Mobile telecom providers have the opportunity to offer up apps within their customer stores. But getting apps from developers that are really targeted at the business market is much harder. Most developers target the high volume consumer market hoping to be the next Snapchat or WhatsApp. With both having values in billions of dollars you can hardly blame them.

Yet with Melody Pods we are passionate about delivering great music for business every day across a wide range of business markets. Mobile telcos with large business markets can market their own instance of the Melody Pods platform and incorporate the service into their own systems to ensure their complete package can deliver consistent customer service.

Getting A Sound Solution That Fits Your NeedsChoosing a solution Deciding between the pros and cons of buy vs build for me, tends to be around a judgement of how much a solution can meet my requirements over the total cost in terms of time and money. For example, I wouldn’t choose to commission a developer to build me an email client and server solution because there are perfectly functional solutions that meet most of my requirements off the shelf today. Additionally the cost in terms of time this takes me away from my business objectives is too costly. However, for solutions I need for key business functions that deliver layers of my business that aren’t so common my approach is similar but more complex as you would imagine. Whilst Thankfully I am not trying to solve complex corporate wide technical solutions what I spend a lot of my time thinking about is how to make my business easier to work with for clients and for the experience to be richer and more rewarding for them. With a good handle on what requirements for a solution is for day one (my minimum viable product) and what developments will be required moving forward in stages, I start to research the market to see what is available. I also make sure there aren’t technologies out there that would meet my requirement that aren’t actually designed to do this but do so very well. Normally I end up finding a few options that meet up to 70% of my need and so my next challenge is to work out how to get a solution that works even closer. Unless it hits 95% I am unlikely to invest any more time in it. Of the option is available are seeking online guidance from other users. Being behind the curve of use of a technology has its advantages because normally someone may have solved your issues already even if they aren’t focused on your market. Additionally, software companies that sell niche solutions often work very closely with their client and offer consulting and development services to fill the gap in your needs with ‘modules’ or ‘plugins’ that they can then sell again to other clients. This type of software and service ecosystem is very popular and works for everyone. So, assuming I have found myself a software solution, and I have added a few existing plugins, found a few other pieces of software that can work in conjunction with the solution, I am likely to have around 15% of so left to fill to meet my needs. This is the hard part. To succeed and make this a success, you need to be determined to get what you want, feel you really understand your market needs and championing them through a dialogue with others who may say, “no one has ever asked me for that before” or “no one else does it that way” and still be committed to that last critical few features that you are convinced are going to make the difference between something that looks a bit armature and something that fits together and feels professional for your clients. Having a trusted developer will make this stage far more easier for you. Using ‘five dollar’ sites are great for small fixes but they don’t provide, nor are safe to use for more complex requirements. Online ‘freelance’ sites are even more risky since many will promise everything to gain that initial up front fee and then use all the usual schoolboy excuses normally reserved for why homework hasn’t been handed in for why your requirement needs more time and more money. Finding a developer you can trust requires you to get a referral from someone you know, a few test projects and a good understanding of their skill bread, levels and what their own ambitions and future direction is. Since much of what you develop together will require updates as technology progresses you will need to feel confident your chosen developer will be around for some time, and as a contingency, the technology used is popular with many other developers so if you need to hire new, it’s not going to be hard to find someone. Being clear and giving examples along with testing and feeding back at various stages of the development will mean you will get a very close solution to your need. Also, don’t be frightened to change the requirement mid term. Of course this is going to cause a flurry of emails and some additional cost to you, and frustration to your developer but if you have found new information that is critical to the success of your solution, tell your developer as soon as you can. Likewise give your developer a good understanding of your development futures so they have them in the back of their minds whilst they develop. Knowing what is next can significantly change how technology is developed in the present. Once you are happy with the solution (expect a number of iterations) give good feedback and praise for how well the solution is and how valuable it is for you. We all feed on more than money alone. Choosing a solution Deciding between the pros and cons of buy vs build for me, tends to be around a judgement of how much a solution can meet my requirements over the total cost in terms of time and money. For example, I wouldn’t choose to commission a developer to build me an email client and server solution because there are perfectly functional solutions that meet most of my requirements off the shelf today. Additionally the cost in terms of time this takes me away from my business objectives is too costly. However, for solutions I need for key business functions that deliver layers of my business that aren’t so common my approach is similar but more complex as you would imagine. Whilst Thankfully I am not trying to solve complex corporate wide technical solutions what I spend a lot of my time thinking about is how to make my business easier to work with for clients and for the experience to be richer and more rewarding for them. With a good handle on what requirements for a solution is for day one (my minimum viable product) and what developments will be required moving forward in stages, I start to research the market to see what is available. I also make sure there aren’t technologies out there that would meet my requirement that aren’t actually designed to do this but do so very well. Normally I end up finding a few options that meet up to 70% of my need and so my next challenge is to work out how to get a solution that works even closer. Unless it hits 95% I am unlikely to invest any more time in it. Of the option is available are seeking online guidance from other users. Being behind the curve of use of a technology has its advantages because normally someone may have solved your issues already even if they aren’t focused on your market. Additionally, software companies that sell niche solutions often work very closely with their client and offer consulting and development services to fill the gap in your needs with ‘modules’ or ‘plugins’ that they can then sell again to other clients. This type of software and service ecosystem is very popular and works for everyone. So, assuming I have found myself a software solution, and I have added a few existing plugins, found a few other pieces of software that can work in conjunction with the solution, I am likely to have around 15% of so left to fill to meet my needs. This is the hard part. To succeed and make this a success, you need to be determined to get what you want, feel you really understand your market needs and championing them through a dialogue with others who may say, “no one has ever asked me for that before” or “no one else does it that way” and still be committed to that last critical few features that you are convinced are going to make the difference between something that looks a bit armature and something that fits together and feels professional for your clients. Having a trusted developer will make this stage far more easier for you. Using ‘five dollar’ sites are great for small fixes but they don’t provide, nor are safe to use for more complex requirements. Online ‘freelance’ sites are even more risky since many will promise everything to gain that initial up front fee and then use all the usual schoolboy excuses normally reserved for why homework hasn’t been handed in for why your requirement needs more time and more money. Finding a developer you can trust requires you to get a referral from someone you know, a few test projects and a good understanding of their skill bread, levels and what their own ambitions and future direction is. Since much of what you develop together will require updates as technology progresses you will need to feel confident your chosen developer will be around for some time, and as a contingency, the technology used is popular with many other developers so if you need to hire new, it’s not going to be hard to find someone. Being clear and giving examples along with testing and feeding back at various stages of the development will mean you will get a very close solution to your need. Also, don’t be frightened to change the requirement mid term. Of course this is going to cause a flurry of emails and some additional cost to you, and frustration to your developer but if you have found new information that is critical to the success of your solution, tell your developer as soon as you can. Likewise give your developer a good understanding of your development futures so they have them in the back of their minds whilst they develop. Knowing what is next can significantly change how technology is developed in the present. Once you are happy with the solution (expect a number of iterations) give good feedback and praise for how well the solution is and how valuable it is for you. We all feed on more than money alone.