Tag: mobile application development software

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing a Mobile App Development Company

Posted on by Super Admin Testreveal

Why Do Companies Outsource Their Mobile App Development Activities?

It could be because you lack time, money, technical expertise, experience or resources to continue with in-house mobile app development. You may be prompted to rope in an external source to develop a mobile app for your company when you are driven by a desire to save money . You will scout for some cheap resources and strike a deal with the company that promises you “cheap and best” mobile app development services.

Given the fact that the market for mobile apps is growing by leaps and bounds with every financial year, it is for you to establish a working relationship with a technically-strong agency. Your outsourcing partner should guarantee you a professional working environment along with the delivery of quality products. But when you pick up one end of the stick, you are naturally lifting the other end too. Thus, choosing to tread the path of outsourcing a mobile app development team comes with a share of advantages and disadvantages to your business.

Let us now understand and contrast them under their respective heads.

Pros of Outsourcing a Mobile App Development Company

1. A Budget-Friendly Option

Topping the list of advantages of hiring an external mobile app development team is the evident cost savings that can boost your bottom line. When you outsource, you will be billed only for the work that is done by them; be it on an hourly or fixed payment. This provision will come into practice depending on the terms of your agreement with the external entity.

You can be sure of cutting down overhead costs which can work in your favor to bring down your overall operational and business expenditure. Hence, outsourcing comes as an affordable solution when you don’t have to incur additional expenditure to train your workforce. Simply sign up with a reputed mobile app development company and you don’t have to sweat over the constant improvement in the qualifications of your in-house technical team.

2. Technical Resources and Expertise At Your Disposal

When you sign up with an external mobile app development company, you can make the most of the established systems and tools that come with your mutual technical agreement. You can make the best use of their tools, licenses, software, certificates and many other resources that come handy in churning out state-of-the-art mobile apps. It is like all the essential technical and physical resources are offered to you under one roof.

Well-established mobile app development companies vouch for their dedicated teams which take care of your project right from the start till your mobile app comes up in the market. By roping in an external mobile app development company, you can avail the services of industry experts, designers, testers, project managers and marketers; all those professionals who are associated with the outsourced company. That means, through outsourcing, you will benefit from the expertise of skilled people across the globe who are adept at churning out mobile apps for clients like you and me.

3. Capitalize Technology-Specific Inputs

An external mobile app development team will demonstrate a high level of synergy coming from developers who are specialized in various technologies. Bringing to the table a host of technical suggestions, your idea of signing up with an outside party will help you understand the pros and cons of every technology. This way, you will be able to come up with a well-informed decision as to which technology or version suits your mobile app development requirements the best.

4. Do Away with Micromanagement – A Time-Saving Mechanism

Micromanagement, in today’s business-centric world drains a lot of operational time. It is indeed a time-consuming proposition to constantly keep a watch on what your employees are up to when your company is treading the path of in-house mobile app development.

When you partner with an external mobile app development company, you will be saving a great of time with regard to managing your project. It becomes the prime responsibility of the subcontracted company to ensure that your project meets the agreed deadline. It is then that you will benefit with time when you can concentrate better on your business or any other project that is waiting to be launched.

5. Avail the Benefits of a Round-The-Clock Support System

Most of the outsourced teams offer you 24/7 support. The agreement between you and your outsourced company handholds you to resolve any issues that might crop up at any point. Simply get in touch with the technical executives of the company and you are all covered. You will not be left groping in the dark when you are seeking technical guidance coming from the global talent pool that is ordained to fix your problems.

6. Transparency and Complete Control Over the Development Process

After signing the dotted line with an external mobile app development company, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of transparency in everything that the company engages in, coupled with exercising total control over the mobile app development process. There are many outsourcing companies that allow you to access various tracking tools that can become the yardsticks of progress with regard to the job assigned. This can pave the way for better understanding between both the parties, creating a congenial business relationship that is mutually beneficial to both the parties in question.

7. Tap Into the Knowledge Pool of Global Companies

Entrepreneurs always strive to build profitable business models. With this basic idea as the backdrop, they scout for external partners that will offer them an assembly of options that can be weighed against each other in building a competitive mobile app. In doing so, you will be able to tap into the organizational behaviors of various companies across the globe.

Your company will be able to assimilate invaluable information that comes in the form of multiple developmental processes, varied attitudes and lifestyles that are innate to a particular region. This could serve as a purposeful repository for you and your business when you start learning something new with every passing day. Thus, you can tag on to these professional setups to make your mobile app development dreams come true; the simple and profitable way.

Cons of Hiring an External Mobile App Development Company

Let us now move on to the subtopic of this discussion; the cons of signing up with an outside mobile app development team or company.

1. You Can Burn Your Fingers By Endangering Data Privacy

It is your prime responsibility to secure your data. However, when you choose to outsource your mobile app development activities to an external agency, you may run the risk of jeopardizing the confidentiality of your data. There are many freelancers who offer to develop your mobile apps without sparing a thought about maintaining the privacy of your data.

In this context, you can avoid this serious botch-up by having a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place even before you assign the project to the agency.

2. Inability to Exercise Total Control Over the Mobile App Development Process

Signing up with an external app development company may lead to a situation when you begin to lose track of what is happening on the other side. When you are not personally overlooking every instance of your mobile app development, you will be compromising on the constant assessment of the day-to-day progress in your project. Remote operations do have their shortcomings.

To ensure that you are in the constant know of things that are taking place at the offshore location, you should hire the services of an adept project manager. He/she will act as a liaison between you and the external agency, paving the way for effective management. In the event you are unable to hire a project manager, you can check out and employ a project management tool that suits you best.

3. Time Zone Differences Cause Communication Gaps

There can be an instance when you and your outsourced team will be working under different time zones. This may lead to communication gaps between you and your outsourced workforce. This time-based challenge can be addressed by signing up with reputed mobile app development companies who will address your language-centric issues. Companies that provide upscale services hire the services of a project manager who will exclusively oversee and report all the happenings of your project to you; surpassing the boundaries of time and language.

Conclusion

After weighing the pros and cons of choosing to tie up with an outsourcing agency to develop your mobile app, it pays to steer clear of certain functional and operations flaws. These flaws can be done away with provided you conduct an in-depth analysis of the company, its reputation in the market and customer feedback that is published online in the form of relevant blogs and reviews. Asking the outsourced company for references is another way to pick the right one so that you can protect yourself from a company initially overpromises but under delivers.

How To Choose an App Developer?

Posted on by Super Admin Testreveal

When you are presented with almost endless options for mobile app developers, choosing the right one can be a tricky challenge. When entering relevant keywords, Google shows you considerable names and web directories with the details of popular app development agencies. However, they all have different levels of experience, each having unique understanding of app development process.

Your app will either be a hit in the market or it could be something that users may un-install quickly. This is why it is important to do research before you entrust someone else with your business reputation. You can pick the top development companies if you have a basic understanding of the process and eye for research.

To help you more, here is vital insight and questions you can ask to choose the right app development partner:

1) Client References:

Isn’t this what you should practically make a top-priority criterion when looking for a perfect app project partner? Exploring company’s portfolio is no doubt the foremost factor that almost decides whether or not to consider the agency for your business app. This is also the best work evaluation technique today. You really want to know more about the brands they have served, challenges they have surpassed, technologies they used and how good they did it all in past.

Client references of their portfolio will give your thoughts of selection a little more push you need to discriminate between the mediocre and the superior.

2) Specialized Consultation:

Mobile app development is more than just UX, features and testing. A qualified app development agency must be able to offer consultation on how to market, enrich and publish the app. Strategic consultation is key to making your business competitive and viable. Before selecting the right development partner, check if they have a resilient mobile app development strategy. This will ensure everything is synchronized and they work in clear directions, with clear expectations.

3) Expect Innovative Features and Outstanding Quality:

The market is saturated with big numbers of mobile app development companies. It is tough for you to pick from the thousands of iPhone app builders and Android app developers. But you can reduce the number on your list by inquiring about their history of innovations in past, quality of their apps and remarkable features they have developed for their clients. Always expect the best since there is a lot going on in the world of technology, and possibilities are infinite.

4) The Right Approach:

In general sense of mobile app development industry, app makers should have knowledge enough to build apps that delight users and fans. App making agencies believe in their own set of principles and methods. Having right mobile app development approach means flexibility, agility and best results. But this is possible only when there are highly experienced peers on their team.

With that said, app developer’s approach should be client-focused. They must understand that each project has its own requirements in terms of process, tools, software, testing and skills. Hence, choose the one who has worked on special projects where team efforts are huge and technical challenges are efficiently met.

Questions to ask:

1.Have you worked for the relevant business/industry?

It always gives you an extra edge in the app development process if you can hire someone who has already tried their hands making the same app as the one in your mind. Ask them if they have built similar apps before. If they have experience, it means they know how to resolve common problems down the path.

This also means that they can start better and work faster than other agency who has still no product to show in that category. Such companies understand your business keenly and can give you competitive results.

2.Where can I download your app?

If it is about your business reputation, you should want to dig deep enough. If you are unable to catch more from their public portfolio, ask them to share with you links to download their apps so that you can scrutinize it yourself.

Once you have an access to their app copies, try fiddling with it on different devices and get the look and feel of the product yourself. Ask them what more they could have done with the existing app and if they can rebuild such apps with even more enhanced features and UX for you.

3.Do you develop cross-platform apps?

Set clear goals and expectations from the very beginning about cross-platform app development. Do you want them to make apps for both iOS and Android? If your app is to function for both OS systems, you can ask them if they can build apps using generic coding that can be used for both OS. Your audience could be the wide demographics that want to access the same app from different devices, which requires cross-platform apps. Talk to your mobile app firm in detail about devices preferences and cross-platform development abilities.

 4.What is your idea about app monetization for my app?

You are not making an app just for amusement. Hence, app monetization strategy should be a part of your conversation with app development companies. Ask them what chances your app has to make money via online ad. Will your app keep users coming back to it more often? How to optimize it for that intent? Get clear answers to your curiosity about making money with your app. An experienced app developer must have a few confident responses for you.

5.Do you offer all-round app development services?

Some app development studios limit their services to design elements (UI and UX) whereas others exclude post-deployment maintenance as additional add-on. Even back-end is often comes with extra consideration with some development companies. Also app store submission, ASO (app store optimization) and app marketing are seen as separate chunks off the app development cycle. If you want to get it all done from one agency, make sure you hire someone who is expert in all-round app development capabilities.

6.What kind of communication you prefer during the process?

Communication, as with any business partnership, is the key to ensuring the smooth development process. It establishes clarity and helps keep the client updated about smallest of changes. Make client communication as often – or even daily – as possible via methods you are most comfortable with. You can use Skype, email or intranet methods to keep things transparent and dynamic.

7.How much will the app development cost?

This is the most commonly asked question in app development partnerships. Price is important, but in the market flooded with app developers, you will always manage to find many who claim to build the app in less. However, cost depends on the type of your app and its scope.

If it is for your business, cost should not be a deciding factor. Reduction in cost may make you compromise on quality, app security, coding perfection and even skills and expertise of developers. They won’t do good things in cheap prices. So don’t let the price be the driver of your decision.

Final thoughts:

Once you select an app development partner, there is no going back. It is therefore necessary to be serious about choosing the right app development company. Make your selection process as rigorous as you can by considering all the expectations from your future partner. Your app represents the business and engages customers, thereby bringing more profit. An app designed well can truly make huge difference. Hopefully this guide helps you choose the trusted app development company.