As the rush for mobility progresses, a growing number of service providers acknowledge the leading role mobile applications are playing compared to desktop applications. In the mobile architecture that we live in we see an inclination of large and small businesses alike, towards software solutions that make their processes more efficient and give them a competitive advantage.
Only in the year 2020, the global spending on the development of enterprise software stands at about $430 billion and Microsoft has spent $14.7 billion on the research of enterprise software. Even if you are a small business there will come a time in a not so distant future where you would have to go mobile. In scenarios like this you would have a lot of software and iOS app developers for hire available. But who do you choose to work with? Does your spending justify the quality that you are getting?
These are questions that prove to be a challenge for every project manager these days, so here are some of the right questions to ask your application developer before hiring them:
Can I see the apps that you have already built?
We all know that technical expertise is one of the most important things to consider. But you do need to remember that there is no substitute for actual experience and results that come while running the development process. The app development company that you are interested in should be happy to show you the projects that they have conducted in the past.
Essentially the portfolio of an app development company is a good way to tell if you can get a good outcome from your investment. One must understand, if the team of app developers cannot show you a portfolio with good results, then it is not the solution you are looking for. It is therefore essential to check reviews and ratings of their completed projects and assess whether it is wise to enter into development with them.
Can I talk to your past clients?
Now, this is an extremely crucial question to ask, but it helps to get a more partial and independent look on how well the agency can perform. Also note that while talking to the past clients you will gain an insight into how the agency handles a relationship throughout the development process.
If you can talk to the past clients, their feedback will be more relevant. One can start by asking past clients if the app development company was able to meet deadlines, how they dealt with the pressure of deliverables and how was the communication throughout the project.
Does the company adapt to a Lean Development Process?
You would like to know that the agency operates in critical hours; you should know how long the agency took for the completion of their latest project. What steps were taken to solve problems without effecting the overall completion cycle?
These are the things that will help you determine if you are going to work with a reliable agency or not. Remember that you are here to do business with someone who can follow a lean development process so the developers in consideration should tend to get things done more efficiently in order to have a better approach when it comes to the development of the Minimum Viable Product.
How skilled is the app development team who is going to work for me?
You must get the assurance that the app developers you are about to hire are able to build desirable features or functionality, in short do they have the skill to turn your vision into a properly functioning final product.
The agency should be able to tell you how they will implement the proposed feature or functions that would help you. To know that you have the best app development company by your side you can ask for their individual developer’s skills, their portfolio of individual experience, documented links of off-site repositories like GitHub and social media profiles.
Ask them the approach towards UX/UI design?
Do you know that there are more than 6 million unique apps present in the Android and iOS app stores? The secret lies in the UX experience, user experience is the best way to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Without a great design the app will suffer from issues like lack of usability and difficult onboarding process.
It is suggested that you hire app developers who have the skill to create an aesthetic app that is a treat to interact with. The best thing to have an idea about the skill of a software development team is to prepare a few concepts before you decide to work with them on a project.
What is the level of coding standards being followed?
What you need to know is that the agency is easy to rely upon and trust only comes when it is ascertained that the software company in consideration adheres to a strict coding system. The companies should have the ability to allow app developers to work together using reusable libraries, components and necessary tools for code maintainability.
It is important to know that the agency uses the right standards and coding for development. Lets take an example here, it is now common for app development companies to use Bootstarp as a standard coding practice and use HTML/CSS/JS as frontend frameworks.
How will you maintain and provide technical support post app launch?
Finally, it is important to know the kind of after delivery support your company is equipped to provide you with. Simply developing the app does not end the work, the project rolls on with the release of new updates, bug fixing, addition of new features and functionality.
Just like any physical product your app needs constant maintenance and support. So inquire if the agency provides support and maintenance programs.