Interview with Evgeniy Altynpara, CEO - Cleveroad

Evgeniy Altynpara  

CEO, Cleveroad

Give us a quick overview on Cleveroad. When and how did you begin this journey and what were your motives to be successful in app development?

When I was a child, I already knew that my life will be tightly connected to software development. It was a really captivating area for me, so I paid a lot of attention to learning programming and math sciences. At the very beginning, I started my journey as a freelancer, but then I came to the conclusion that not all software development companies provide customers with high-quality services. That is how the way of Cleveroad has begun. 

Cleveroad was founded in 2014. It was born as a start-up and then it grew up to a full-stack development company that offers our potential customers with mobile apps and website development on a turnkey basis. At the moment, the staff of Cleveroad grows exponentially and so does the number of projects.

What is your role in the management and development of Cleveroad?

I am a CEO and my main job is to control the whole management of the company, determine the general strategy of an enterprise, make serious decisions related to business development, and represent Cleveroad on different meetings on behalf of the company.  

Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry (Calculator on ProductHunt)

At the moment, we have created many small and large projects that we are proud of, but I would like to single out our App Cost Calculator. This App Cost Calculator became the #5 Product of the Day on October 11, 2017. And it is the brainchild our development team has worked on a few months, and we achieved high results. This calculator makes it possible for business owners to estimate how much their app will cost considering different requirements. It is a really convenient tool since entrepreneurs can understand how much money they will need to develop mobile software.   

How do you schedule the development phases of the apps to promise the timeline to your clients?

Well, we value our reputation and that’s the reason for our confidence, that we shall meet all our deadlines when we develop software. The planning phase is preceding the whole development process, the project manager together a development team and requirement analysts hold a meeting where they discuss all nuances concerning a new project. Then, when all the details are coordinated, we can proceed to documentation drawing up and we coordinate with our customer. And only after customer’s approval we can start the development and keep up with an approved timeline. Everything is already prepared, so each department does its job to implement the project efficiently.

How do you help your clients in choosing the right yet profitable platform for app development?

Of course, if a customer doesn’t know what platform is better to use, we always help him or her make the right decision. As a rule, customers are at crossroads when they decide what to choose - iOS or Android. To help him move the right way, we need to analyze the idea of an app, define what target audience it is oriented on, the budget for the development, the main goal, and other important factors. When we conduct a detailed analysis, we can boldly recommend our customer that or another operating system that is applicable in his/her specific case.  

Which would you suggest for a successful and profitable business progression, Native or hybrid apps? How do you define the factors that influenced you make this choice?

I can say with certainty that Native apps will be a preferable option in most cases. Native app prevails since it usually has elaborated user experience, it is scalable, and it has higher quality. At the same time, everything depends on the project itself. If our specialists consider it reasonable to create a Hybrid app rather than a native app, they will agree with a customer and will do everything as per request. If the app doesn’t need a high security level, specific OS features, offline mode, and others - Hybrid app is an option. But mostly we adhere to native app development.  

How do you scheme your pricing model? How do you fix your budget?

As you probably know, there are three main pricing models such as Fixed Price, Time & Material, and Dedicated team. Fixed Price is good if a customer has a limited budget, the project has the list of must-have features that should be included, and a customer doesn’t need to control the project constantly. As for Time & Material, when a customer wants to make the budget flexible and start the development quickly - he or she should choose T&M model. And, the last one, Dedicated team is a choice if customers want to have a full supervision on the project, change tasks during the development process and be always in touch with developers.  

According to our experience, Fixed Price is the type of contract that is more popular and we also recommend choosing it. It bears the least risk for a customer to cooperate on Fixed Price model, and also if the project is not extremely large, and it doesn’t require the development process for one year and more, Fixed Price is also a better way.  

How helpful are the mobile apps developed by Cleveroad for your clients in enhancing their business?

I think it will be an appropriate example to talk about some of our case studies that are available in our Blog. Cleveroad is engaged in the development of software projects that occupy different niches like healthcare, farming, fintech, sport etc. For example, we created Ayoo Dance app - the idea was to connect dancers from all over the world, enable them watching each other's performances and interact with one another despite the distance. For this were introduced multiple features allowing to record a solo or duo dances as well as to battle with other dancers across this social network. 

Also, I would like to boast about TrainAway app that we have released recently. This app allows users to find a gym nearby wherever they are. So this app helps people find a gym fast, and it is really very convenient. The first TrainAway's partners came from Baltic States and Iceland. Now, the company has dozens of partners over two continents - Europe and North America. What's more, the number of gyms and countries is growing all the time. 

These are just two examples of our successful projects.  

What according to you are the best practices to attain client satisfaction?

Well, first, a customer should trust the company. It is possible only if a development company does its job sincerely and in a high-quality way. Second, permanent communication with a customer is a must since we need to get his or her feedback regarding job completed. And one shouldn’t be afraid to recommend a customer to change something if we consider it reasonable. Our customer likes when we give them a piece of advice.  

How do you update your business system to be in pace with the technological advancements?

Our specialists always try to visit all conferences that are connected with their scope of activity to keep up with all modern trends. Our web and mobile developers learn new frameworks and programming languages to improve the software they work on and it helps them stay tuned. We never stagnate.  

What are your thoughts about AR, VR and Internet of Things (IoT)?  

I am sure that all these three technologies have a really huge potential not only for IT world but also for a business area on the whole. Augmented reality-based apps can substantially improve different business sectors like real estate, education, healthcare etc. So does virtual reality, but it requires additional hardware, unlike AR, so VR is more specific. As for the Internet of Things, it helps connect various devices around and it really turns the technology into a magic wand. Simply put, that’s the future.  

What do you think will be the future of Mobile technology?

I think that the technology of mobile payments will be developing significantly since users like mobile payments and it is a favorable way to pay for purchases. At the same time, the security level of mobile apps will also grow since people should be ensured that their software is protected properly. Also, the development of artificial intelligence in mobile development will grow and AI-based assistants will keep on evolving. Mobile commerce will enter people lives more firmly. That is how I see it.