analysis, platform integration and customisation, testing and QA, and project management. On the data side, they offer data architecture, engineering, and business intelligence services.

Specialist services include Azure health checks, cloud migration (focusing on rehosting patterns and cloud-native transformations), customer communication management platform selection and implementation, and technology advisory. The advisory practice covers technology assessments and roadmaps, software architecture and design, IT organisational design and maturity, and systems procurement management.

Clients have documented specific outcomes. Stewardship, a London-based fintech, migrated to Microsoft Azure cloud-native with Azure DevOps and BICEP infrastructure-as-code pipelines. The redesigned system at red24 delivered "greater visibility and front-end control" enabling non-technical staff to configure the system faster. IOL, handling 5 million monthly customers, integrated Saratoga developers into their product team. Worldwide Chain Stores relied on Saratoga to meet "aggressive timelines" in a joint multi-organisation development effort.

How they work

Saratoga positions itself as a partner rather than a vendor. Multiple clients noted the team's willingness to flex scope and reallocate resources mid-project—for example, when Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church discovered a missing requirement at go-live, Saratoga reassigned developers to fix the gap despite having moved those people to other clients. The firm emphasises clear communication, shared understanding, and "courageous honesty" to cut through uncertainty. In 2018, the company received the GSA-UK Global Sourcing Award for Digital Transformation Project of the Year. The firm recruits for skill and invests in keeping developers' expertise current.

Team and credentials

Leadership includes Anthony Robinson (Executive Chairman), Mark Gebhardt (Chief Executive Officer), and Julian Smith (Financial Director), supported by a multidisciplinary team covering business competency, technical competency, business development, HR, and finance. The company does not disclose total headcount in available sources, but operates dual offices suggesting a meaningful scale. Saratoga was honoured with the GSA-UK Global Sourcing Award in 2018. The collaboration with Andersen Consulting as of 2026 signals access to additional certified expertise and global resources.