Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
Algoworks is a leading and fast-growing mobile application development company known for developing stunning native apps to awe-inspiring cross-platform apps giving innovation yet another dimension. It excels in providing the most appropriate mobility solution leveraging our 100+ developers in both native and cross-platform development.
We follow a consultative-driven approach for providing end-to-end expertise and exceptional mobility solutions. We specialize in creating native Android, iOS applications as well as using cross-platform tools like React Native and Xamarin and cutting-edge scripting languages including AngularJS, Node.js and a lot more. We have acute finesse in areas of CRM and SaaS technologies like Salesforce, and unmatched ambitions in providing DevOps Consultancy Services. Our Business Intelligence department helps in brightening up the business excellence with a BI guided roadmap.
Our diverse proficiency allows us to pick the perfect technology combination that best suits our clients’ needs. The company was started in 2006 by Pratyush Kumar, Rachit Agarwal and myself, and now comprises of 225+ employees.
I am the co-Founder and Director of Business Management of Algoworks. I work in the capacity of Business Management Director at Algoworks Technologies. My forte lies in strategy formulation for capturing and building new revenue streams, value articulation across technology products and solutions, as well as CXO, connects. I deal with delivering full product development lifecycle services to all technology companies, right from startups to established enterprises following a unique joint-venture model of partnering with clients to deliver great software products to market rapidly and economically.
With the expansion of Algoworks Technologies over the years, I look forward to bringing in new partnerships from all around the globe and head towards the Fortune 500 companies.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
The scope of digital technologies is boundless and the ever-increasing need for mobile solution always enticed me. “You dream and we actualize” has been our motto. After learning and exploring the various verticals of IT domain we thought of actualizing the dreams of the vendors trying to keep our work devoid of stereotyping and as close as possible to our clients’ imagination. The core idea was to scale up innovation in the market and move towards a better tomorrow. The demand increased and we decided to equalize the supply leveraging the exceptionally talented employees here at Algoworks.
What are your company’s business model– an in-house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
In-house team model. We do not outsource and have a very comprehensive project management methodology. Everything right from documentation to development is managed by our in-house team. We have a team of 225+ members which comprises BAs, designers, developers, QAs all under one roof. The in-house project ensures fast communication and shorter response time and the outcome is reflected in the form of high client satisfaction.
How is your business model beneficial from a value-added perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
We believe in building experiences and not just mere apps. We follow a very customer-centric approach to keep superior client experience at priority. Usually, we follow an agile methodology which gives a clear picture and complete transparency throughout the various phases of project development and deployment. However, according to me quick response, good communication, 24x7 availability, technical expertise are the most crucial and imperative factors to make a project successful. We work with a transparent model which keeps our clients aware of the current status at each and every phase. We have streamlined our processes which are perfected by a team of exceptional developers and designers for over a decade. Our processes are both time and cost efficient hence providing satisfactory and high quality IT solutions.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
We have served clients in almost all verticals including enterprise, e-commerce, healthcare, wearables, IoT, Augmented Reality, retail, travel and a lot more across the globe.
Yes, we do have repeat customers and we have an excellent client retention rate. We have a client retention rate of approx 72% as of 2018.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
The parameters that are imperative in determining the time frame of developing an app majorly depends on the complexity of the project i.e. the number of features and functionalities that we have to implement. A few amongst them being the development environment, the back end panel requirements, third-party API integrations, platform dependencies, web services, hosting, etc. It involves various stages like analysis, wire framing, designing, coding, testing, QA and launching an app on their respective App Stores. Every phase of mobile app development claims a different amount of time and effort.
Hence the scope of work, marking the gray areas, clients’ expectations and taste in-app features and specifications play a significant role in determining the time frame for developing an app.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
The amount of effort that goes into developing the front-end and back-end of an app completely depends on the size and complexity of the project. The back end is the crucial part whereas the front-end plays a significant role in representing the information. However on an average for a client-server app, the front-end to back-end ratio is 40:60.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
The most vital parameter to consider before choosing the right platform is to analyze what your target audience or end users are using. It is highly imperative to analyze the usage pattern and understand the persona to be able to create a maximum impact of the app. Apart from doing detailed market research and audience analysis; we also have to look at the client’s business model, revenue model, country focus, etc.
Which platform do you suggest your clients, to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
We cater to the clients globally and the criteria changes depending upon the demographics. For example, in US people prefer iOS whereas Android rules the Asian market. However, nowadays the awareness has increased and clients know exactly what they want to build and for which user base. In case the client seeks for our idea unless the client has financial concerns we suggest both, but we do have a priority listing which we expose to the client based on our study of his idea when launched in the market through market research.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Each of the above is unique in its own way, it depends on the type of app we are building, audiences that we are targeting and the demographics we have selected. We deal with both Native and Hybrid app development; both platforms are very versatile in nature having their own set of importance, so we can’t compare both platforms. The selection of these platforms completely depends on our client’s choice, application functionality as well as their budget. We recommend going for native apps but it totally depends on the client's budget as native apps are relatively expensive than hybrid apps. In case the client is too short of budget, we recommend going with native iOS development.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
The cost of the mobile application depends on the scope of the project; the scale of the work majorly defines how much the client should be investing. It also depends a lot on how much of pre-development activities are done, how many expert members are required and what is the complexity of the solution. Hence majorly the cost of the app depends on the number of man-hours required by the developers, designers, project management and communication, deployment, training and handover process, the server configurations and lastly the post-deployment support.
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.)
There are three kinds of payment structure which we usually follow; the fixed cost, the time and material payment structure and the dedicated payment method. We are highly flexible when it comes to cost management. However, the cost structure is defined and depends majorly on the status of the app.
We go for the fixed payment structure and a definite timeline if the scope of the project is crystal clear and a certain amount is paid at definite, defined milestones.
We go for the time and material payment method when the client needs a total control on the project status and need not define the project scope and the payment is done based on the number of working hours of the allocated resources.
The last method being the dedicated payment method which allows the client to hire a dedicated team and who works on a day-to-day basis and we charge a defined amount at the end of each month.
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?
Yes. We mostly choose projects that are above 3000 USD. However, if we come across a project which is unique and interesting adding value to our knowledge we definitely try to bag it.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2017?
2017 has been a significant year in the history of Algoworks where we have bagged a healthy number of projects between USD 5000 to USD 100,000.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
There are various business models available in the market like advertising, e-commerce, etc. But personally I would recommend advertising since it gives your app the deserved footage and is a perfect way to generate revenue that grows exponentially over time.
