Interview with Aditya Dwivedi, Head of Operations - MAAN Softwares INC.

Aditya Dwivedi  

Head of Operations, MAAN Softwares Inc.

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

MAAN Softwares is a Web, Mobile app, and Software Development Company, provides end-to-end solutions for small and large scale organizations. The term MAAN comes from the Hindi word which means dignity. We have always enjoyed engaging with our clients to find solutions to their business needs. We believe that the exchange of ideas and talent between our team and the clients can bring about amazing results.
We have worked across more than 70 countries with 650+ customers on nearly 1000 projects over the past 6 years. Whether our client is a new start up or an established business, we provide great value and fantastic support.
Our solutions typically utilize standard CMSs including DRUPAL, MAGENTO and WORDPRESS but our team has experience with a wide variety of platforms and programming languages.


What is your role in the management and development of MAAN Softwares?

Having a technical background, I keep myself involved in nearly every level of the development process. Also, having years of experience in business analysis, I manage work directly with the client, working with them every step of the way from our initial meeting to the launch of the product—all the while ensuring the timeline and budget are maintained.


Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry

My biggest achievement to date has been reaching 650 clients in just 6 years. There’s a saying: 'The best reward for working hard and not giving up is getting the ripe fruit'.


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

We usually discuss as many details of the timeline for all the phases of a project separately in the initial proposal. We prefer Agile Methodology so as to remain flexible in regards to the deliverable. This also allows us to continually evaluate the timeline.


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

We first go through with the needs of the client and the complexities of the outputs with the members of our development.  We will then take it forward to UI/UX designing, quality testing, and business analysis teams. Further, we discuss these aspects with the client and present the proposed figures for time and budget. An initial study is also done before the final discussion to gather necessary information like which dynamic audience the client is looking for, compatibility of the solution, etc.


Which would you suggest for a successful and profitable business progression, Native or hybrid apps? How do you define the factors that influenced you to make this choice?

This decision comes down not so much to us but to a client's choice. Yes, we will certainly provide our expert opinion but the decision needs to come from a strategic business point of view. We educate our clients on the choices and they come to us with a decision. Time & budget are the main factors that a client will base their decision on.


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

Depending on the requirements and timeline, we have a number of tiers and/or scalable options. Our company can offer the client a single, dedicated developer or as a full team.


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

We have built 75+ Android and more than 60 iOS apps for 120+ clients. One of our Android apps has gotten 500k downloads and 4.8 rating/average review on the Google Play and Apple app stores. We have about 70% percentage of our clients for app development with 59% percentage of returning ratio, which shows how good our apps and our post support are doing in the market.


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

Clarity in budget, responsive communication, and setting realistic expectations go a long way to building trust with a client. The approach a company follows to complete the project also matters. Agile, Waterfall, Kanban and many other methodologies are available today. We specifically follow the Agile Methodology with a scrum framework to provide the most flexibility for a client along the product building cycle.


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

We have a R&D department and a separate team for keeping us all updated about any trending technologies. R&D dept. organizes short training sessions for any upcoming development technology whenever it seems essential. We also provide offshore trainings to our employees and send them to conferences to get exposure to new technologies and ideas.


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

AR and VR are robustly emerging technologies. IoT is more of a method of interconnecting technologies to things. AR and VR have just begun to show their potential for expanding how we interact with the digital space. If you’ve seen it in a movie, it’s bound to happen in the real world. AR and VR are one step toward that. IoT allows us to control much of what we interact with around the world from centralized hardware. But moving forward we will see those systems looking back at us, examining our lives and our systems, and beginning to shape how we experience not just the Internet but all aspects of our “connected” lives.


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

Mobile is replacing all orthodox media instruments such as radio and television sets. Social media applications and entertainment app solutions are supporting mobile technology in the best possible ways—by pushing the edge of the envelope for emerging technologies and methods of bringing digital value to consumers.