JANUARY’10: Bangalore: One of the most discussed issues when it came to developing applications for mobile phones was the lack of any reasonable returns on apps made for popular platforms like the iPhone. A lot of developers said they hardly made any money from developing apps for these high-end phones.
Turns out they have got their strategy wrong. Endeavour, a city-based company, sees good business in making apps for enterprises. T he founders, all IIT graduates, started the company in 2002. According to Avinash Misra, one of the founders, their first app was targeted at doctors. “We made it in co-ordination with a doctor based in the US using which he could make a profile of a patient. It helps him determine the amount of anaesthesia, and can also be tweaked for other medical requirements. This app is now used by around 15,000 doctors internationally. In the future, we have plans to make it possible for doctors to exchange patient profiles,” Avinash says. The company has also developed mobile applications for an Australian newspaper and a top computer manufacturer, among others. Making apps for the enterprise instead of selling it to the public via an appstore is a different ballgame altogether. The app store was an instant success as it allowed a single developer to roll out an app and be able to sell it without worrying about marketing. All the developer has to worry about, is the competition –similar apps available. But while making apps for enterprises, it’s the functionality and the adaptability that counts. “The cost of an app can range from $10,000 to $3,50,000 depending on the depth and the functionality required. We don’t just create an app, we see to it that their back-end is made operational for such an environment as well. It’s very easy to make a news application by using the RSS feed available on the site. But with the Australian newspaper for which we made an app, we not only created an app but also made the changes required to their backend operation so that data was delivered faster to the user. When we approach a client we don’t introduce ourselves as mobile app developers, but instead, tell them we can come up with a mobile strategy for their company. These enterprise apps will never make it to the app store, but are distributed to all the employees in a company,” he adds. The company has also developed a few fun apps like upcoming app Ambience which allows users mix and match sound effects like that of a waterfall, the sea, birds, etc to create a relaxing atmosphere. “As of now, most of the enterprises still use Blackberries.But we’re seeing a slow shift towards touch screen devices like the iPhone,” he says. Avinash says they have not made any apps for Indian companies till now, as very few Indians use highend smartphones or other mobileenabled devices. “But in 18 months, I’m sure India will have one of the largest markets in terms of mobile usage. Indians just might skip the desktop internet revolution and switch over to the mobile internet altogether,” Avinash adds.