Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
The Dedicated Developers, which is headquartered in Atlanta, offers website development and several other technology services including Mobile Application Development, Software Development, Full-Stack Development, Cloud Computing Services, IoT Services, Enterprise Mobility Solutions and more to clients around the world.
I am Vishal Bhatia, CEO, and Co-Founder. I work daily on building our business capabilities, developing a strategy with our partners and clients, and talking with prospective customers. I work with potential clients to find out their exact needs, and to determine if we are an excellent fit to deliver their vision – I love this part of my role the most as building long-term relationships with our clients is my passion.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
In 2006, I began offering online marketing consultations, and shortly after that, I started hiring contractors to take on some of the workloads. It quickly became apparent that hiring the right team of people was vital to e-commerce business success; however, businesses were not able to execute this task properly.
So, I started finding technical team members for my clients for running their businesses. So, my company became well known for helping businesses find “the best people for the job.”
Over time, we started focusing on web and mobile technical support as those were the areas that were the most valuable to clients as well as the areas where they needed the most help.
We have now built up a team of over 200 expert web and mobile developers who have at least master degrees in Computer Engineering. We offer US companies high-quality local and global solutions for their programming needs, and our globally integrated team of developers and designers are available to forward-thinking companies aspiring to improve their product and service offerings.
Throughout the evolution of our business, our focus has always been on providing clients with high-quality projects delivered on time and budget – that is and will always be our key mission.
What are your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
At Dedicated Developers, we have built our team of highly qualified designers and developers who use the latest tools and frameworks to provide clients with innovative solutions they need to grow. We offer local US companies (as well as global companies) access to highly talented US developers, who are experienced in delivering high-quality work that top companies expect. Clients who work with Dedicated Developers gain access to experts who are dedicated to designing, building, and launching their app or web project promptly. To manage costs, we also offer a hybrid model of development and design services from South American and Asian countries.
To help clients achieve their goals, our team members develop an intimate knowledge of what our clients’ needs are, particularly in the areas of advanced engineering, legal requirements for some specialty industries, and what the end users of our clients' expectations in their web and mobile apps.
How is your business model beneficial from a value addition perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
We have a long track record of being able to bring the best developers to the table for our client’s unique needs. This really sets us apart since we offer access to a large pool of developers with varying skill sets. When clients hire us they can feel confident that they will get their projects completed on time, on budget, and to the highest quality.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
At this point, we’ve worked on over 1,000 projects for over 300 clients from a wide range of niches, including e-commerce, health, and fitness, transportation, real estate, education, casinos, media, medical, food and more. About 85% of our clients offer repeat business or having on-going engagements with us.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
Having been in business for over 12 years now, we have developed a mobile app development process that ensures timeliness while also guaranteeing client satisfaction with the end product. The first step is getting a clear understanding from the client of what they are looking for through our industry-leading blueprint process. This includes discussions with the client along with our knowledge and experience as to how much time it will take to build the exact features a client wants. Our expertise in what parts are critical in a first launch product, and what parts can be built in stages also helps the client plan a timeline and budget that they are comfortable with. Mobile apps are ever changing, and when those changes are planned over time, it often allows the clients to be able to launch within a reasonable amount of time, and yet still be able to eventually add all the extra bells and whistles they want in their app.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
The time frame for developing the front and back end of mobile apps is unique to each client. If it’s a simple app, it can be 4-6 weeks. If it is much more involved with more advanced features, it can take 3-4 months or more.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
Critical parameters for selecting a mobile app platform include what the client’s business objectives are, the purpose of the app, and who the end users will be. Some clients have already done the research and determined what platform they want. Others are not as certain, and so we will work with them to determine the best platform. For instance, we will get more details about their app and its purpose – this information can often determine which platform is best. In general, our experience is that Android is best when targeting the global market, and iOS is best for targeting a North American audience or consumers with more advanced requirements on a user interface. There's no hard and fast rule, and we will closely work with clients to help ensure they get the best platform.
Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
Each app and each company is unique. There is no “one” best platform for every business. It depends on what the app is for, the time frame, and who the end user will be. We have found that Android may be best for companies who are seeking to make money off of advertisements, and iOS is best for companies that are going to charge people to download their app.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Each of these platforms has their strengths and their weaknesses. When speaking to people about their proposed app, its purpose, and the end users, we’ll often find that there can be a preferred platform to start on, though it’s not a hard and fast rule. Currently, iOS apps are more prevalent in the US and Western Europe and Android apps more popular in Asia, Africa, and Australia.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
In simplest terms, the complexity of an app is the biggest factor when it comes to determining the cost. A secondary factor is platform choice. In general, the more complex the features, the longer an app takes to build, and the higher the cost will be. As for the platform, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses, and in general, it can take more time to integrate some features into one platform over another.
Also, when a client needs an accelerated launch date, it often means higher costs because more work must happen simultaneously. In that case, a highly skilled developer and the project manager needs to be involved directly with the developers to tightly manage all the milestones and ensure the project sticks to the timeline.
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.)
We offer clients two payment model options. The first model is for a fixed cost project, with milestone payments. In this case, a project has a set price for a specific set of features. These features are usually broken down into milestone or monthly payments that are set out over a specified period.
The other model is a dedicated engagement model. This is where a client will hire one or more developers for a set amount of time each month, and it is on-going month after month. This works well for people who have continuous and on-going development work, and their on-going business needs require development support. This type is also used by clients who have had us create a website or app, and they need us to maintain it and manage it after the initial launch.
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?
Our projects must meet the following minimum budget requirements: $10,000.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2018?
Over the past year we completed projects that ranged in price from $20,000 to $500,000.
15. Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
Some apps are for internal business use only, such as an app that is designed to make workers’ jobs more comfortable or more efficient. These typically cannot be monetized. Popular monetization strategies for other apps include advertising, offering free and premium versions, in-app purchases, subscriptions, white, and paid only applications.
