10 Tips To Find The Right Mobile App Development Company

With 86.34% of smartphone users worldwide and so many mobile applications running on these smartphones, the number of mobile app development company establishments across the globe is rising at an unparalleled pace.  

And it is no surprise in a world full of people hooked on mobile phones that mobile applications are rapidly penetrating every sphere of a human’s life. In fact, 49% of the people open mobile apps more than 11 times per day. 

Research by Statista states that mobile applications may generate $935 billion in revenue by 2023. Therefore, a consumer-facing business must invest in a mobile application to become accessible and facilitate business growth.  

However, choosing the right iOS and Android app development company is no cakewalk. With so many options to choose from, one is bound to get confused.    

Finding the most suitable Android and iOS mobile app development company is a daunting task. Along with employing the most effective product marketing strategies, a mobile app development company should also be able to add great value to its clients’ success stories.  

Furthermore, it is always beneficial to look for someone who has significant industry experience, domain expertise, competitive rates, and believes in a long-term relationship.  

10 Points to Consider while finding the right mobile app development company

Here are some tips that will help you choose the most suitable mobile app development company for your business needs:   

1. Not a tech-only partner but also a product partner  

As the first step, a business needs to establish its mission, vision, and how the product accomplishes those parameters as well as ensure that its mobile application embodies and communicates the core value of the brand to its target audience.  

A business needs to be clear and thorough with how a mobile application would help drive their business towards more customer engagement and future business growth and how tech will help them scale to the next level.   

Businesses should always look for a tech partner who is not only technically proficient but also has the know-how of product strategy and SPIN in sales.  

Someone has rightly said that good companies are either tech proficient or successful in product launches but great companies are experts in both.  

Struggling with the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of mobile app development? Big Oh is there to help you make an informed decision. With our IT and Technical consulting services, we are a one-stop destination for application development and product-related queries.   

2. Assess   

A. Industry Experience and domain expertise   

Developing a mobile application is an investment that should be made after carefully studying and analyzing the experience and credentials of the mobile app development company. Firstly, ascertain the percentage of completed projects followed by successful client journeys undertaken, case studies, and similar industry work.   

A mobile app development company with deep knowledge of the industry would be able to give you optimal results and deliver maximum value. Along with domain expertise, evaluate the team who is going to develop your product for you, their certifications, credentials, etc. 

Furthermore, a large part of custom mobile application success depends upon its designs. For this reason, you should be aware of and emphasize the experience and skills of mobile application developers. A good UI/UX designer can assure more engagement and eventually more value for the mobile app.    

Mobile app development companies with years of experience and expertise can be quick in comprehending business challenges. They act on it by developing relevant technical solutions, be it design, structure, or data security.    

B. Reviews and references   

Reviews and references of their existing and previous clients as well as recent client success stories provide a clearer picture of the effectiveness of the mobile app development company and provide much-needed reassurance before investing. Read through reviews, feedback, testimonials, and view ratings to choose responsibly. Moreover, check if the mobile app developers’ company holds awards or any labels that can further prove their competency.   

Clutch, LinkedIn, CIO Review, Ambition Box, Glassdoor, Google Review, and Quora are some of the websites that can be visited to read through the reviews and ratings of mobile app development companies.   

  3. Decide on a software business model   

Business should understand their SWOT analysis in terms of technology and product requirements. This would help them gauge multiple business models that they can propose to potential vendors while planning for and creating software.  

If your internal team has a great product, project, and technical leader then staff augmentation is best suited for you. In this case, you have the liberty to control the production process, deliverables, and end-to-end quality.   

If your internal team has a great product and project lead then TnM is best suited for you as the vendor handles the development process, deliverables, and end-to-end quality but at the same time, you still have complete authority over the product development process.   

If your internal team has a great product and you only want to focus on product strategy and launch, then finding a trustworthy partner who can provide high-quality deliverables is the way to go for you. Understanding the change management and development process (SonarQube and Code Review) to improve code quality is a must for the Fixed Cost model.  

4. Understand mobile app development companies’ workflows/processes    

It is important to know and understand the workflow or processes of the mobile app development company you are hoping to work it. For a smooth journey, you should be aware of the work ethics and ways of the team – right from the beginning, all the way to the ongoing optimization of the application created.    

Furthermore, most custom mobile apps suffer from technical errors and bugs. Users lose interest and eventually, businesses lose engagement owing to regular functioning interruptions. Along with great UI/UX designs and development methodologies, mobile app development companies must follow some of the latest manual and automation QA and testing measures.  

Businesses should ensure that the mobile app provider company uses SonarQube, a tool or software that runs continuous inspection of code quality and detects bugs and code smells.  

Furthermore, ascertain that the mobile application development company follows DevOps practices such as Continuous Integration/Continuous Development (CI/CD) to improve code quality and code review process  

Another aspect to keep in mind for mobile app development is to take details from the vendor about agile processes, sprint durations, and ceremonies. This would help you get a better idea about workflows and timelines.   

5. Data security and compliance   

Right from the security of the app idea to data safety, a business should ensure to choose a tech company with a bullet-proof data security and confidentiality system. Check for data security certifications, breach prevention measures, and strong data protection policies on site.   

Furthermore, ensure that your confidential data is protected from any unauthorized access. Make sure that the chosen vendor prepares a legal framework to safeguard your ideas and thereafter documents them in a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).   

 6. Pricing structure   

Understand the pricing structure of mobile application development. While it’s hard to say how much a mobile app development would cost, because it depends upon multiple factors like features, the scope of the project as well as any ongoing improvements and updates needed, businesses should always ask about the range of price points and the rationale behind each quote.    

Moreover, cheaper is better is certainly not the case for mobile applications.    

 7. Innovation capabilities   

While choosing a mobile app development company always consider its scope and potential for innovation. Consider the features and implementations being suggested and offered. Understand the tech companies’ potential to make mobile applications engaging and compatible with modern technologies, and languages. Check how proficient the potential vendor is with emerging technologies like AI/ML, Blockchain, Chatbots, WhatsApp bots, AR/VR, IoT, etc.   

8. Be wary of your future scaling needs   

Businesses should keep in mind their future scaling needs before choosing the vendor size. If your plans in the future include scaling up your team, a small studio with 20 employees would not be the right choice. Furthermore, it is imperative to check the scaling potential of the vendor company in terms of technology and product maturity. Therefore, ensure that your vendor is capable enough to provide you with performance engineering services from maintenance and support to cloud architecture and optimization, etc., to facilitate business scaling.   

Scaling ensures long-term gains. Hiring a mobile app development team according to your scaling needs is hence highly recommended.    

 9. After development services   

Developing a robust, reliable mobile application also requires constant maintenance and support to keep it up and running. Therefore, choose a mobile app development company that provides quality maintenance and support services. Not just this, go for a tech company that also assists with short notice and emergency support requests.    

10. Start a trial contract    

As much as research and analysis are important, practically working together is equally important to understand if both parties are a good work fit. A trial period would enable you to study and analyze the app development team in action without the commitment to any long-term partnership.    

However, trial contracts are not that common in the technology industry. In such cases, companies that are confident about their product quality, milestone deliveries, and payment as per these deliveries, should be considered first.

Right Questions To Ask The Mobile App Development Company:

Here are some questions that you should ask from the mobile app development company-

1. Proposed Business model   

Businesses should be clear about their preferred business models. However, if there are doubts about the scope then the right choices would be staff augmentation and TnM.   

2. Timelines    

Businesses should ask about the timelines of the project to plan business goals and objectives accordingly. You should aim for Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An ideal time for MVP is 1 month of UI/UX and 3 months of DevOps.  

3. The flexibility to make changes  

A mobile development company should be asked if changes and additions could be made after the completion of the project. They should have a system put in place for change requests and there should be a change register that needs to be signed by both parties whenever a CR is entered.  

 4. Duration of maintenance and support services    

The duration of the maintenance and support service contract should be asked along with SLA. What all is covered in the maintenance package is also important.  

Parting words…   

Choosing a vendor that completely understands your business needs and perspective can only be able to create a practical, scalable mobile application for your business. Therefore, one needs to be very clear about the business requirements and communicate the same to the mobile app development company.    

Further, the mobile app provider and maintenance company that you are planning to go for should have extensive experience and a team that develops products that embody years of expertise. Mobile app development is no small investment to make, ensure you start this journey well-informed and with a tech company that acts like a partner more than just a vendor. Read the above-mentioned tips and you will be covered!   

Looking for the right mobile app development company? Like these tips, we also have solid recommendations.    

BigOhTech serves clients with the best-in-class mobile development services. We develop feature-rich, scalable mobile applications with engaging UI/UX and compatibility with emerging technologies. We provide performance engineering services to help build a scalable business.