Magellan. 5 Simple Steps to Finding the Right Mobile Development Magellan Holdings, LLC.

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1 Magellan 5 Simple Steps to Finding the Right Mobile Development Services for Your Business 1

2 Introduction -1 million smart phones are sold every year. -There are 1.5 billion people on smart phones worldwide. -$25 billion worth of merchandise and services were purchased on mobile in Your business simply needs mobile development. But app creation, development, deployment and maintenance? That s not so simple and it s not the business you re in. You ll need trustworthy providers to partner with you on a complete mobile solution, moving your project from plan to scale and providing a secure infrastructure and the team to maintain it. This eguide will help you define what you re looking for and give you some simple steps toward finding the partners right for you. Step 1: Assessing your needs The first step is understanding what a complete solution for mobile is and who can provide one for you. There are three critical elements to a complete mobile solution: highly skilled engineers covering a wide range of software disciplines (all on one team if possible); a mobile platform with a common-code base (ios, Android and Windows); a highly scalable backend server with fault-tolerance and security built in (ideally a server SDK that is already integrated with a common-code base client). Whether you re launching a startup with an idea and a few sketches, or taking the current systems of a Fortune 500 company to the next level, you need partners who understand your business and can provide the complete mobile services you require. Step 2: Assessing how your mobile project (or projects) will be used You wouldn t start construction on your dream house without drawing up a blueprint. Similarly, before you get a proposal and start software development, you need a blueprint of the features and system requirements. The term Use Cases describes the blueprint. Use Cases walk you through all of the possible ways a system can be used and by whom. 2

3 Use Cases reduce schedule slips and keep you from having to continually add features that weren t thought about at the start of the project. Simply put, they ll save you time and budget and prevent headaches. As you interview potential software partners, ask if they ll develop Use Cases first, for their usual fee, without any obligation to contract with you on the final project. That way, you can share the completed Use Cases with several potential partners to get the most competitive bid. Step 3: Assessing the available tools You don t need to be an engineer to launch a mobile strategy, but you do need to understand the client and server side development environment. Once Use Cases are complete, it s time to get a clear picture of what development tools and platforms each potential partner proposes for your project. Client Side Assuming your development will involve both mobile apps and a backend server, let s begin with the client side (i.e., ios, Android and Windows). According to a 2013 article in Time Magazine, ios and Android, respectively, made up 37.8% and 52.3% of U.S. market share; it is safe to say that any mobile strategy should consider deploying apps on at least ios and Android. Smartphone and tablet apps have traditionally been treated as separate software projects defined by operating system. But more recently, some companies have developed tools with a common-code base for ios, Android and Windows. This is the ideal approach. It allows one software project for all three operating systems, so if any functionality is changed in the code, it immediately applies to all three systems. This provides faster development, lower overall development cost, and decreased ongoing maintenance. Plus it means product rollouts and future updates are carried out across your entire user base, so no one has to wait for their particular version to be released. Along with the common-code base, look for a hybrid app platform, which takes advantage of both native and HTML5 functionality all operating within a single app architecture. This allows greater features and functionality compared to only using native or HTML5. Server Side: In recent years, mobile backend server platforms, or Backend as a Service ( BaaS ) have become a critical component for app developers, and app publishers. BaaS is a model that lets web and mobile app developers link their applications to backend cloud storage while also providing features such as: 3

4 User management Push notifications Social integration. Using BaaS to power mobile apps significantly reduces resource outlay. Think about it this way: with BaaS, you only need to engage app developers, instead of server and app developers; you connect with an existing server instead of building your own; and the server you connect to provides access to features you might not take the time and expense to build into your own server. BaaS radically simplifies the steps from idea to deployment (and makes management and maintenance simpler, too). When considering mobile development partners, look for firms with an internal BaaS or ones who integrate with a third party BaaS. Pricing models usually involve a flat fee per month up to a number of API calls (such as push notifications) or a fee per API call. Each app, based on features and the business it supports, has different volumes of API calls, so make sure you understand server and hosting pricing. Do this assessment after the Use Cases are written and before software development begins. Step 4: Assessing the true cost of development, deployment and maintenance to fit your budget and growth stage Development costs considerations: The average cost of custom app development for a medium complexity app is $100,000 or more. If three operating systems are considered, the cost grows to $150,000, with first year maintenance around $30,000 without integrating to a backend server. Thinking about $180,000 as a first year budget can certainly be daunting. (For a copy of Magellan s True Costs of Mobile Apps white paper, link here.) As you assess your business mobile development needs, it s critical to understand what features, functionality and business logic are already built into the common-code base and backend server solutions. In a lot of cases, a good portion of what you want is already there. With those things in place, plus minimal custom software, many development firms can achieve a Version 1 release for around $40,000. Of course, that s not a budget for a complete mobile solution, but it is a strategy to consider to when you re ready to publish your Version 1 in the app stores and deploy your mobile strategy. After that you can gauge what additional custom development you need to grow and maintain your mobile business and presence. 4

5 Step 5: Measure twice, cut once You ve assessed your needs, commissioned and reviewed Use Cases, taken a look at the available tools, and have a clear idea of the true costs involved in mobile development. With that information in hand, you re ready to interview potential providers of a complete mobile solution. Just a couple of takeaway points to keep in mind: Develop Use Cases upfront. Identify common-code base type tools for client side development. Understand pricing and features for BaaS. Understand what features are already built in to reduce overall development costs for Version 1. ************* 5