Interview with Assim Gupta, Founder & CEO - Closeloop Technologies

Assim Gupta  

Founder & CEO, Closeloop Technologies

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

Closeloop Technologies is a forward-thinking technology company headquartered in California, with development centers in India and clients worldwide. In the past 11 years or so, we have catered to a diverse range of clients hailing from industries like Finance, Healthcare, Education, Recruitment, Entertainment, Banking, and others. We offer avant-garde services to industry behemoths, small and medium scale enterprises and start-ups. Our services umbrella includes mobile (iOS & Android) and web app design and development, CRM and ERP development, eCommerce development, and cloud solutions powered by AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Kubernetes.

My experience with companies like Google, Facebook, VMWare, Essar and others helped me acquire the technical acumen you need to start your entrepreneurial journey. The journey started back in 2011 with five employees. The motive was straightforward - to empower businesses digitally by catering to their software engineering needs. Started with a small team of five, we are now more than 100 and growing. Our aim is to simplify and streamline business processes with our smart IT solutions.

What is your role in the management and development of Closeloop Technologies?

As the company's CEO, I try to oversee every department by making myself aware of what’s happening in the backdrop, evaluating decisions made by other executive leaders like vice presidents and chiefs of departments and putting forward my thoughts or suggestions wherever necessary.

Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry.

To me, the biggest achievement is client satisfaction. When our patrons reward us five stars on multiple review and feedback websites for our services, that’s special and the ultimate achievement. It drives us to achieve more and offer the world more amazing IT solutions for a better tomorrow.

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

Our agile approach to building apps does the job for us. We bifurcate the project into modules based on its complexity, design & development requirements and the client’s expectations. This helps us move with a systematic approach, and jobs can be carried out simultaneously. We work closely with our clients to understand their perspective, short- and long-term goals, budget and other things to evaluate the time, cost, and effort of building the app. We don’t start until we are clear about the requirements and targets we need to accomplish. I believe if the foundation is set right, then the final product will automatically come out as desired.

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

While there are multiple platforms available for building apps, it boils down to the client requirements basis on which a platform is selected. If the target audience is region-based, where Android is widely used, then we’d suggest opting for native Android app development. However, if the target audience is not limited to a single operating system and the client wants to target a large number of users at once, and at the same time, budget is a constraint, then we suggest hybrid app development (targets iOS and Android users at the cost of building an app for one platform).

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

The cost of app development is dependent on the factors like features, platform, type of app (native or hybrid), and resources involved in the making of the app. Moreover, the app's complexity would state the tentative time we’d need to build the app. So time and effort would also be considered when pricing a project.

We offer three pricing models:

-    Fixed price model: for those who have clear requirements and do not want any modifications during the development
-    Dedicated hiring: for clients who want to be flexible while development, can ask for change during development, include or exclude features, and other things
-    On-site development: recommended for clients with complex project requirements and who want to have developers at their workplace

How helpful are the mobile apps developed by your team, for enhancing your clients’ business?

Our apps create a mark in society and help business owners secure funding from the industry’s reputed investors. As one of the projects we worked on secured funding of $1,000,000. It was a loan portal that helped homeowners in the US to get financing for clean energy upgrades.

Aside from this, we have helped a recruitment company to make a custom software known for its unbiased hiring process and automated interview scheduling. It is one-of-its-kind in the industry and has proved to be a game-changer. The project scaled from a custom enterprise solution to a subscription-based product with out of the box features in a span of a year and a half.

There are plenty more examples and case studies. You can visit the website to know more.

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

Client satisfaction is our primary objective in any of the projects that we undertake. I believe five things make a client happy. Do the following to satisfy your customers.

1.    Put customer first
2.    Prompt communication
3.    Quick delivery
4.    Customer feedback
5.    Empathy

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

Businesses across industries face challenges as they incorporate technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, VR/AR, and the Internet of Things into their operations due to the rapid pace of technological change. However, we keep ourselves up to date on all of the latest technologies that enable our teams to successfully deliver first-class projects.

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

Technologies like these are the future. Not only do they enhance user experience, but they help you gain a competitive advantage over others in the market. In today’s highly competitive market, you need to offer something extraordinary to attract new users and engage the existing ones to keep using your app. The more you engage your users, the more chances you will do good business-wise. These technologies are absolutely immersive and would dictate the future.

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

The rise of mobile technology is inevitable. New businesses are joining, untouched sectors are being exploited, and the world of technology is growing like never before. We live in an age where a world without mobile technology is hard to believe or imagine. With a plethora of benefits, tasks, and routine chores happening on the go, the future seems bright and prosperous. While the trends will keep updating, new tools and technologies will come to light; one thing is sure mobile technology is here to stay.