Application development and maintenance are a boon to business development in today’s time. While they are being constantly used for different purposes like creating client base, easy reach to customers, staying in touch with buyers etc. the cost to develop and maintain a small app varies from few thousand to even millions. We have seen several apps getting popular within instances like Amazon, Myntra, Freecharge, Paytm etc. however, it’s also a fact that about 80% of the apps come and go but never get noticed. Though there is no dictionary and guide to make your app successful truly, yet there are few methods and factors on which you can work upon to make the most out of your app. Cost cutting the development and maintenance charges is the first and foremost way to work towards it. If your app becomes a hit then you are going to save surplus bucks, even if it fails for any reason you won’t bear the brunt of high inputs.
Now the question that will strike your mind is that how and where you can cut the cost? Here are a few parameters that are an important determinant for an app cost and will make a big difference if you make some wise decisions.
It is often seen that while the inspection of the app is done, there is no definite role for different app cycle phases. In simple words, while outsourcing an IT firm make sure that they agree to the different roles and their profiles. There should be a proper nomenclature for each role like development, analysis, designing, coding etc. Along with this, they should have well defined knowledge, skill and experience to hold that role. Not only it makes the entire process organized but also establishes the baseline for a standard price for your app.
Experience counts and it is charged as well, at least in IT outsourcing. The more experienced personnel is, the higher command he will charge. Now you have distinct roles and responsibilities defined you can sort out the things by allotting works as per the experience bands. Try to hire experienced resources for important phases like coding, designing etc. Analysis and Documentation can be done with an intermediate level resource. It will moderate the cost to some extent.
While we have high technology experts available in the market, they are commanding premium rates which are often out of the budget. Decide the rate not only on the basis experience but also the expertise in the technology you want. An experience in Java is not needed if you are planning the app to be developed with PHP or SQL technology. Decide it first handedly whether the experience and expertise be counted together or not.
It’s all about location. That means the kind of developer, technology and man hour rates all depend on and varies as per the geographical location. There is a huge difference in pay rates for resources that are based upon geographical locations. However, service centers are oftenly dispersed throughout the world, so that you can easily outsource the team or app developers, offshore or onshore. Suppose the case of countries like India, Argentina or others where there are rates per hour quiet cheaper and yet the technology and manual labor is efficient and qualitative. In fact, the rates within these countries vary a lot. While in countries like the US, Canada etc. the rates per hour are as high as they are counted in dollars. SO better stick according to your budgets.
One of the main challenges that is associated with an app development is to quantify and measure the efforts and to size the associated time and cost. Without analyzing the expected duration and complexity, it gets difficult to measure the process. Basically, metric is a kind of graph that will define how much work should be done and is expected to be done within an expected time frame. The metrics has certain terms and definitions which ensure that the entire development and maintenance is testable, feasible, correct, and relevant and measures the productivity as well as time. The results often are benchmark and you can check the progress whether you are ahead of time or lagging behind.
So the final verdict comes out that prevention is better than cure always! Be prepared and plan well before the development starts. No size fits all and that’s why you need to prioritize the different rules as per your project. Half of your app is completed if you have properly planned the budget in accordance to time and experience. After all its all about making difference and improvise the chances for being a hit!
Manish Jain is the co-founder and Managing Director at Konstant Infosolutions. He is responsible for the overall operations of the company and has played a major role in bringing Konstant up from its humble beginnings and, with his immense energy and drive, transforming it into a globally trusted name in IT solutions.
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