Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.
1. What technology is right for my web application?
2. What is a CMS (Content Management System)? Why should one be used to build and manage a website?
3. What is Symfony? Why should I use it to build my web application?
4. I want my web application to scale to work for millions of users. Can Mobicules help me do that?
5. How long would it take for Mobicules to build my web application?
6. At what stage of the development process can Mobicules engage with me?
7. In which modes can Mobicules engage with me to build my application?
8. Can Mobicules submit a fixed quote based proposal with only loosely defined requirements?
9. Why should I get a Social Application developed?
10. How long does it take to develop a Facebook application? How about OpenSocial?
11. How much is it going to cost me?
12. Why should I outsource my Facebook or OpenSocial development?
13. Why should I get Mobicules to do it?
14. Why should I get my own Social Network built, and not use a service like ning?
15. What is ELGG? Why should I use ELGG?
16. What can Mobicules do for me if I want to build a Social Network using ELGG?
17. Can Mobicules help me with hosting my web application?
1. What technology is right for my web application?
This would depend on a lot of factors - ranging from the kind of functionality that your website needs to have, to the kind of user-base you want to scale to and the kind of go-to-market time that you have at hand. Your choice of technology also influences the amount of money you ultimately spend to maintain and scale up the site. All in all, it is a very important decision, and we can help you choose the right technology.
At Mobicules we have expertise at a range of technologies. We are experts at php, Symfony, Drupal, Wordpress, CodeIgniter, Ruby on Rails, ASP and .NET, and would recommend just the right platform to you based on your needs.
2. What is a CMS (Content Management System)? Why should one be used to build and manage a website?
A CMS, essentially, allows you to manage the content on a website. Using the appropriate CMS, a very wide variety of websites can be quickly built and efficiently maintained.
A CMS like Drupal or Wordpress makes the process of managing content on a site, like pages, text, pictures etc. very easy. Modern CMS-es also support modules and plugins which make the job of implementing new functionality in the website like forums, event calendars, newsletters etc. very easy. We can recommend just the right CMS to be used to build your site upon knowing your requirements.
3. What is Symfony? Why should I use it to build my web application?
Symfony is a great framework to build sophisticated, maintainable, extendable and scalable applications using php. Following the MVC paradigm, it keeps code maintainable, and heavily minimizes the number of repetitive tasks that need to be performed while building and maintaining the application.
Symfony is very well suited for building applications in the enterprise context. With its enforcement of the MVC paradigm, configuration controls over libraries and databases, extensive debug and documentation tools, and ability to play with various relational databases, it is an excellent choice to build the most complex of web applications.
4. I want my web application to scale to work for millions of users. Can Mobicules help me do that?
Scaling a web application to support a very large number of users is a highly specialized task, and needs skills in diverse technical areas. It requires setting up of the right hosting infrastructure, optimizing and distributing databases, implementing caching schemes and doing wide-spread code optimizations, among other things.
At Mobicules, we have done it all, and can do it for you.
5. How long would it take for Mobicules to build my web application?
A web application can take anything from a few days to many months to build. It really depends on the functionality that needs to be developed. At Mobicules, we share a detailed development plan with you at the start of the project. so you know exactly when we are going to deliver the application to you. And we are fanatical about not missing deadlines.
6. At what stage of the development process can Mobicules engage with me?
At Mobicules, we can do everything from conceptualizing, designing and ‘architecting’ an application to developing, hosting and maintaining it. Whether you have a rough initial idea regarding what you want to do, or you have your specifications and user flow completely figured out, or you’re any where in between, associating with Mobicules is definitely going to add a lot of value to the process of getting your application released and getting it to become successful.
7. In which modes can Mobicules engage with me to build my application?
We can work with you under a variety of models. We can take up the development at fixed costs, or at an hourly rate on a T&M model. We might also consider an equity, revenue or profit share if you are fine with it and we share your vision.
8. Can Mobicules submit a fixed quote based proposal with only loosely defined requirements?
We usually refrain from giving fixed quotes on requirements which are not very well defined. If your requirements are not very well defined, we can proceed with you in one of two ways: (1) We can work with you at an hourly cost to completely define your requirements, which would result into a product description document. Once that is done, we can pick up the subsequent development task at a fixed cost (2) We can start working with you on an hourly cost on a T&M model right away.
9. Why should I get a Social Application developed?
With a Social Application, you take your service or your idea to a Social Network, which is an online meeting place already visited by a large number of people, and where people feel comfortable. Not only that, people also have their friends on Social Networks, where they are already communicating with each other regarding their lives, hobbies and activities.
This creates a great opportunity for the Social Application to engage the people on the Social Network by providing them functionality that enhances their experience.In other words, with a Social Application, you don’t have to “attract” users by heavy and expensive marketing like you would have to in case of stand-alone website. A well designed application on a Social Network will grow fast, riding the viral effects. Please also read this post on our blog.
10. How long does it take to develop a Facebook application? How about OpenSocial?
A typical Facebook application would take 20-30 days to deveop. For rich and involved Facebook applications, this can go up to months, and it can take just a few days to do a very simple one. We can give you a definitive answer within 24 hours of you telling us your requirement.
The same would hold true for OpenSocial Applications too. While to develop Opensocial Applications we might need more or less the same amount of time as developing Facebook Applications, more time might be needed for porting the Opensocial Applications to work across different Social Networks like MySpace, Hi5, Orkut, Ning etc.
11. How much is it going to cost me?
Please send in a mail to info@mobicules.com with your requirements, and we’d get back with a quote in less than 24 hours. We have been developing Facebook and OpenSocial Applications for quite some time now, and have built a large number of re-usable components which makes our pricing extremely competitive.
12. Why should I outsource my Facebook or OpenSocial development?
Social Network Application platforms like Facebook and OpenSocial are fast moving, and fast evolving. Developing Social Application is really the job of experts, because the developer needs to be in constant touch with the changes and updates in the platforms, and needs to understand how they affect usability and viral growth.
13. Why should I get Mobicules to do it?
We are the Social Application experts. We have a team of excellent Developers, who know their stuff, and can foresee issues and problems with implementations right at the stage where specifications are being defined. We have Project Managers in our team who have experience of handling teams of extremely skilled Facebook and OpenSocial developers. Add to that the cost advantage we offer due to our re-usable modules, and we think we can give you a deal thats unbeatable.
14. Why should I get my own Social Network built, and not use a service like ning?
Services like ning are horizontal, purpose-agnostic services, meaning, they do not have the scope for deep customization for social networks needing special functionalities. For instance, if you are looking to build a social network for professionals, you might want to provide features to users to build their profile as a resume, where they can post their skills, their work experience and talk about their skills in a structured way. You might want to impose access controls on such a network, as to which users can access what features, and might also want to bring in payment to unlock features. This is just an example of what you can not do with a service like ning, and for which you would need your own custom social network.
15. What is ELGG? Why should I use ELGG?
ELGG is an Open Source Social Network written in php. It provides a very good feature set, and is a very good platform to build on and create great social networks. Please go through this presentation that provides an introduction on ELGG, and its capabilities.
16. What can Mobicules do for me if I want to build a Social Network using ELGG?
We can build any functionality that you want to have in our social network on top of ELGG, to deliver a completely customized solution to you. ELGG has an extendable architectures, which enables us to add new functionality and re-write existing one to provide any level of customization. Just write to us on info@mobicules.com, and we’ll work out a solution for you.
17. Can Mobicules help me with hosting my web application?
Sure we can. We can handle everything from hosting on a small virtual dedicated server to a compute cloud like Amazon ec2. We can help you zero in on the correct hosting requirements according to your needs.
