This document discusses key considerations for selecting a mobile development company. It recommends evaluating a company's capabilities and experience across different mobile platforms. Important questions to ask include what platforms they have developed for, how many recent projects they have completed, and what skills they can offer beyond visual design. The document also stresses the importance of assessing development costs and timelines upfront to avoid unexpected expenses. It provides tips for choosing a company such as reviewing portfolio quality, assessing company culture, and considering marketing expertise.

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Selecting Top Mobile Development Companies
by Jeremiah Jacks
with Michael Bilderbach, Saiju Siddeeq, and Rick Nguyen
This document was downloaded by:
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Republishing or redistribution is prohibited.

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Selecting Top Mobile Development Companies
by Jeremiah Jacks
with Michael Bilderbach, Saiju Siddeeq, and Rick Nguyen
3 Team Collaboration
3 Application Testing
3 Application Security
2 Summary
TABLE OF CONTENTS MOBILE DEVELOPERS ARE NOT CREATED EQUALLY.
4 Evaluating Vendor Capabilities
4 Assessing Development Costs
4 Key Questions To Ask Mobile Developers
5 Assess The Vendor Portfolio
5 Look at The Company Culture
5 Marketing Expertise
5 Consider The Big Picture
5 Vendor Selection Recommendations
6 Understanding Vendor Types
6 Cross-Platform Mobile Development
7 Native Application Implementation
7 Web Application Implementation
7 Hybrid Mobile Application Implementation
6 Development Considerations
8 Conclusion
While some companies focus on design and development,
others concentrate on managing devices and networks.
Performing the necessary due diligence and determining your
organization’s true needs are essential in selecting the best
company to work with, the first time around.
Increasing demand for mobile applications has created various
challenges related to application development costs, testing,
security, and vendor reliability. Most are unaware of the costs
associated with developing and maintaining mobile
applications, and may not anticipate the unknown costs related
to updates in mobile operating systems, or version upgrades for
mobile devices that impact mobile applications.
Selecting the right development company to help you navigate
through business and development challenges will be a key
determining factor in the overall success of your application.
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SummarySelecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
© 2015, Digital Brand Group, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Global mobile usage is on the rise, and companies are looking for way to capture market
share in this growing area. However, creating mobile applications for smartphones, tablets
and other mobile devices poses significant risks, and a variety of challenges. While more
people opt to use mobile devices instead of traditional desktop and laptop computers,
companies can no longer ignore this growing trend. Industries that fail to evolve will
eventually become obsolete, as their target audiences look elsewhere to find the products
and services they need.
This white paper describes some areas that should not be ignored when selecting the best
mobile application development vendor. The content is intended to highlight the
complexities of app development and assist companies in making the proper decisions when
choosing a development vendor, by providing an understanding of the many facets of
development, and how they all work in concert to create a successful, or unsuccessful
mobile application.
www.digitalbrandgroup.com | 1-888-690-0060
Global Mobile Commerce
Sales Statistics 2012 - 2015
Revenue in Billions
Statistics by Gartner
2012
2013
2014
2015
Globally: $243.5
US: $17.2
Globally: $345.7
US: $23.7
Globally: $490.9
US: $31
Globally: $171.5
US: $11.6

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Mobile applications are usually developed by a team which often includes:
a project manager, UI / UX designer, development team leader or mobile architect,
developers, mobile testers, a marketing specialist and a business development specialist.
Developing and delivering mobile applications requires a team that is highly efficient and
in-sync, as a simple miscommunication can delay a project and cost a company more money
in the long run. It’s important that development teams have daily meetings to assign and
clarify project tasks, to increase efficiency and mitigate problems.
Selecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
© 2015, Digital Brand Group, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited www.digitalbrandgroup.com | 1-888-690-0060
Application Testing
Testing is a significant part of the
development lifecycle. Compared to other
platforms, testing mobile applications can be
highly complex and even more expensive.
For instance, the same device may behave
differently when using different service
providers and network connection quality
can dramatically impact an app’s behavior.
A major component of application testing
involves the user experience. Being limited
by screen size, designers must be skilled in
working with limited screen space to create
user-friendly graphics and effective text,
without impeding the user experience.
There are many facets to testing mobile
applications, but it is important to work with
a vendor that has access to multiple mobile
devices and platforms to perform thorough
testing across devices.
Application Security
Mobile apps are not affected by as many
viruses, exploits and attacks as desktop
computers. However, these applications and
the devices in which they are installed on,
are vulnerable to security breaches. Since
most mobile apps are used outside the
protective confides of enterprise networks,
data is often passed along an unsecured
public Internet connection.
Securing applications and protecting the
integrity of data stored on mobile devices is
critical, and should be planned in advance,
before any programming takes place. A good
vendor will assess your organization’s
infrastructure, policies and procedures, and
will provide an application management
solution that facilitates application updates,
data and performance tracking, and
application usage restrictions, as needed.

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Key Questions To Ask Mobile
Developers
Does the company you're looking to hire have the expertise, vision and experience to create
the app you want? The mobile development space has grown at an incredible pace over the
past several years, and many industry changes have occurred as a result. The amount of
competition entering the market is staggering, and new companies have emerged overnight,
causing disruption across industries. Many older companies have already closed their doors
entirely or shifted focus significantly; unable to compete without changing in such a fierce
new competitive climate.
For these reasons, having the right information to steer your orgnization is critical to
success. Performing proper due diligence to choose a reliable vendor is often difficult.
Hiring the right talent requires asking the right questions. Following are some key questions
to ask potential vendors:
Selecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
© 2015, Digital Brand Group, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited www.digitalbrandgroup.com | 1-888-690-0060
Evaluating Vendor Capabilities
• What mobile platforms (iOS, Android, etc.)
does your team have the experience with?
When did you develop your first app for
each platform?
• Over the last three months, how many
projects has your company delivered?
• Do you have a reference from a client who
has hired your company for multiple
projects?
• In addition to visual design expertise, what
other skills can your team offer to create a
good user experience?
• Will a network connection be needed to run
our applications?
• How will data storage and synchronization
be handled by your company?
Assessing Development Costs
• Does your company charge a one-time fee
for services or is there an hourly or
monthly cost model?
• What are the processes or guarantees you
have in place to ensure that service costs do
not exceed the quoted amounts?
• Will there be additional costs for hardware
or software when it’s time to scale?
• Are usage tiers or other software in place to
prevent unexpected cost surges from
data-intensive apps?
• What are the terms, conditions and costs
associated with app support over the
lifetime of our relationship?

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Mobile applications have unlocked new opportunities for companies to innovate in the
digital age. Smaller businesses can level the playing field against better-funded competitors,
while enterprise organizations can find ways to establish new lines of business. However,
with opportunity comes risk, and without careful planning and consideration, unforeseen
expenses can quickly mount up and derail a project prematurely. To ensure hiring a vendor
with the proper skills to complete your project on time, and on budget, here are a few
recommendations to consider:
Assess The Vendor Portfolio
The success of your mobile app is largely dependent on the user’s experience with it. A good
user experience is critical to the success of your application. The best mobile development
vendors will be highly skilled in UI/UX and their portfolio should display a variety of mobile
apps with beautiful, intuitive user interfaces representing a clean layout.
Look at The Company Culture
You should look at building a long-term relationship with the vendor. Depending on user
feedback once you deploy an application, your app may go through numerous revisions and
updates. It is important to find a vendor who will remain engaged during the product’s life
cycle, and not just provide support until the application development is complete.
Marketing Expertise
Partnering with an application development company that offers general marketing
assistance or app store advice can be of significant value, and may prove to be a necessity
depending on your company’s experience in the mobile space. Companies looking to develop
apps for placement in various App Stores can benefit from the expertise of mobile vendors
with App Store submission experience. Some mobile development vendors can provide
pertinent advice regarding marketplace competition and can help you determine the market
viability for your app.
Consider The Big Picture
Developing a mobile app extends beyond just programming. Considering the user interface
and experience is just as important. It is best to have access to an entire team with an
assortment of expertise, as opposed to working with multiple vendors, or one vendor that
may not be experienced in all facets of mobile app design, development and distribution.
Selecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
© 2015, Digital Brand Group, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited www.digitalbrandgroup.com | 1-888-690-0060
Vendor Selection Recommendations

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Development Considerations
Understanding Vendor Types
An important consideration to make is whether to choose a vendor with experience in your
industry vertical, or selecting a vendor with experience in other industries, without
extensive knowledge in your vertical. Vendors with domain knowledge in your industry
tend to focus on pre-existing solutions tailored to your industry that may produce complex
applications quickly, due to their expertise in a given area.
However, in some instances, selecting a mobile vendor without focus in your industry
domain could be advantageous. Vendors with cross-industry expertise, and not specifically
in your industry, often contribute unique insights and innovative ideas observed from other
industries that may be all you need to tip the scale of innovation and originality in your
industry.
Cross-Platform Mobile Development
Corporate users may access enterprise data using mobile devices, and these devices are not
necessarily authorized by the enterprise IT department. For this reason, developers may not
know which platform to target; cross-platform development may be required in these cases.
Cross-platform tools usually fall in one of two categories:
• Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms (MEAP)
• Mobile Consumer Application Platforms (MCAP)
MEAPs typically have a wider array of tools such as GUIs (graphical user interfaces), version
control and workflow. Additionally, MEAPS often contain better integration capabilities,
gateways to third-party services and more robust technical support faculties. Moreover,
MEAPs are geared towards the enterprise market, and security is strong enough to protect
back-end corporate data flow across the network.
Ultimately, the chosen development strategy will depend on your mobile application feature
requirements. Will the application be browser-based, while storing little or no information
on the device? Will the app require security features that demand a MEAP or will an MCAP
be sufficient to create it?
Answering these questions with the help of your developer and business requirements team,
will help guide your development strategy.
Selecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
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Native Application Implementation
Native implementation involves creating an application utilizing the mobile operating
system’s programming language and interfaces. One advantage of native application
implantation is high device fidelity, which compliments today’s high resolution smartphones
and tablets. Additionally, native applications can only be accessed by downloading and
installing them from a marketplace such as Apple iTunes, or Google’s Android Market.
One disadvantage of this technology, is that native implementation of mobile apps is not
compatible with other mobile operating systems. For instance, an Apple iOS application
cannot run on an Android device unless it has been rewritten. Native implementation is not
a cost-effective option for developing and implementing a mobile app for business use, but it
is the path that most leading mobile application developers take to ensure a robust user
experience and maximum exposure to mobile device functionality.
Web Application Implementation
Modern smartphones and tablet devices include web browsers which are pre-installed
before purchase. Implementing a mobile application that is built on the Web (in HTML5) can
prove to be a viable and cost-effective solution. Mobile apps using advanced web browsers
are able to support a variety of mobile devices, especially since HTML5 and JavaScript are
both supported.
On the other hand, there are disadvantages to web applications. Such applications are
unable to access certain features and functions that need to run on the actual device, such as
user contacts and device camera. For mobile development projects that aren’t depending on
local device services, pure web application implementation will suffice, in most cases.
Hybrid Mobile Application Implementation
Hybrid mobile application implementation is a perfect balance between pure web
implementation and pure native implementation. Hybrid applications provide an app with
access to native features from the app’s code base. Since the majority of a hybrid app uses
technology that isn’t specific to one device, the application’s code can be ported and used
across a wide range of mobile operating systems.
Selecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
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ConclusionSelecting Top
Mobile Development
Companies
© 2015, Digital Brand Group, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited www.digitalbrandgroup.com | 1-888-690-0060
DBG Office, Technopark
Most companies will need to become proficient in mobile development to keep up with the
growing demand for mobile applications, whether the work is done in-house or outsourced
to third-party vendors. It is good practice to hire or outsource skilled mobile developers,
UI/UX designers and marketing professionals among others, to provide your company with
the ability to quickly scale while experiencing fewer difficulties during the process.
Before committing to a particular vendor, verify your prospects’ experience handling
similar projects. Browse the App Store and check the market ratings for any public
applications developed by the vendor. Ensure the vendor’s portfolio, team, experience and
culture aligns with your company’s vision for the present and future.

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MICHAEL BILDERBACH DBG Creative Director
About DBG
A global leader in providing digital and creative services, DBG helps
forward thinking organizations translate complex business
challenges into innovative digital solutions. Founded in 2006, our
team has delivered several top downloaded and award-wining
applications across a wide-range of industries from consumer goods
and services, retail and e-commerce to healthcare and financial
services. Tailored to the specific needs of our customers, we work
with companies to provide value and innovation where it matters in
the digital age.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To find out how DBG can help you develop leading mobile solutions, please
call us at +1-888-690-0060, or visit us at www.digitalbrandgroup.com.
DBG Mobile Application Strategy,
Design & Development Services
Responsible for leading the strategy, architecture, design,
development and delivery of many top mobile applications, DBG
works with companies to create and execute mobile strategies; weigh
opportunity against risk; justify decisions; and optimize individual,
team, and corporate performance. With expertise in iOS, Android,
and other mobile platforms, DBG offers expertise in creating user
interfaces and experiences that people love and share, as well as
navigating the nuances and complexities of the major mobile
operating systems and platforms to develop industry leading
solutions.
Digital Brand Group, Inc. is the world’s first to introduce a methodology created for forward thinking organizations looking to secure market share through
innovative Web and mobile solutions. DBG is a global leader in delivering digital services, specializing in the strategy, design, and development of custom Web
and mobile applications for entrepreneurs, startups, and innovation-minded organizations around the world. For more information, visit www.digitalbrandgroup.com.