Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
Keyideas Infotech is one of the fastest growing mobile app development companies specializing in iOS, Android & Windows Phone Applications besides providing eCommerce solutions to global clients. With over a decade of experience, we position ourselves as the pioneers in the industry. Our experienced developers have in-depth knowledge of major iOS, Android, Windows, PHP platforms/frameworks; use the best business practices and proven methodologies to deliver best in class mobile and web apps.
I am the CEO and founder of the company responsible for meeting company’s mission and growth. My role is to manage the overall operations of the company, besides discovering the policies, products and marketing strategies, which help us move forward successfully. We have successfully developed the “Indian Railways IRCTC & Train PNR Mobile App” with over 2.8 million downloads.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
Our mission is to provide enterprises with high-quality, dynamic business software applications with 100% client satisfaction. Since the beginning, we have been delivering the best-suited solutions at a competitive cost across the world. The idea behind starting Keyideas Infotech was to be a one-stop destination for start-ups and business owners to deliver websites and mobile apps which would help them maximize their reach and attain more customers. We fundamentally believe in developing long-term strategic partnerships with our clients by exceeding expectations and providing a great level of transparency.
What is your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We prefer to keep the quality of work at the highest possible level, and hence we develop every bit of the software within the company. We have a complete in-house team who takes care of the various phases of our client’s projects from prototyping, wireframing, UX designing, mobile app development, testing, and implementation. We do not outsource any work. Our team includes well-experienced UI/UX Designers, Mobile App Developers (iOS and Android), QA, Sales Team and Project Managers.
How is your business model beneficial from a value addition perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
The way we make ourselves stand apart is by focusing on the technology. Besides that, we are known for our sincerity and dependability as we provide good guidance to our clients, at every phase of the project. With years of experience, we have refined the process system & technology that enables us to create high-quality, scalable mobile solutions. With less time spent on resolving issues, our development teams are able to finish your projects on schedule and within the budget. Our exclusive agile methodology helps us handle software projects of any scale and complexity, all the while exceeding our customers’ expectations.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive?
Our diverse vertical industry knowledge in eCommerce and Enterprise mobility has helped us to stay in the forefront. We have worked on several Social Networking Apps for messaging and chatting. Different verticals have different needs and hence we thoroughly understand the requirements pertaining to the industry before developing the app. We tailor our apps to meet the needs of specific industry verticals be it real estate, travel, healthcare, retail, lifestyle or any other industry verticals. If our skills and services add some value to the project, we look forward to taking up the project.
Yes, our client retention rate is pretty good, which is about 81% to 85%, which is much higher than the industry standards of 70%.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
Most of our clients want the app in the shortest possible time and we are able to develop the MVP (the very basic version of an app) in a time span of 2-3 months. Based on the MVP, clients decide to develop their business ideas further, decide on the new features and functionalities to be added, and what is the time and budget that they need to dedicate for this. The time for mobile app development is primarily affected by several factors - functionalities involved, their complexities, user interfaces, customization, resource availability, and third party integrations.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
The efforts developing the front end and back end solely depends on the type and the complexity of the project. There are several apps that stress on feature-rich front end while others require heavy back end processing. There is no simple answer to this question as it totally depends on the mobile app being developed. If it is a simple app, perhaps 25% or 30% time would be spent building the backend as compared to the frontend. But if the backend has to process information in a complex way, the time required would be quite high as 70%. In most of the scenarios, developing the backend always consumes more effort and time than building the frontend.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
Choosing the right platform, primarily iOS and Android requires a detailed evaluation of the target audiences for your app, the technical strengths and weaknesses of each platform and a review of the long-term benefits of the platform. Demographic information and the target market often help in determining which platform is rightly situated for a mobile application. If the client requires something quick, we develop Hybrid apps as it significantly reduces the development cost and efforts.
Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
Most of the clients know exactly what they’re looking for as they have researched well before approaching us. They already know their user-base and know which platform to choose. As we work with both types of clients, one who approaches us with an idea, we help them identify the appropriate platform based on their project requirements. Depending on various parameters, most clients develop for both iOS and Android platforms. Android has more market share in developing nations like Asia and Africa with 87% market share while iOS leads the market in developed countries like US, Australia, Europe with 12% market share.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Our recommendation would be Native apps, as they provide the best usability, the best features, and the best overall mobile experience, be it Android or iOS. Apps widely mean Native apps, as they provide the best mobile application performance because they are platform specific. Native apps actually make use of the features which are native to the mobile device like GPS or camera. On the other hand, we develop Hybrid apps which are a combination of both web and native apps which reduce the cost of development across multiple platforms and are preferred when the time is crucial.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
There is a common measurement for deciding the cost of an application which is the number of app screens. Moreover, mobile app development cost depends on operating systems, native or web app, user authentications, integration with enterprise systems, app distributions, maintenance, support, and enhancements. We decide the estimate cost based on the wireframe, UX/UI designing of screens, and other actions required for developing the application. We follow agile methodology as it is the key to rapid and flexible software development. We share a proposal with the client after doing a thorough cost analysis.
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 follow two payment methods - Hourly Billing (T&M Model) and Fixed Cost Model. We suggest an Hourly option for projects which undergo continuous enhancements or have regular tasks related to maintenance. The Hourly Billing is suitable for complex projects that are inclined towards specification and design changes. We recommend a Fixed Price solution for projects which have well-defined requirement specifications, have defined expected deliverables and timelines. This model is best suited for small and medium projects. Overall, we are flexible with the payment structure so that we can meet the client requirements.
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?
We take up projects with a minimum budget of $1000 to $2000. We work on all kinds of projects both small and big, depending on the project requirements. Sometimes small projects can be very interesting and can grow into huge projects. Several enhancements in the project often turn them into big projects.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2016?
The minimum priced project in 2016 has been $9,000 and the maximum priced project has been $170,000. In 2017, we are currently working on a project with a budget of $200,000.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
There can be different methods to generate business via the mobile app. We often suggest the traditional methods like pay per download, freemium, in-app purchases, transaction charges, subscriptions, virtual currency and mobile advertising. Mobile adverting is one of the most popular and most widely used, among app monetization models. We also suggest client to initially promote their products on the social media platform as this helps in notifying the target audience. In addition, we also suggest in-app advertising. It comes in different dimensions and placements in the mobile app. There are quite a few types of business models, but the selection of the business model primarily depends on the mobile app.
