iOS7 expected announcement at WWDC 2013—What does it mean to you?

It is highly likely the Apple World Wide Developer Conference being held from June 10th will be used to introduce a major update (iOS7) to the Apple mobile devices.
Developers normally gain access around that week to an early version of the new operating system which is then released globally to the public a month or so later.

iApps will be of course evaluating the changes in the operating system and assessing the impact it may have on all applications we have delivered and are maintaining for our clients. We wanted to just let everyone know that as soon as we have more information about the changes and their potential impact, we will be contacting anyone who has an application we believe it may impact to talk about the potential work required to avoid any issues, or to leverage any new functionality to your advantage.

Our clients who are currently on premier support obviously enjoy this service, but will also receive additional information, plans and timelines for any changes we will be addressing immediately to ensure the applications remain at the forefront and continue to be rock-solid.

To ensure your ongoing success, we encourage ANY company or individual that has released an application to factor in an ongoing support arrangement with your developer to not only cater for these changes, but to also proactively and regularly update your applications to keep them fresh, optimise them, fix the odd error when they occur and enhance them to stay ahead of the competition. All these activities are required to ensure success for your business, be it published on the app store or distributed to your employees internally.

iApps provides this service even for applications we didn’t build in the first place. If you would like to take advantage of all these benefits and leverage our expertise and operational cost savings, please contact us to discuss the options.

Image by luca.sartoni

Its fair to say that the week of April the 15th-19th was pretty epic for the iApps Events team. After weeks of planning, Leah (BDM), Andrew (CTO) and I (Clare Addy, Marketing Manager) boarded the Brisbane to Singapore Red Eye express.

We were APAC Mobility Exchange bound—this Exchange is the fourth major prospecting / networking event in our New Business calendar. This particular event represents a milestone in our global vision and outreach: Our core offering is sophisticated Business Mobility Software Solutions—a digital component in demand worldwide. So this year is all about taking iApps global.

Our area of expertise is becoming increasingly implemented into all governing IT strategies and these are exciting times not just for iApps but also for mobility as a sector. Events of this nature provide an ideal environment in which to buddy up with delegates who have a real need aligned with our abilities and discuss further. The exchange format is simple once you get your head around it—speaking from experience it really does work… Suppliers and delegates are given visibility of each other’s profiles a short while before the event and are able to request appointments. These appointments are subsequently scheduled by the Organisers and, once interspersed with a few relevant Keynotes / Workshops, the scene is set.

We had around a dozen dedicated, 30 min slots with high-level executives from some of the world’s most discerning organisations. But, over and above their individual credentials and company kudos, what really shone through from our meetings was the realness of the project briefs being discussed. These attendees weren’t there for a posh buffet and a chin-wag (although that is all very nice indeed of course), they were there to do business.

After exhibiting and attending many an event too heavily focussed on schmoosing around laden with freebies & a vague sense of self importance, it was refreshing to engage with potential clients who had clear needs, objectives, timescales, expectations & (wait for it)…budgets.

Yes, the B word.

I strongly feel that even in initial conversations, where there is a clear project to be addressed money should not become the white elephant in the room. Because lets face it, not much is going to happen without any! It was helpful to be dealing with professionals who were transparent about / aware of their budget availability.

So there you go, a quick sticks rendezvous wins over a lengthy, laborious courtship when looking to establish relationships in this kind of environment. It’s out with the inevitably cringe worthy ‘who to talk to and how’ conundrum and very much in with diarised, dedicated & concise conversations regarding genuine potential projects. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not devaluing mainstream networking. The option of an evening vino when the serious stuff has been exhausted is lovely but isn’t it better to have the R&R as an option rather than an obligation. Position it as a bolt-on for furthering relationships or just engaging in a more relaxed dialogue rather than something that forms a key component of an event. Also, its far easier for all involved to position drinks and nibbles once you have had an opportunity to click with the parties in attendance.

So, the one to one meetings went well, the networking was carefully thought out and another positive addition to proceedings was our Application Hot Spot workshop: This went down swimmingly. Pretty much everyone in the room was on board with the session. These things are always a gamble but we ensured that we delivered a session that was constructive and enjoyable. We love this review of the session (from the Chairman himself!) “The iApps team promised a witty, refreshing, open discussion and they delivered on this and more. For 45 minutes Clare and Andrew led a great session that grabbed and held the audience’s participation and attention from start to finish. Rare skills when many other ‘open’ discussions are anything but – more should be like iApps – informative, refreshing and scribble worthy!”

So, in synopsis, its safe to say that we left feeling positive and really looking forward to speaking further with strong contacts established throughout the course of this challenging but worthwhile venture. To discuss how iApps can make your efficient more efficient with our comprehensive mobility solutions please contact Leah Coughlan (BDM) leah.coughlan@iapps.net.au.

Image by marcopako 

With the grand unveiling of Apple’s next operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch approaching, sources have provided detailed descriptions of what users and developers alike could expect from the software’s fresh look.

As we reported in April, Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive has been leading a thorough overhaul for iOS 7 that focuses on the look and feel of the iOS device software rather than on several new features.

Sources have described iOS 7 as “black, white, and flat all over.” This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements.

Sources say that over the past few months, Apple has re-architected iOS 7′s new interface several times, so until the new software is announced at WWDC, interface elements could dramatically change from what Apple has been testing internally in recent weeks.

Nonetheless, you can find what we have been hearing about iOS 7′s new user experience below:

Ive on Heavy Textures:

In software design meetings with Apple’s iOS designers, accompanied by Apple’s Human Interface vice president Greg Christie, Ive has shared his reasoning behind his distaste for the texture-heavy (skeuomorphic) interfaces heralded by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and former iOS chief Scott Forstall.

Ive stated that software designs filled with physical metaphors do not stand the test of time, according to a person familiar with the design meetings.

According to this person, Ive also shared that because iOS’s current applications have several differing designs, Apple’s users could become confused.

For example, the current yellow notepad-inspired Notes app contrasts significantly from the silver-textured Maps, blue and white Mail, and casino-inspired Game Center apps.

But now that over half a billion devices running Jobs’ and Forstall’s iconic system have been sold, Ive has the immense challenge to make Apple’s software as clean and seamless as his glass and aluminum devices, all while making the software remain simple enough to resonate with customers.

For the upcoming operating system, which Apple says will be unveiled at its June Worldwide Developers Conference, Ive has not simply picked areas of the software design to tweak. He has essentially made his mark on every corner of the operating system, according to descriptions from sources, all while mostly keeping the essence of what has made iOS so ubiquitous.

Turning on the iPhone:

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the gushing crowd at his January 2007 keynote address, one of the first breakthrough moments for spectators is when Jobs took his finger to perform the slide-to-unlock gesture on the iPhone’s Lock screen. Since that day, the iPhone’s Lock screen has mostly remained the same.

With iOS 7, Apple will drop the shiny, transparent time bar on the top of the Lock screen in exchange for a shine-free, black interface. Additionally, the square-grid for entering a pin code has been replaced with round, black buttons with white text and white borders. Additionally, sources say that notifications on the Lock screen may see improved manipulability with gestures.

Overall, the Lock screen is different than what users have become accustomed to, but it functions in a similar manner.

Notifications: 

Jony Ive has inspired the iOS design team to replace many of the linen and leather textures found in iOS, such as in the iPad Calendar app, with flat white and black coloring. For instance, Apple’s Notification Center drop-down panel currently has a dark linen background. In iOS 7, according to people familiar with the software, this design becomes a dark grey/black color with white text.As we previously reported, the latest iOS 7 builds being tested include new panels for quick access to information. For example, in addition to local weather and stocks information (like as introduced in iOS 5), Apple is testing other widgets for Notification Center. Sources shared examples such as localized news feeds. Additionally, Apple is testing a dedicated, easily-accessible panel for WiFi, Airplane Mode, and Bluetooth toggles.

Home Screen:

As we previously reported, iOS 7′s Home screen design is mostly the same as the display of app icons found in iOS since the first iPhone. While the Home screen app icons lose shine, shadows and gloss, the buttons are still round and just as tappable.Also as we previously noted, most of the Apple-bundled app icons have been redesigned with flatter, less-skeuomorphic textures. Notable app icon changes for “flatness” are present for the Camera and Photos apps, while the Game Center logo loses the green felt and chess pieces.

Additionally, panorama-like wallpapers (images that pan as Home screens are swiped) are also present. This feature makes sense in light of Apple adding panorama photography capabilities to some iOS 6 devices last year. Panorama wallpapers have existed in Google’s Android OS for several years.

Additionally, navigation and tab bars have been redesigned to remove gradient textures. Some bars in iOS 7 are also said to include a minor blurring effect. In some apps, the Status Bar is less transparent than in iOS 6. iOS 7′s system-wide keyboard is similar the keyboard in previous versions of iOS, but the design is a lighter shade of grey and does not include shadowing.

Redesigned Apps:

In addition to the Home screen buttons, most of Apple’s apps have been redesigned to fit the white, black, and flat theme of the new operating system. For example, the shredding animation for deleting virtual passes has likely been removed from Passbook.

Additionally, the iPhone’s Notes app has replaced the yellow notepad design for a flat white look. Apps such as Mail, Calendar, and Maps have also gained a more uniformed look with flat white textures. While the core elements of those apps are mostly white, each app has been given a unique button color. Essentially, each app has a white base with a respective color theme.

For example, the Calendar app could potentially have red buttons, while Messages could have green controls.While the Mail app, for example, is light on many changes, apps such as App Store, Newsstand, Game Center, Safari, Camera, and Weather have seen significant transformations.

Apple’s new Weather application is said to include slightly animated images to notate types of weather such as rain, sun, or snow.Game Center, unsurprisingly, has been stripped of green felt. Newsstand has been tweaked to remove the wood-shelf interface. It is likely that the wood will be replaced with a texture slightly reminiscent of OS X Mountain Lion’s app dock. Safari for iPhone’s design has been tweaked, particularly in the tabs view.

The App/iTunes/iBook stores will pick up a flatter, white look (as opposed to the current dark black theme). Additionally, due to confusion from users looking to FaceTime, the iPhone may now include a standalone FaceTime app like the iPad and iPod touch. In previous versions of the iPhone software, FaceTime video calling has been tucked away into the Phone application.

New Features:

While iOS 7 is heavy on design changes, the operating system also includes some various new features across the board. We previously reported that iOS 7 will likely include integration for Flickr and Vimeo in addition to improved in-car support for Maps and Siri. While the new interface will be a major change for consumers, sources say that iOS 7 is also an ambitious update for developer-focused features.

Priorities: 

According to people familiar with iOS 7′s development, Apple’s designers and engineers are prioritizing an overhaul of the iPhone’s version of iOS over the iPad’s software.

Release:

It is highly likely that Apple will release iOS 7 to customers this fall alongside new hardware. We are expecting Apple to release an iPhone refresh with improved internals in the fall. Additionally, Apple seems to be prepping new versions of the iPad and iPad mini for the fall.

Source: http://9to5mac.com/2013/05/24/jony-ives-new-look-for-ios-7-black-white-and-flat-all-over/

If you missed the inaugural Poole Group CloudBiz 2013 event on 17 May 2013, then be sure to pencil it in for next year.

The first event of it’s kind saw representatives of a large number of diverse businesses from around QLD converge on the Novotel Twin Waters venue for a great day of education and entertainment. The purpose of the day was to provide well rounded advice and expertise in all aspects of the new digital age for business, from running your operations in the cloud, to digital marketing and custom-built mobile applications.

Greg Tuckwell of Poole group kicked off the event with a great introduction to the day, and set the scene for the information in store. Steve Huff of Doble followed hot on his heels, and presented a unique perspective of the modern startup, from coughing up blood to safe lighting for doctors in medical tents in third world countries.

Michaela Fellner of ANZ Bank gave some insight into their roadmap for digital banking. It was very interesting seeing the newest internal custom mobile applications, what we call the “2nd Generation” mobility applications. Jason Forbes of Xero then gave a great summary of the history of the organisation and why cloud services have matured to the point that they are now more normal than ever before.

Then I had my chance to answer the fundamental questions of “why?”, that is, asking organisations why they think they “need an app” and then asking why their target users would bother using it. Matt Forman of Traffika followed up with a well presented explanation of the “3 pillars to win online” – I think a lot of people really gained a deeper understanding of how to think of marketing in the digital age and how it requires a mental shift from older approaches to remain relevant.

Colin Graham rounded out the presentations with an explanation of the key questions entrepreneurs need to answer to establish the groundwork for their business, what it is, why people need it, how it will grow and more. These are essential to understand in order to succeed in business, more than just creating a great new product or service.

We then wrapped up with an open forum and panel of experts. The questions were thought provoking and highlighted even more the way things have changed drastically in just the last few years, with businesses struggling to remain relevant in the new digital age.

The dinner was great, down on the shore of the lake, with heaters to take off the chill and magic tricks to keep us entertained.

Image by Bekathwia

Once upon a time, there was a company executive. He lived in a large organisation and loved coming to work every day.

One day, he went out into the world to look for a mobility solution provider. Off he went, happy as can be, wide-eyed and eager to please. “This should be easy!” he thought to himself, “Mobility is all the rage and is cheap!”

Soon, he became lost. Although the path looked familiar, there were false paths and traps everywhere. He took refuge in a small coffee shop and ordered a flat white to calm down.

Looking over he noticed there were only 3 tables, each with people already sitting there. So he approached the first table and asked to sit down, to which the young kids replied “sure thing bro, have a seat”.

After chatting for a while, the company executive discovered the 2 young kids were Mobile App Developers! Wow. What luck, so he started talking about his company needs to see if they would fit the bill.

The discussion went well at first, the kids were very engaged, and were young and enthusiastic. But as time went on he discovered they wouldn’t suit his needs. Yes they were cheap, but he was currently meeting with the entire company, both of the staff. How could he rely on this organisation to get the outcomes he needed? Would they be able to finish the job? They had only been around for a year; they were too small, too cheap, too risky and too distracted. They kept taking phone calls from new prospects and from clients, while trying to drink their coffee, talk to him and answer emails. When they started talking about augmented reality and didn’t know what an ERP or CRM was (is that a game?) his face dropped.

So the executive excused himself, grabbed his coffee and shuffled dejected to the next table.

There he saw three refined older gentlemen, each wearing a well tailored suit and drinking their macchiatos. They stood up as he approached, extended warm greetings and business cards. Wow, he thought, and upon reading the cards he discovered they were executives of one of the largest system integration firms in the hemisphere, what luck!

As he went through discussing his needs, they were all over it, they were talking his language, they understood complex installations and talked about the companies 1000′s of staff, 1000′s of clients and 1000′s of skills. This company could certainly handle it. Couldn’t they?

Then he started asking more questions around pricing and delivery. “Sure, we certainly have the resources to take on your job, we regularly run at 70% utilisation and can ramp up very quickly, first we bring in our requirements and motion study teams, they should take around 3 months going over your systems and processes with numerous workshops to ensure we design the right solution, then we can start architecting the solution either on site or on our premises. Once we sign off the use cases, requirements definitions and high and low level designs, then we can engage the delivery teams to program the project into our schedule. We think around 100 people at 12 months should be doable at $2,000 a day.”

The executive then picked himself up off the floor and thought “OK, so there is less risk, but they are way too expensive, not very agile, and too big!”

So he dusted off his pants, went to order a replacement flat white (a big one) and went to try and unwind at the last table.

As he sat down, the mid thirties gentleman extended a warm greeting and identified himself as being from a specialist mobility organisation of four years standing, with 40 staff in 3 countries. As they spoke, the executive began to feel better and better. This organisation was not too big, not too small, but just right. It was not too risky, not too slow, but just right. They didn’t have 1000s of past clients, but they certainly had a good track record and could show an impressive range of clients with complex systems integration experience focused on mobility.

However, the best part was that despite seeming the best choice, they fell nicely between the $10,000 quote of the small two-man company and the millions quoted by the large company. To tell you the truth, it was a little more than he originally had in mind, but through the ongoing discussions he came to understand that a mobile application that delivers a real return on investment is not somehow a magical software solution that doesn’t have the cost of traditional software development, but rather is pretty much in line with any other style of software development on any other platform. Which in hindsight was actually pretty obvious.

He walked out into the sunshine and back to the office, all the while wondering why he went out thinking mobility solutions would be vastly cheaper than other enterprise software application project in the first place, but happy he didn’t have to spend millions and wait a year or more to get it done.

Research shows enterprises are beyond the dabbling stage with mobility. Analyst firm Gartner, in its tech predictions for 2012 and beyond, foresees that by 2015, mobile application development projects will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of four to one. Additionally, Gartner, in its 2013 advice for enterprise IT groups contemplating project plans, states that “application delivery teams need to re-establish themselves as trusted solution providers for mobile, cloud, social and information initiatives.”

Any way you slice it, plans for enterprise mobile applications are expanding rapidly. That means to keep pace; enterprise IT and business leaders need to be both ambitious in their mobile strategy, and efficient in its execution. Furthermore, mobile applications should no longer be considered side-shows or pilot projects, but vital to the overall strategic IT plan.

In reality, developing enterprise mobile applications could be a complex and time-consuming process. The application has to run on multiple devices, must connect to multiple back-end systems, provide secure data access in today’s bring-your-own-device (BYOD) world, and be available even when the user is out of coverage. All these factors can be addressed by selecting the right enterprise mobility platform.

To keep pace with mobility leadership, enterprises need to do strategic things well, like establishing executive leadership for mobile strategy, working with employees and customers to identify innovative application ideas, and by having CIOs make mobility a vital part of IT strategic plans.

In other words, the days for dabbling with mobility won’t cut it anymore. To be a market leader, you have to be prodigious and productive in your mobility efforts.

Image by richardefreeman

By now most people are aware of the smartphone revolution. But we are constantly being asked HOW these new devices can actually be used to deliver a real benefit for business.

It seems strange to us that it is taking so long for the world to catch on to the real possibilities. The signs are all there, but for some reason we are only finding pockets of people starting to realise the potentially massive benefits.

We find that the biggest hurdle is generally in the imagination of the people involved, but we also generally find it requires very little prompting. With only a couple of nudges, most of the people we talk to rapidly get to a level of understanding that is like a cork popping. Suddenly a plethora of opportunities appear and the flood gates open.

We are also yet to find a business that doesn’t benefit in some way from mobility. Why is that? Well, if we boil down the essence of what mobility provides, it is:

• Immediate access to information
• Immediate connections to other people
• Immediate involvement in process and workflow

So, essentially, it provides a way to directly interface processes, information and people to any target individual. This fits just about any role in any organisation; everyone works with a combination of processes, people and/or information every day they turn up to work.

Integration: The key to productivity

We are also currently seeing the “there’s an app for that” phenomenon. This, on the face of it, appears to be a logical conclusion. ie: you would like a to-do list? There’s an app for that. How about a shared note-taking facility, yup! Ok, what about mobile VOIP telephony? Video conferencing? CRM? Workflow? Bug Tracking? … Yup, yup, yup and double yup!

However, we still see this as a fragmented “solution”: Working in the “CRM” app to look up your contacts, then switching to maps to find them, then, once you arrive, you flip between iBooks (for your sales collateral), a forms app (to fill in the application form for the sale), your CRM (to copy the details into your forms app), the web browser (to demonstrate your products), the camera to record a drivers licence ID, and so on… How laborious! Then you need to send the photos from the camera or photos app to Dropbox or via email to your work account, and export the form to pdf and email it, or save it to Dropbox in the same folder, or log in to that app portal to download the completed PDF… Phew!

So how does all this provide a cost saving, a more efficient process, or value to the worker? Well, maybe it does, but not optimally. There is a cost of inconvenience, an overhead that comes along with the benefit, that takes the shine off.

The first generation of mobile applications

If you are “mobile” but with adhoc or partial solutions such as these, then you may get jaded and lose faith in the promise. But don’t feel alone, so many organisations are in the same boat. The truth is, the current generations of products are as juvenile as software written in the first few years after the invention of the Personal Computer. It’s a new platform with people scrambling to understand it’s capabilities.

We coined the phrase “The Appdustrial Revolution” to describe what is about to occur. We are only at the beginning of the new age. Society is going to understand the real possibilities soon and organisations are going to have to adapt and adopt to remain relevant or run the risk of being left behind.

The next generation of mobile applications

Start thinking bigger. Dare to dream! You should not be surprised to learn that the devices we are using now have the capability to deliver what you expect of them. But it’s not until people take these devices seriously and understand that software development takes time and money to get a serious application off the ground, that we will start seeing these “third generation” business applications.

It should be easy to look at your phone in the morning, see your itinerary without even unlocking it, swipe your first appointment to see directions and change the order to accommodate the lunch meeting you have, arrive at your appointment and have your phone tell you who you are meeting (along with their children’s and dogs names), swipe and a new application form appears (pre-populated with the client details), take photos directly on the form, sign with your finger and submit the details as a new application file to kick off the fulfilment process.

The next generation is now

So why did I give this blog the title “Real Mobility”? Well, in our experience, the majority of people who think they are “doing mobility” are not there yet. However, this is all doable RIGHT NOW! And people are starting to catch on.  If you are not thinking at this level and already in discussions with a capable and reputable expert organisation to deliver these solutions for your organisation, you should be preparing to be surpassed because your competitors are most likely already going down this path.

Prepare to ride the wave, or you may well end up getting crushed in the shore break.

Image by the Iconfactory and arts4art

A Mobile Strategy is not an IT Strategy.  It is not a Marketing Strategy.  It is not an App strategy. It is not a BYOD policy.  It is not a device policy.  It is not Mobile Device Management (MDM). It is not a Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MADP).

A Mobile Strategy is all of the above and more.

A Mobile Strategy is about mobilizing your business processes, bringing enterprise functionality to the end user so that he or she can access it via a user friendly interface, at the right time, with the right information and on their device of choice.

I have written before, that someone somewhere within your business is doing something in mobility.  And because of this, your Mobile Strategy needs to include all areas of your business.  Yes it needs to include IT. But it also needs to include sales, marketing, finance etc.

By including all areas of your business you will reduce your Total Cost of Ownership.  You will be able to better plan, budget, prioritize and see a quicker ROI when all areas of your business form part of your Mobile Strategy.

Google’s Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying, “You don’t have a future strategy if you don’t have a mobile strategy.”  And he is correct.  With the projection that by 2016 there will be five billion mobile users, a mobile strategy is imperative for every business across every industry now.

So before you start your mobility strategy, I urge you to bring together your IT and business leadership team along with key vendors to challenge the current status and brainstorm on the ways that innovative mixes of technologies can be utilized to mobilize your business.

Um… OK…. Can I ask why?

Apps are useful aren’t they? They are all the craze at the moment. We can look up events, go shopping from the couch, choose from 100s of different free chat clients, play word games with friends, have a combined magnifying glass / torch (or several), and make funny looking photos with our camera.

Throw away apps

That is exactly my point. These are “apps” in the classic sense of the word (yes, I realise “classic” is odd in this context, being the whole smartphone app industry is only 5 years young), but there is a misconception about “apps” that needs to be understood. Apple (followed by the rest of the industry) started the concept of a disposable simple utility gadget program called an “app” – most likely because it was a catchy name and made software “cool”.

But the market was quickly flooded with millions of torches, fart apps, and angry birds look-alikes.

Don’t waste your money

To compete in a flooded commodity market, the only differentiator is price; so all the commodity app producers began the “race to 99c”. Unfortunately this only works for commodity apps because they are cheap to churn out, small, and had a huge market with undersupply. So the name “app” has unfortunately become synonymous with cheap, small and useless. Unfortunately for these developers, the market was suddenly flooded and it became impossible to make your name with a fart app any more.

So our frequent advice is “don’t build an app, don’t waste your money”.

App Developer vs Mobile Application Developer

Wait, isn’t iApps an “App Developer”? So does that mean I am essentially saying don’t come and see us?

No, that’s not the message at all, “App Development” is generally easy, and there are a lot of start-ups and garage companies around Australia all vying for those small disposable projects. We are not in that category. We are a “Mobile Application Software Developer” – a consultancy focussed on delivering value and return on investment to the application sponsors, business owners and most importantly, to the end user. It is only through delivering a truly valuable tool to the end user that your concept will be adopted.

An “App Developer” takes your specification and tries to undercut the market to build as cheap as they can, this is indisputable, look at the market pressures and lack of differentiation. You can easily tell an “App Developer” when you try to call them and they tell you to email your idea. Then they send back a quote for $5,000 or $10,000 dollars.

Is your budget for your mobile application enough?

But the real warning sign here is the price tag, if you are looking at developing an “App” and have a budget of only $10,000 then you fall in the category of customer we seriously advise to “put your money into something else, you are just about guaranteed to find a better return elsewhere”.

About the only use of $5000 in the Mobile Application world, is to forget building your own app and purchase a “templated” app for your company, like the eCoffeeCards, the Clubs Alive and others. They have spent the requisite $100s of thousands developing a robust and capable Mobile Application and back-end servers and integration required to deliver real value at that price point. A custom app of your own on that budget will only buy you a glorified web page.

100s of thousands of dollars! What did I just say?

If you ask any larger mobile application cloud-based provider what it costs to create a compelling product and they will easily quote upwards of half a million. Sure there are cloud analytics and cloud platforms (PAAS) to aid in development, but they are only really a time saver for complex “Apps” (= very simple mobile applications).

When you are trying to build a rural platform for the entire supply chain, or providing a new style of auction platform or an iTunes-like authoring and sales system for business documents, you need custom servers and a solution specifically architected for that need. Building such software takes time and resources, all of which come at a cost.

What to look for in a mobile application developer

A true mobile application developer will take you on a journey to understand not only why you should forget about “Apps” and look at delivering real value, but will also help you to understand the need for solid software experience, qualified server and client architecture teams and application of proven project management philosophies to ensure delivery of a quality product on time.

A real mobile application development firm will have veterans of the software industry, people who cut their teeth programming for the aeronautical industries, or space programs, areas where mistakes in software can cost lives. Here, a substandard product will have disastrous effects.

The next wave of mobile applications

Now is the beginning of the next wave of mobile applications, your potential users are beginning to understand what can be done with mobility and how it can enrich their lives. They have already become jaded with low value “Apps”, useless trinkets that get deleted or forgotten.

That time is gone and the party is over, now is the time to shift to reality and look at a budget to cover design, build, testing, ongoing support and maintenance, marketing, and all the costs behind launching your new business or building a tool that truly connects you with your customers, your suppliers, and your staff.

Image by William Hook and HowardLake

“I have an idea to build a mobile application, but I have no idea what to do next?”

I am amazed at how many people say this to me even before they know what I do for a living. Yes folks, it is on everybody’s mind, so it’s time to educate yourself, if you are going to create the next killer mobile app!

Whether you want to create an application for your business, build the next Angry Birds, improve an existing application or just have a great solution to a problem, you need to focus on the Return On investment (ROI).

The first thing I think about when reviewing an application idea for a client is “how is this going to provide a return on investment for the client?” I don’t know many people who are happy to pour money into a project without some form of ROI.

To ensure to se a ROI, make sure you are producing something that adds value to the end user.

It is important to work with a developer that has the skillset to not only build your application, but to also enrich it to be the BEST possible version of your idea! There are so many applications just waiting for somebody to improve them, to make them the BEST!

This scenario has shown us time and time again that it is not so much about being first to market, but being the BEST to market.

ROI must be a major consideration in your developer’s approach! Why would anyone consider developing applications for clients on specifications that offer no value to the end user? It is an important part of the process to spend the necessary time with your developer, making sure that you are delivering a product to market that is going to be successful.

If you feel that you are dealing with a developer that is purely fitting your specifications within your budget, you should see this as a definite red flag. You want to engage with a developer that doesn’t only deliver technically, but can also identify any vital components missing in the design that would be detrimental to its success. The reverse can be true also!

The unfortunate truth is that you will likely have no problem engaging with a developer that will not only build you “exactly” what you have asked for, but it may also (miraculously), fit perfectly within your specified budget! Sadly there are millions of applications that now fall into this category.

Take your time and find the firm that works best for you. You’ll know when you find them, as they should instill a confidence in you that will make the relationship feel right.