Top app development companies interview: SPEC India

Kala Venkatramani is the Head of Business Development of SPEC India. The mobile app development company was founded in 1987 by Milind Shroff and is located in Ahmedabad, India. The company employs 250 IT professionals and developers.

Here’s what Kala Venkatramani has to say about her mobile app development company SPEC India and the mobile app development world:

What does SPEC India do?

With a clientele across the globe right from large enterprises to SMEs and Startups for over three decades now, SPEC India is a part of the success stories of scalable mobile solutions on platforms including iOS, Android and Windows, mobilizing needs in enterprise resource planning, customer relationships, sales force automation, procurement and supply chain, service and maintenance and specialized apps.

As enterprises evolve to blend in niche technologies into the IoT ecosystem making individuals and devices active participants in business processes, user expectations drive contemporary software solutions making these experiences take the center stage in the software solutions we offer.

With acumen gathered over years for mobile technologies synced with BI and Analytics, sensor based solutions like beacons, social media, web based solutions and core technologies like Java and Microsoft; our solution stack is comprehensive and current, catering to clients from diverse domains, with wide-ranging requirements to adapt to emerging technologies.

What clients have you worked for?

We cater to Fortune 100 and 500 companies across the globe offering solutions for eCommerce and mCommerce, sales and distribution, survey and marketing, social media, utility, proximity based apps, healthcare and personal care, games, business apps and more.

Some of our elite clients include FMCG giants in Europe, Africa and Myanmar, a shipping and ñogistics veteran for domestic and overseas freight management in South East Asia, a leading battery manufacturer in Asia Pacific, Universities in the USA, a publication house in Canada and a well-established chain of malls in Japan.

If you had to choose one category, what kind of app do you think is your mobile app development company’s specialty?

Our specialty most certainly is business apps catering to diverse industries, customizable to suit specific needs.

• Cloud based mobile ERP app deserves a special mention with the most important deployment across locations of a leading FMCG in Myanmar. This is a cloud based app for automation of business operations across manufacturing units, warehouses or DCs accessed by nationwide customers, employees and points of sale.
• Online ordering app is an intuitive and customizable app for online ordering showcases product catalogues and drives order management right from placing the order, order tracking to billings and payments. Widely implemented across a variety of industries like plastic manufacturers, restaurants and alike, this app is one of our own favorites too.
• eCRM app is an app focused on customer relationship management is well suited for a variety of industries being a single robust platform for across the business units managing sales, marketing and financial workflows along with customer relationship management. The intuitive reports and dashboards extend visibilities and offer actionable insights to the ongoings of the enterprises. With the most extensive deployment at a very reputable ply board, laminate and decorate veneer company in India, there is no looking back for this special app.

What is the average budget of the mobile apps SPEC India develops?

According to the intensity of the app and the platform specifications our projects range from USD 15,000 to USD 75,000. On an average the project budget is USD 15,000 to USD 30,000.

Do you develop all mobile apps in-house or do you outsource some parts of the process?

The mobile app development cycle is a tightly coupled group of mature processes right from incumbency to deployment followed by us to deliver trending apps entirely created in-house by our well-coordinated teams.

• Analyze and conceptualize
• Design
• Develop
• Test
• Deploy on store and release
• Maintain and support

As the entire app cycle is conducted with us, it goes without saying that our quality standards are adhered to as the most important of all the aspects. Along with our diverse domain knowledge and agile project methodologies the apps developed have a much quicker “Go to Market” time and unmatched reliability.

Which would you say are the best mobile apps that your company has developed?

The first one is a battery marketplace app. A very contemporary battery marketplace application with close to one million downloads is easily the best of our works till date. A marketplace to connect customers, dealers and sub-dealers for identifying conducive associations, placing orders and smooth co-ordinations, this app comprises of three tightly coupled approaches for dealers, sub-dealers and end customers to cater to the unique needs of each of these users.

First deployed for a leading battery manufacturer in Asia Pacific, the intuitive and simple to use app remains on top of popularity charts.

The second is a warehouse management app, it is a comprehensive app for automated fleet management and cargo handling process with an intent to reduce manual efforts. The app offers easy tracking of inventory and facilitates faster document handling and information retrieval for enhanced user experiences with increased efficiencies.

This app easily integrates with larger ERP systems designed for shipping and freighting enterprises and has been our flagship app deployed for a fortune 100 shipping company having a real-time access into the back office of its ERP system. Some features are:

• Cargo receiving
• Cargo location
• Cargo documents
• Container loading
• Warehouse inventory
• Container unloading
• Performance analytics

i-Assessment revolutionizes the way to assess students and make tests a whole new experience for them. A comprehensive assessment solution with support for creating, conducting and evaluating the tests, it provides deep insights to ensure continuous improvement in the test processes as well as student performance by incorporating modern day techniques like cloud and mobility.

Deployed at a renowned university in Switzerland for their medical students, iAssessment becomes a part of the digital revolution in education. Features:

• Complete exam management
• Consistent test delivery
• Mobility and network independence
• The cloud advantage
• Security
• Fast and easy evaluation and feedbacks

The trending beacons app integrates IoT enabled solutions to capture demographic data and preferences of customers and intuitively collate with BI and Analytics generating critical insights to offer relevant personalized experiences across retail outlets, shopping malls, hotels, universities, schools, hospitals, manufacturing units and logistics companies. Features:

• Indoor navigation
• Interactive tours
• Targeted marketing and promotion
• Processes automation and monitoring
• Continuous tracking of persons, resources and assets

Deployed first at a well-known super mall in Japan and an internationally acclaimed hotel chain in India this app is getting rave reviews in the niche of proximity based marketing strategies.

eSAM is an indispensable app for field maintenance and service teams for survey, data capture and service and maintenance management on the go. Configured to follow the pre-defined Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) adhering to the standard compliances of the enterprise, eSAM becomes the gen-X way of doing things.

It offers the choice of both on-premise and/or field activities like scheduled and preventive maintenance, service workflow automation as well as on-call maintenance to assure the best of the machine health. It is deployed across diverse industries like automotive, electricity generation and power distribution, hospitality, production and manufacturing, gas and energy, utility segments, kitchen and bath industries, consumer electronics and home appliances, shipping and port maintenance authorities. Features:

• Full customizable
• On-Calland scheduled maintenance
• Comprehensive service check lists
• Inventory and parts management
• Enhances visibilities
• Wide coverage
• Scalable, portable and easy to use
• GPS based location mapping
• License free offering for organizations with larger user base
• Seamless integration with third party legacy systems and ERP

Do you prefer to build mobile apps with native, hybrid or web languages?

The mobile app development platform is a little tricky to conclude. With Pros and Cons for building mobile apps with either approach, we analyze the specific requirements for every project we undertake including the practicalities of the market before we strategize.

We however remain biased towards native apps as they generally offer more reliable and efficient performances with engaging User Experiences offering advantages to development teams in terms of being able to explore features of the specific Operating Systems and design comprehensive apps.

Let’s focus on iOS and Android mobile app development. Which are the Pros and Cons of each platform?

Each of these giants offers exclusive advantages out-doing the shortcomings. iOS is about tight coupling of technology and design, while Android is about the flexibility offered by it being an open-source community.

Both platforms have their own tools and SDKs on offer with easy inter-app integrations. While Android is easier on the pocket and integrates easily with other apps and devices, Apple offers stability, security and efficiency driving User Experiences which are tough to beat.

Android being an open source loses the essence at times while iOS gets an inflexible roadmap by the virtue of it being a close door product.

Which one will evolve more within the next 5 years?

iOS and Android will definitely give each other a tough competition in the next few years.

iOS has a distinct appeal with the millennial audience and Apple is geared up to break-in into markets beyond US, UK and Europe to gain importance on the global map. Android, on the other hand will continue to evolve with the acumen of a community of thinkers and developers bringing in disruptive changes with affordable mobile solutions at a faster pace.

Microsoft turning Windows into a seamless platform across devices is also bound to get into the race soon.

Which device is the best in the market right now?

All the smartphones remain the best of the lot simply because they bring relevant user experiences like none other. The wearablesand VR domain gain an impetus, but the lack of market penetration and mature models keep these devices limited to a specific audience only. Smartphones are the most comprehensive of the new age devices satisfying the expectations of the contemporary lifestyles and the millennial users. Dependable platforms like iOS and Android continue to evolve and drive these phones matchlessly.

And which device do you feel more comfortable developing an app for?

Our teams are driven by their passion to create more relevant and trending software experiences. Remaining in tune with this approach we deliver apps best suited to the requirements of our clients irrespective of devices and their platforms.

Why is AppFutura useful to you?

AppFutura connects us to a global audience to showcase our portfolio in a completely different way. With AppFutura we keep in sync with trending technologies and ongoings in the world of mobility. The platform offers us visibilities into project requirements which we explore for conducive possibilities.

Go to AppFutura's SPEC India to get more information about them.

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