Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
SumatoSoft is a custom software development company that focuses on turn-key projects, which means we provide a full range of services, from business analysis and software prototyping to UX design, development, quality assurance and support. At SumatoSoft, we strive to apply cutting-edge technology along with our comprehensive experience, dedication and technical expertise to make sure our customers get solutions that fully meet their business needs.
Being a co-founder, not only am I responsible for SumatoSoft’s global strategy but also I am directly involved in managing resources, building and maintaining lasting relationships with customers.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
Together with Vladimir Shidlovsky, my business partner and co-founder of SumatoSoft, we decided to set up a company that would provide businesses with high-quality custom software and what is more, supports our clients throughout a whole way of their ideas’ implementation. We made Quality the cornerstone of all the company’s activities and adhere to the concept to this day, which allows SumatoSoft to become a technology partner for our customers.
What are your company’s business model–in-house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We are a dedicated in-house team running like clockwork where everyone plays an important role and contributes to the success of each project and company as a whole. I am proud to say we brought together true masters of their craft.
How is your business model beneficial from a value added perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
Thanks to the path we took, we have managed to provide full transparency to our customers at each stage of our cooperation. SumatoSoft’s clients are able to meet and talk to each team member personally. Other benefits are the team coherence and high development speed, as the team is co-located.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
We have a proven track record of delivering high-quality automotive IT solutions, IoT products, marketing automation & e-commerce software, applications for logistics, to name a few. In general, with adequate resources and a high expertise level, we are able to provide solutions to business challenges in any domain.
Speaking about our clients, about 90-95 percent of them are repetitive: once a client has an idea for a new product or service, they turn to the proven technology partner – SumatoSoft. What is more, many businesses come to us on the recommendations of our existing customers.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the timeframe of developing a mobile app.
When evaluating any project, we conduct an analysis of business objectives and think through the functionality that would help to meet these business goals. The timeframe depends primarily on the scope of work. We also take into account the budget and customer’s expectations in terms of timing. We further stick to the estimates we made, while flexibility allows us to meet the deadlines regardless of the situation.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
Well, I would say it depends. As I said, it is highly dependent on the scope of work, on the number and complexity of a mobile app features. To give a clear timeline for developing the front end and back end of an app, knowing nothing about this app and without a preliminary assessment of all the business factors, would be a misrepresentation.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
The key factors are customer requirements and needs, business objectives, the target audience of a future product, business infrastructure. For example, if a B2B company has already procured a large number of iOS devices, it would be odd to choose an Android platform, and vice versa. Depending on the business requirements, we are able to provide our customers with both native (Android or iOS) and cross-platform applications.
Which platform do you suggest to your clients, to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
SumatoSoft has an extensive experience in developing top-notch mobile apps for both Android and iOS. It is up to clients to decide on the audience they would like to target and on the basis of what is known about end users, to opt for a platform that would best serve business interests. At the same time, we are always willing to offer assistance to our customers in making this informed decision.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
I would recommend proceeding from an application type and business goals. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
The cost of a mobile application is tied to the number of efforts spent by the team. As we provide the full cycle of services for mobile app development, the teamwork includes efforts of, developers, quality assurance engineers, business analytics, and UX designers. The amount of time spent on a project, in turn, depends on its scope, the number of features, the complexity of implementing and need for integrations.
What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)
As we adhere to the Time and Materials model, as I mentioned above, SumatoSoft’s clients pay for the time our team devoted to a project. That said, our customers can count on full transparency from our side. As for Fixed Cost, it is an option when the scope of the project can be estimated as precisely as possible and there are no unknown factors at all.
Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?
Considering that we implement full-cycle projects and deliver comprehensive solutions to our clients, the minimum initial investment amount is between $20,000 and $25,000.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2018?
Unfortunately, I cannot disclose this information as it is confidential.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
We are not involved in the marketing of customer applications but I personally think that the emphasis should be placed on how an app would meet the needs of end users.
