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Optimize tomorrow today.TM
1Optimize tomorrow today.
Arlene Minkiewicz, Chief ScientistPRICE Systems, [email protected]
Software on the Move
Cost Considerations for Mobile Application Development
Optimize tomorrow today.TM
Agenda
• Introduction
• Historical background
• Categorizing mobile apps
• Cost Overview
• Cost Drivers
• Conclusions
Optimize tomorrow today.TM
Introduction
• January 2011 IEEE Spectrum puts the Smartphone at the top of its list of top technologies of the decade
• Proliferation of Smartphones and tables has led to a proliferation of mobile apps
• Mobile app development presents new and exciting challenges to application developers
• Mobile apps will become important to many businesses
• While the industry is still basically in start up mode, it’s not too soon to assess cost drivers and likely costs
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Historical Perspective
• 1983 – Motorola introduces the first hand held cellular phone– Weighed 2.5 pounds– Memory for 30 phone numbers– 10 hours to recharge– Sustain an hour of conversation before recharging
• 2007 – Apple announced the launch of the iPhone which integrated:– Cell phone – Web browser– iPod– Camera– All the gadgets teenagers (and some of the rest of us) can’t live
without• 2011 (anticipated) – iPhone 5 is expected to be available with:
– Near Field Communication (NFC) technology– Updated OS with cloud integration– Music streaming– Voice interface– Embedded social networking tool– 4G connectivity
• Similar offerings are abounding from other providers as well
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There’s an App for that (or at least there could be)
• As technology advances it seems there are no limits to what we can do with our phones. Some examples:– Games– Banking– Social Networking– News– Travel and entertainment
• And the list goes on with new apps emerging every day
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Categorizations of Mobile apps
• By Platform– Apple– Android device– Blackberry
• Native or web
• By function types– Basic table driven functionality– Data driven functionality– Games– Device driven functionality– Full dynamic functionality– Custom utility functionality
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Cost Overview
• Data collection not a real priority
• But much is being written or blogged by both the developers (probably optimistic) and those selling mobile app services (potentially opportunistic)
• General conclusions
– Simple app $10-$20K
– Average app $40-$60K
– Complex app $100K+
• Apple seems generally cheaper to develop for than Android and Blackberry
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Cost Drivers
• Areas where mobile app development is different than traditional software development:
– Multiple platforms
• Literature suggests that developing for more than one platform increases costs by 20 to 50%
• Compatibility issues when multiple companies are developing hardware
• Multiple OS’s to support even within a platform
– Interfaces
• External sensors
• Touch screens
• GPS
• Real or virtual keypad
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Optimize tomorrow today.TM
Cost Drivers
• Areas where mobile app development is different than traditional software development:
– App may need to respond to motion of the device
– Resource consumption is important
– Testing of the application
• Development environment is not the user platform
• Emulators and simulators are available but the jury is still out on many of these
• Sheer magnitude of ensuring successful operation across all possible combinations of hardware, software and carriers
– Development Resource availability limited – projects either need to:
• Pay extra $ for experienced developers
• Expect to spend extra time and $ for training and learning
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Optimize tomorrow today.TM
Conclusions
• Mobile app development is still somewhat of a Wild West type activity – technology is new – not a lot of process around many development efforts
• While mobile app development is similar to other software development in many ways there are new challenges associated with multiple platforms, added complexities, and limited resource availability
• Mobile apps will increasingly be in demand as:
– Technology advances (4G, cloud computing, etc)
– Businesses realize the strategic importance of utilizing mobile apps
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