Many people think that when the idea to develop an app strikes them, it’s a simple matter of finding the nearest development company and getting right down to it. These people often don’t realise how much more there is to the entire funding process, how many costs you may not even have realised are involved, or even that the expenses continue even after the app has been deployed and released.
Development Costs
1. Functional Costs
Functional costs are those involved in the implementation of the app’s basic functionality and can include, but aren’t limited to, SMS notifications, push notifications, social media integration and email integration. Each of these may need third-party involvement which, depending on what you need them for, may end up being rather hefty expenses.
2. Admin Costs
Administrative services can save you from constantly needing to contact the IT department every time you need access to and changes to the data on the app. Some examples include content management, dynamic updates, access controls and data segmentation.
3. Infrastructure Costs
These costs are involved in the hosting, storage and delivery of the app’s data and can add to both the cost and complexity of the project. The bare essentials include servers, content delivery networks, data storage, image data and development tools, libraries and support.
4. Support Costs
IT support is non-negotiable when it comes to app development. People need to be able to report bugs as well as get assistance on updates and API maintenance.
Post-Deployment Costs
1. Releasing the App
Releasing the app either on the App Store or Google Play first requires rigorous testing before it will get approved. It may be subject to small changes to comply better with either store’s policies, and this time and development might add up to the costs involved.
2. Marketing the App
Once deployed, people need to know about your app, otherwise you won’t see any profit. Quality marketing campaigns take time and can cost a far amount since you want as many people as possible to come across your app and use it, and many of these campaigns require monthly payments to keep content fresh and ads up to date.
3. Maintaining the App
Technical support, updates and general maintenance continue indefinitely after an app’s release, especially if there are usability issues or bugs that get reported.
4. Securing the App
App security is a big concern for many developers, since vulnerable code, insecure third-party libraries and frameworks, as well as access permissions, all leave the app sensitive to being hacked. Checking that all these doors are locked tight might take time, but ultimately ensure the app’s security and prevent any issues down the line.
5. Hosting the App
Once the app has been released, the data needs to be stored somewhere, so it’s time to get onto the cloud. This data usually gets stored on servers. Servers run software that takes requests from the front end, processes them and returns a response. Besides paying for the hosting itself, you might also be liable to pay for data requests, storage management and data transfers.
