Freguency Asked Questions

What does CellAvant do?

CellAvant provides custom and tailored mobile software solutions and wireless applications to the mobile workforce in private and public sectors, for BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile, Palm®, and Symbian.

When should I choose a custom solution over an off-the-shelf product?

• When you do not want to pay product licensing costs
• When you do not want to be tied to a 3rd party runtime engine or middleware component
• When you want to “own” the application
• When you have a custom desktop or backend application that you want to migrate to your mobile workforce
• When there is not a pre-integrated, off-the-shelf product that will meet your needs “out of the box”
• When you do not want the risk of going with a small product vendor

Is a custom solution more expensive than a 3rd party middleware solution?

A custom mobile solution does not necessarily equate to a more expensive overall solution. First, we are not building custom mobile solutions “from scratch.” We have an extensive library of common code – mobile application “building blocks” – that we use to build applications efficiently. Second, our natively-built applications come with no upfront or on-going licensing fees. Commercial off-the-shelf enterprise mobility applications can cost $1,000 per user per year and higher. While upfront custom development costs may be a little higher, overall total cost of ownership is less, especially for large deployments.

What types of mobile software services does CellAvant provide?

We specialize in helping businesses use mobile devices to improve how they work. We work with our clients in a number of different ways, but most often from start to finish, beginning in a consulting capacity.

We provide complete end-to-end mobile software development services which include: consulting, development, QA, program and project management, graphics, human factors, documentation, training, and on-going maintenance services to our customers.

What if my budget is tight, or I only need help with part of the total project, will CellAvant provide pieces of the development cycle such as “design” only?

Yes, CellAvant will provide all or portions of the development cycle. We can provide consulting services where you may want one of our architects to provide you with input and advice on how to proceed with your mobile solution. We can provide a consultant to help manage your development team through the entire project. We can provide the coding for your project against well-written requirements. We can provide quality assurance testing. Bottom line, we can complete the entire project or perform pieces of the project, it’s up to you.

What type of mobile applications can be customized?

There is an unlimited number of mobile software solutions that your business can consider. Let CellAvant build a custom application that will meet your needs. Here are some examples of functions that you may consider deploying to your mobile workforce:

• Paper forms that need to be completed on a regular basis and then entered into a backend system such as:
• Real estate forms
• Inspection forms
• Insurance forms
• Patient forms
• Delivery forms
• Check list forms
• Access to information that resides on backend systems such as:
• Wireless access to an existing ERP or CRM system
• Price lookups
• Inventory availability
• Customer or Patient Information
• Automatic data entry from mobile device peripherals such as:
• Images from a camera
• GPA coordinates from a mobile device
• Bar codes scanned with a handheld
• Date/time stamps for information gathered in the field
• Scheduling and resource allocation
• Executive dashboards

How do we begin working with CellAvant?

We have a flexible, partnership approach with our customers. CellAvant provides engagement models designed to match both project requirements and our clients’ business models:

• Time and Materials – services are paid by the hour/day; typically used with consulting services, training, projects with vague requirements, or short term projects
• FTE – services for a full time employee or part time employee in one to two year increments; typically used when core competency is not at the customer site and continuous work is needed
• Fixed Cost – services are paid at a fixed cost fee; typically used when requirements are well defined
• Combination – a combination of the above agreements; typically used in consulting agreements where the consulting work is time and materials and the on-going work with known requirements is fixed cost

Some CellAvant clients rely on us to be their entire development arm, while others employ our services to supplement existing in-house technical teams. In either capacity, CellAvant stands ready to assist you with your mobile computing projects.

For more information, please feel free to call or email us at the following:

757.595.4856
info@cellavant.com

What are the typical cost considerations for building a mobile application?

There are a number of items to consider when going through the process of building a mobile application. They are broken into the following high level categories:

• Planning
• Who will build the application
• Internal resources or Outsource
• Do we need custom or an existing 3 rd party application
• How quickly do we need this application deployed
• What will the application do
• Initial requirements
• Scope of project
• Budget
• What is our budget for this project
• Infrastructure
• Devices (device types, device management)
• Backend Infrastructure (server, hardware and software licensing)
• Integration needs (backend, application itself or 3 rd party customization needs)
• Custom Development or 3 rd Party Licensing with Customization
• Training
• Who (end users, development team)
• Deployment
• On-going Maintenance
• Support

There will be a cost associated with planning your mobile application solution. Infrastructure costs need to be understood such as mobile devices, mobile device management, backend server software, hardware and licensing costs when third party solutions are involved. Development costs will be incurred for custom development and/or customization, as well as backend system integration. Maintenance and product enhancement costs need to be considered. Our consultants can assist you with this process.

What qualifications do CellAvant team members possess?

CellAvant’s team offers a combined 130 years of software development experience. Our team members have experience with large and small deployments. We have experience developing across multiple mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile, PalmOS, Symbian and Blackberry, and integrating into a variety of back-end systems including Oracle and Microsoft databases, as well as IIS and Apache web servers running on Windows and Unix servers.

With what mobile operating systems does CellAvant have experience?

CellAvant has experience developing on a wide variety of platforms such as BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile, Palm®, and Symbian.

Does CellAvant have a vertical market focus?

We have provided solutions in various vertical markets, including: healthcare, finance, legal, construction, transportation, law enforcement, and marketing/communications. Click here to see a list of our project summaries.

What are some examples of projects you have completed?

Click here to see examples of our project summaries.

Where is CellAvant located?

CellAvant is located in Newport News, Virginia with branch offices in the DC Metro Area. For address, phone, email and directions, click here.

CellAvant, Inc.
739 Thimble Shoals Blvd.
Suite 101
Newport News, VA 23606

Corporate Office 757.595.4856
www.cellavant.com