moving target: how much do mobile apps cost?galorath.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/webinar - moving...

Moving Target:How Much Do Mobile Apps Cost?

Lee FischmanGalorath Incorporated

26 March 2013

App development doesn’t stop at the smartphone


ServerService ServiceAPI API

API

Many factors increase app cost

On the app

• Custom UI/UX

• Intensive graphics

• Non-trivial architecture

• Complexity, such as special rendering, physics

On the back end

• Security

• Integration with other services

• Scalability


App scaling gets expensive fast


NginxProxy server

Load balancing through AWS ELB and DNS resolution through AWS Route53

DjangoPython app framework

GunicornWSGI Server

Fabricmulti-instance administration

PostgreSQLUser data

MdadminSoftware

RAID

PostgreSQLUser data

AmazonS3

for photos

RedisKey store server

Apache SOLRGeo search

(CDN)

MemcachedFor caching

Gearmantask queue system

Shares &posts

SentryPython reporting

MuninResource mon. Pgbouncer

pooler

Source:’”What Powers Instagram:Hundreds of Instances, Dozens of Technologies”Instagram Engineering Blog

replication

App development is more like a media event

Major Activities

Software

Design

• Storyboarding, custom controls and graphics can be 25% of total project cost

Marketing

• For retail apps, can be proportionally similar to other major media: 10-50% or more


Native development comes with its own learning curve


There are differences in platform cost


The barriers to entry for simpler apps are very low


Authoring Tools Become Reality

GameSalad GameMaker

Stencyl

The barriers to entry are getting even lower


Cross platform tools are well established


PhoneGap

Titanium

jQuery Mobile

Third Party SDKs

Enterprise aps are going in a slightly different direction


Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms

Platform independence is real, with some compromises


Aided By Browser-Centric Technologies

Infographic time!


Source: Kinvey

Case study


Crowd-sourced traffic analysis

TourTrack in a nutshell


Source: nycbikemaps.com

DataCollection

Server

Storage

Pre-processing

Analytics

TourTrak Architecture


Summary

• Apps are generally becoming cheaper

• Apps requiring upstream infrastructure are remarkably more expensive than those without

• The ecosystem has rapidly evolved throughout the “stack”… and continues to evolve

• While new and different, conventional estimating methods are still applicable


Estimating A Mobile App ProjectUsing SEER for Software


TourTrak Architecture


App

Data

Collection S

erv

er

Mappin

g &

Adm

in

rider

User config

Alert

Location update

Tour DB

App data

Device data

Register rider

Alert

Tour config

Pre

-Pro

cessin

g

Configureride

Config DB

Monitorride

TourTrak Scope


Component Feature Type Count Complexity

App User config Input Screen 1Low

App App Data Data Table (Internal) 1Low

App Device Data Reference Data (External) 1Low

App Alert Request/Response (COTS) 1Low

App Location update Software Output 1Low

App Register rider Software Output 1Low

App Tour config Batch Input Stream 1Low

Data Collection Server Location update Batch Input Stream 1Low

Data Collection Server Tour config Software Output 1Low

Data Collection Server Register rider Batch Input Stream 1Low

Data Collection Server Tour DB Internal Data 1Low

Data Collection Server Config DB Reference Data (External) 1Low

Pre-Processing Pre-Processing Internal Function 1Average

Pre-Processing Tour DB Data Base Files 1Low

Mapping & Admin Mapping Screen Reports 1Average

Mapping & Admin Login Input Screen 1Low

Mapping & Admin Tour Selection Input Screen 1Low

Mapping & Admin Tour Setup Input Screen 1Low

Mapping & Admin Alert Input Screen 1Low

Mapping & Admin Tour DB Shared Data Files (External) 1Low

Mapping & Admin Config DB Internal Data 1Low

SEER-SEM Project Setup


Estimate: Close to Actual


Thank you for attending

Contact us!

[email protected]

310-414-3222


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