Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
Promatics Technologies is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company and is on the way to their CMMI level III certification. Having our presence in USA, India, UAE and United Kingdom, we have worked for several multinational clients across the globe. Be it native or hybrid, Promatics has a good amount of experience in developing mobile apps on plethora of verticals including – AR, VR, Gaming, On Demand etc. Promatics also extends its efforts to smartphones, tablets, wearables, OTT applications, smart TVs and STBs.
I take care of marketing, business development and am responsible for the overall growth of the company. I am also involved in management decisions.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
The very idea behind Promatics is to help our clients succeed and not just survive in the ever-evolving digital marketplace. We truly believe that our success is dependent on the success of our clients and we make sure all of our energies are aligned to achieve that. We keep providing great IT services while nurturing clients’ goals and keeping pace with the latest in technology or evolving novel business trends.
What are your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We build all projects 100% in house. We never outsource or subcontract to any third parties. Our decision to consciously build everything in house stems from the rigid project management processes we follow. An ardent follower of Agile Development process we make sure that our apps are functionally excellent and carry immersive user experience. This is in addition to the in-depth research for each app and through quality checks we perform. The end result is that we hand over to the client is super reliable and robust. And this can only happen if we do everything ourselves without relying on anybody else.
How is your business model beneficial from a value addition perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
When it comes to app development it does not matter whether you have a small business, a large firm or have some new dreams to make; you need an expert. And in Promatics you get that. We add the following values to our clients:
• Top class project management processes.
• Conduction of in-depth research and idea optimization.
• Extra-ordinary mobile project team that can communicate effectively.
• Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest technologies.
• Give flexibility to ad-hoc changes and revisions.
• Able to develop app within the given budget.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
We are catering to a wide spectrum of industries. Some of the prominent ones are education, travel, retail, hospitality, entertainment and manufacturing. Whether it is a Fortune 500 company, an SME or a startup Promatics’ strives to create unique experiences between the customer and product. We have a special relationship with startups and we have one of a kind startup center of excellence internally that take care of their unique needs from idea optimization to providing them extra benefits. For many of our clients, we act as technology partners and some are with us for over 5 years now! Our client retention rate is close to 60% with as much clients awarding us repeat business.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
The time required to build an app varies significantly from one to another. While certain fundamental things need to be considered for all apps that are part of the project management processes. The other things include what kind of an app is being developed, what technology platforms and languages are involved, how much the app is going to interact with the server, how many web services are going to be build, customization or complexity of the modules required in the app etc. Apart from these we also need to factor in the UI designs as well as if any animations required. If the app is big then the quality analysis will again take more time. All these are very important in concluding the time required to develop the app.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
The time and effort required building the front end and back end again depends upon the amount of work (read features in app), complexity etc required for the app. This differs from project to project. There is no standard timeline to develop all apps.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
There are a few things one has to consider before making a call on the right platform. These include but not limited to budget, category, target audience, geographic location, UI designs etc.
Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
If the client does not have zeroed in on the platform himself we offer our recommendations based on our expertise and experience. First we evaluate what is his aim and what he plans to achieve with the app. Also, an important thing is which countries he is planning to launch the app. If he has the budget we offer to build on both platforms however if he is not yet ready for it then we give a suggestion which will give maximum ROI for him. It is then recommended that once he has launched on one platform he can gather feedback and then optimize the app. The other platform can be launched in the next 3 to 6 months of one platform stabilizing. We have normally suggested clients from North America, Middle East and Europe to go for iPhone first and clients from South East Asia for Android first.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
To declare one winner will be being unfair to another. As of today Android and iOS are neck to neck. Whereas Android‘s market share is still higher it is the iOS platform that generates more revenue for app developers. Many clients have already figured out that they need to cover both platforms for full reach and for realizing complete potential of their idea. We always maintain that in certain cases it is an advantage of one platform over another however if you look at the big picture you cannot do without both. As far as the battle between native and hybrid goes we are a little skewed. Although hybrid is catching up fast still we believe that native has many pros over hybrid. In case budget is not an issue we recommend going native.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
We have seen that many times the cost of mobile application development puzzles clients however we follow a very transparent pricing model. Cost is a direct function of complexity and features of the app to be built. First and foremost factor is the technology to be used i.e. hybrid or native. Then there are a few other things like:
• Type of app – Game, AR, wearable, on demand etc.
• Number of features.
• Complexity of those features.
• Screen Count.
• Third party integrations.
• Languages required apart from English.
• Animation and effects required.
• Server-side development and Web services.
After careful analysis of different aspects, we compile them in a document and present it to the client clearly explaining the time and resources required to achieve the same and the final cost.
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 development models: fixed fee and time and materials. For a fixed fee we divide the whole project into few tangible milestones (depending upon the size of the project and the length of engagement). On completion of each milestone, the amount agreed for that milestone has to be paid. The final milestone is upon completion of the whole project. For time and materials, we bill the client weekly at the end of each week.
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 do have a basic budgetary requirement. We usually take up mobile app development projects which are at least 10000 USD and above in value. For web applications it is 20% less. We do make exception to this rule in rare cases based on the uniqueness of the project.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2018?
Almost 90% of the projects we did in 2018 ranged between 10000 USD to 50000 USD.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
Revenue generation is the ultimate goal for any app entrepreneur. Now this is a bit tricky as different business models demand different strategies. Not one revenue generation model fits with all apps. We consider a few crucial factors before making suggestions. Some of the factors are the category of app, target audience, competitor analysis, countries in which app is being launched, industry patterns etc. Based on an in-depth review of such factors we suggest the following revenue generation models:
• Paid apps.
• In app purchases or freemium apps.
• In app Advertisements.
• Subscriptions or drawing commissions on services provided.
• Sponsorships.
Kindly share your feedback on how Goodfirms has been doing so far in increasing your visibility among potential clients.
Goodfirms no doubt is a good platform with many reputable agencies on board. We believe we have got some traffic in the last month however it’s too early to say anything as we have been on the platform for only a month. I guess as time passes we will be able to jot our thoughts on how Goodfirms is bringing value to us.
