How to Do a Well-Structured Outsourced Mobile Development Project Specification

PRLog (Press Release) - May 25, 2012 - We at Ciklum oftentimes face the situations when companies that consider outsourcing their mobile project and submit to us their RFIs / RFQs lack basic understanding of how to properly structure their mobile app requirements specification. No doubt, a well-structured specification submitted along with an RFI helps increase business understanding of a mobile app project and bring the vision of a technical solution into a defined and shared idea. As a result of this, your company (as an IT outsourcing (ITO) service buyer) and your potential ITO service provider (as a mobile development expert) can more easily elaborate on the mobile app idea, identify stakeholders correctly and facilitate further project assessment and proposal preparation processes.

Based on mobile app specification related questions we regularly receive from prospective clients as well as experiences gained from daily interaction with existing clients’ mobile project teams, we’ve compiled a brief yet comprehensive checklist to help you better structure your mobile app specifications to assist your prospective development partners to better evaluate your mobile project needs and time-frames.

1.   General Information

1.1.   The project idea - provide your would-be  service provider with as many insights into your future mobile app development project as possible as well as ideas / details on revenue generating streams

1.2.   The main goal of your application – provide a concise yet clear explanation of what major goal you’re trying to achieve with your mobile application

1.3.   Mobile platforms your app is targeted for – indicate whether you need your app to work on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Meego, Bada, WebOS or any other mobile platform, whether or not it should be cross-platform, and / or ask a service provider for a piece of advice if you aren’t sure what platform is relevant for your solution

1.4.   Devices and/or OS versions your app is targeted for – indicate specific mobile phone brands, models and particular OS version editions, if any

1.5.    Graphical design – specify if the design will be done internally or outsourced (if the latter applies, indicate who will be completing design related tasks – e.g., a freelancer, a contractor…).  Again, it’s a good place to ask for advice if needed

1.6.    Project budget – make sure to mention your budget limitations to obtain more relative pricing information from your potential outsourcing provider

1.7.   Desired timeframe for ‘Proof of Concept’ / product delivery – indicate if you’re in a hurry to get your mobile app fully developed and up and running or if there’re no time constrains so far


2.   Project details

2.1.   Number of screens  – each screen (tab) should be described separately, with available images, presentations and other visual materials attached

2.2.   Landscape mode – specify whether or not the app should be implemented to allow user’s work in a landscape mode

2.3.   Social media integration– specify if your app needs integration with social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)

2.4.   Server collaboration – specify whether the app will have to transfer any data to / from an external server. Here provide a general description of the server part and/or specifications available: in case the server part has already been developed before, do provide specifications of the collaboration mechanism, protocols and likewise information

2.5.   Offline work – do not forget to mention whether the app should be able to store any data on the device (data caching enabled)

2.6.   Integration of in-app purchases – specify if your app users should be able to buy content inside the app and if yes, what type of content will be sold

2.7.   Printing functionality – indicate if your app should be able to print out the information wirelessly and if yes, what types of data should be made printable

2.8.   Geo-location services – specify whether or not your app should have geo-data functionality enabled

2.9.   Push notifications – specify if your app should have enabled push notifications for enhanced user interaction and if yes, what types of notifications should be implemented

3.   Market information

3.1.   Competition – specify a detailed list of competitive products and point directly to the ones you want your potential service provider to look at prior to giving you any project assessment

3.2.   Target group – briefly describe potential users of your app

4.   Miscellaneous

4.1.   Responsible persons in your company – indicate exact or approximate number of people in your company who will be involved in leading your outsourcing effort / outsourcing project management (no names or contact details are needed at this stage)

4.2.   Communication – briefly describe your vision of how communication between your company and an outsourcing service provider should be established. The following questions may help you complete this field: Do you plan to visit your outsourced project team to foster face-to-face communication with project executors and if yes, how often? What remote communication tools will you need to control your offshore or nearshore mobile project team – Skype, VoIP, any specific video conferencing tool?

4.3.   Additional information – here you may provide any other available project related details, links to inspiration sources, questions etc.

This checklist will help you get a basic idea of what features need being described in the mobile project requirements specification to “squeeze” a maximum value from responses to your RFQ / RFI.