INDUSTRY RESEARCH
RESULTS:
HOW COMPANIES
FIND APP
DEVELOPERS
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
INTRODUCTION
As a part of research strategy, BAMBOOAPPS, mobile web and app product development company, conducted a survey to uncover the approach to find-ing mobile app developers. The survey was undertaken to understand
firsthand where enterprises search for mobile app developers, what they require from any developer and what is the key reason of choosing the spe-cific vendor.
In this research we tried to give a well-rounded picture of professional use of mobile applications and describe the role that mobile is playing in enterprise IT strategies. We are pleased to share with you a summary of findings in the report that follows.
Segmentation on location criteria
COMPANY’S LOCATION
Nearly two thirds of companies surveyed are located in Western (43%) and Eastern Europe (20%). Among the businesses participated in research, 15 companies (16%) are based in North America, 12 companies (13%) are based in Asia, 4 companies (4%) are based in Middle East, 2 companies (2%) are based in Africa. Western Europe (41) Eastern Europe and CIS (19) North America (15) Asia Pacific (12) Middle East (4) South America (2) Africa (2)
43%
20%
16%
13%
4%
2%
2%
COMPANY’S INDUSTRY/
SECTOR
Segmentation on industry/business sector
The IT/software development (34%), Finance (13%) and Telecommunications (13%) are the top three industries that recognize the importance of incorpo-rating mobility into current and future applications in their organizations. The rest 40% of companies surveyed represent such business sectors as Consult-ing and Professional Services; Entertainment and Media; Retail, Consumer Goods and FMCG and some others. Each of these sector’s share in the total number of respondents is 9% and lower.
IT / Software Development (32) Finance (12) Telecommunications (12) Consulting and Professional Services (9) Entertainment and Media (7) Retail, Consumer Goods and FMCG (5) Other (2)
46%
15%
15%
10%
7%
5%
2%
COMPANY’S SIZE
Segmentation on size criteria
Over one third (36%) of the respondents surveyed can be classified as small companies and start-ups with the number of employees of 50 and less. 20% of the respondents have between 51 and 500 of employees, 33% of compa-nies are large businesses with 1000+ employees.
1-5 (18) 6-50 (18) 51-500 (18) 501-1000 (18) 1001-10 000 (12)
20%
20%
20%
20%
13%
7%
CURRENT USAGE OF
TAILOR MADE APPS
Growing usage of tailor made apps
When asked about mobile applications which has been developed specifically for a company either by a third party or internally, more than a half of
respondents (53%) reported to use at least one tailor made service. The rest of the respondents (47%) stated that they do not.
No (48)
I have no idea (4) Yes (39)
53%
43%
MAJOR PURPOSES OF
TAILOR MADE APPS
Focus on improving the experience
71% of the respondents surveyed noted that the major purpose of building a custom mobile app is company’s demand for a solution that serves as a func-tional part of its product or service. The second top purpose of such apps is to allow customers to place orders and make purchases (45%), the third one - is to provide customers with information about company, its products and services (42%). 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70% 80% 60% 90% 100% 71% 45% 42% 21%
71%
45%
42%
21%
Serves as a functional part of the company’s product or service Allows customers to place orders and make purchasesProvides customers with information about company, its products and services
Is used for internal purposes: communica-tions, reporting etc
HOW THE APP WAS
DEVELOPED
In-house vs outsourcing
When asked about the different ways or sources that respondents were using to approach or aid the development of mobile apps, the majority (53%) were using in-house development versus just one third (31%) who had outsourced it. 13% of companies were building apps with the help of specialized mobile app agency, the same percentage of the respondents were collaborating with multi-disciplinary software developers.
Internally (20) I have no idea (6)
By a multi-disciplinary softwere development company (5)
By a specialized
mobile app agency (5)
By IT system integrator (2)
53%
16%
13%
13%
5%
HOW APP DEVELOPER
WAS FOUND
References - a top priority
In fact, high percentage of the respondents ranked business references as the most important argument when choosing a mobile app developer. 30% of companies noted that they primarily rely on references from friends, col-leagues or partners. While 10% of respondents make apps internally, others search for experienced developers on specialized online resources and data-bases (7%). Tender procedures (6%), exhibitions/fair as well as basic web search (4%) are less preferred approaches to find mobile app developer.
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70% 80% 60% 90% 100% 39% 30% 10% 7% 6% 4% 4%
39%
30%
10%
7%
6%
4% 4%I have no idea (27) References from friends, colleagues or partners (21)
The app was devel-oped internally (7)
Tender procedure (4) Web search (3) Exhibitions/fair (3)
Specialized online resources and data-bases (5)
PLANS TO LAUNCH
A NEW APP
Tailor made apps in demand
As demand for mobile app dev projects continues to grow, it’s not surprisingly that the report shows high percentage of companies stating that they plan to launch the app either in near future (41% of respondents), or even within the next year (29%). Therefore, the vast majority of enterprises recognize the importance of incorporating mobility into their IT strategy.
Yes, sometime in future (21)
Yes, within this year (15)
I have no idea (10)
41%
29%
20%
No, we don’t need (5)10%
CONCLUSION
With 53% of respondents reporting to use at least one tailor made service, it is clear that enterprise mobility continues to be considered as competitive advantage on the global market.
As 70% of respondents are planning to launch an app in short-term period, it may cause outstripping demand for high-experienced mobile app develop-ers.
References from friends, colleagues and partners is the main decision making factor in mobile industry.
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