Monday, April 6, 2015

Scaleable App Development: Why Flexibility is Key

Finding top-quality app developers is hard. Harder is finding an app developer that has the vision for the long-term health of your digital app. In app development (as in most business ventures) once you get far enough into the process you start to realize that many of your original assumptions were wrong. It might take a month for you to get to this point. It might take a year. Heck, it might even take ten. What's important is that when you get to this point, you should have the capability and flexibility to adapt and move forward.

I've spoken with a few people who have told me a bit about their experiences with custom developers. There seems to be a common theme: they spend months developing a flashy app with a feature set to put Inspector Gadget to shame. Upon completion of development they finally release it to the major app stores and everyone goes happily on their way. After a few months of usage analysis, these folks find that 10% of their app's features aren't being used and another 30% are being used in ways they hadn't anticipated. Furthermore, their research shows them that apps similar to theirs are having success using features they hadn't originally thought of. Where do you go from here?

Well, you could do nothing. But this option will inevitably lead to your app fading into obsolescence. You could pay your original developers a premium to release a new version of your app with the changes that you need. Or, you could save by going to a cheaper developer who doesn't have familiarity with your app or the underlying architecture, resulting in a less-than-seamless transition from one app version to the next. And I haven't even mentioned routine bug fixes and security updates that your app will also undoubtedly need. You see, the problem with outsourcing app development is that project-based developers are not invested in the long-run. Thus, any maintenance or changes that you need are bound to be expensive and time consuming.

PixelEdge overcomes this problem by offering clients turnkey app development and management services for all stages of their app projects. Since our fixed monthly pricing doesn't adjust when your app requires updates, we approach each project with a long-term vision that is flexible and comprehensive. Meanwhile, you don't have to sink large upfront costs and you get all the support and technical expertise you need at every step along the way. So, if you're looking into app development and don't have the resources to do it in-house, keep PixelEdge in mind. We've got solutions for projects of all shapes and sizes, and we save your organization time and money in the long-run.