Platform development
Application frameworks, windowing systems, plugin systems, SDKs. The things products are later built on — ours and the customer's.
Company
An engineering company with its own products
Black Elephant builds tools for professional work — the ones people spend their whole working day in. Not websites or storefronts, but environments where an engineer runs a project, an estimator prices the job, and a developer writes code.
Our stance
What matters to us
An engineering company. We develop DockStudio — a platform for building professional applications, and ProMatrix — a client-server environment for business management and collaborative design.
We are a product company, not a contractor by the hour
We have two products of our own that we have been developing for years and use ourselves. We take on custom projects when they strengthen the products, not replace them.
We start with the foundation
Platform first, applications second. DockStudio came before ProMatrix because without a solid framework any large system turns into a tangle of patches within three years.
We give control to the customer
Our products run in an air-gapped environment, without internet access and with no mandatory ties to our servers. The data, the updates and the system's lifespan stay in the owner's hands.
Team
A small team, big projects
We are a small team, and that is a deliberate choice. Engineers and developers who have worked together for years run large projects end to end — from architecture to rollout: our own platform, an enterprise ecosystem of dozens of modules, and a design system for every building discipline.
You talk to the people who build it
There is no chain of managers between you and the developers. The engineers who discuss your task are the ones who solve it.
We know the domain from the inside
We design and build engineering systems ourselves, so we know the work of designers, site managers and buyers first-hand.
Scale without a bloated headcount
Our own platform and automated routine work let a small team run projects that usually need a whole department.
We are in it for the long run
We take on projects that live for years and stay with you after launch: updates, improvements, support.
What we do
Our areas of work
Enterprise systems
Document management, finance, personnel, manufacturing, warehouse. End-to-end processes instead of a set of disconnected programs.
Engineering software
Systems for design and engineering data management: product structure, documentation, calculations, automation of the design engineer's routine.
AI in workflows
We deploy AI agents where rules don't work: preliminary document analysis, comparing revisions, finding equivalents and assignees. The model can run inside your own infrastructure.
Integration and support
We connect the new with what already works: 1C, AD directories, EDI, CAD systems, equipment. And we stay close after launch.
Engineering principles
Rules we never bend
These are not slogans but constraints we build into product architecture and enforce in code review.
01
A long lifespan matters more than a quick start
Layered architecture, versioned contracts, backward compatibility. A system must outlive a change of team, OS versions and a hardware generation.
02
Work must not depend on connectivity
Offline is not an emergency mode but a standard one. The client works autonomously, accumulates changes and syncs when the server is available.
03
Data belongs to its owner
Every product is deployed on your own infrastructure. No hidden outbound calls and no mandatory telemetry.
04
Configuration matters more than custom code
Processes, forms, reports and permissions change without a programmer. Code is written only where it is truly unavoidable.
Products
What we build
Platform
DockStudio
A workspace framework, not just another UI framework
DockStudio is a platform for building applications people work in all day. The windowing system, docks and panels, tabs, modules and plugins, commands and hotkeys, themes, settings and updates work out of the box. You write the domain logic — the framework assembles the workspace.
Open
Ecosystem
ProMatrix
One environment: processes, documents, engineering and communication
ProMatrix is a client-server system for design and construction companies: documents and issues, tasks and deadlines, remarks, cost estimates, procurement, Technical Office, HR and correspondence on a single server. The main client is a desktop application built on the DockStudio platform; browser and mobile clients come next.
OpenWorking with customers
How a project runs
01
Discovery
We examine processes as they are, pin down bottlenecks, and size data volumes and user counts. The result is a technical specification, not a presentation.
02
Prototype
In 2–4 weeks we build a working prototype of the key scenario on DockStudio. You click through a real interface, not mockups.
03
Implementation
We deploy the environment, migrate data, configure routes and permissions, and train users. A phased launch, not “everything in one day”.
04
Development
Updates, enhancements, new modules and support under an agreed SLA. The system grows with the company instead of going obsolete in a year.
Industries
Where our products are used
Mechanical engineeringInstrument engineeringDesign institutesDesign-and-install contractorsConstructionEnergyProductionDistribution and logisticsIT companiesEngineering bureausService organizations
Shall we get acquainted?
Tell us about your task — we will propose a solution based on our products or build a custom one.