Custom app development is an increasingly popular request. Companies have realized the enormous advantages of integrating tailor-made software, and today it represents an essential step in the digital transformation process that all businesses are called upon to undertake.
Case study: development of a web-based and mobile application for an electricity and gas company
SORINT.lab has developed a web-based and mobile application for an international company, a leader in the supply of electricity and gas, capable of processing all the information necessary to finalize commercial contracts with its end customers.
Fewer manual processes with the development of custom apps
This is a common type of application in the world of utilities, forming the very backbone of the business model. Given the volume of transactions involved, it is essential that each process is perfectly optimized, both from an operational point of view and, above all, from a software implementation point of view.
A complete solution that took many months of work, but ultimately delivered the benefits desired by the customer: sales times have been reduced, customers are more satisfied, and the organization of the entire process has been greatly streamlined, with major benefits for staff in particular.
Need for a digital platform to improve efficiency
The customer’s need was clear. In order to configure a commercial offer, the end user was required to contact an operator by phone after showing interest in the service offered by the customer. The entire process was therefore carried out manually by an operator, who had to assist the user in configuring their offer while simultaneously answering their questions.
This method was ineffective under many points of view : first of all, it was not scalable, and the lack of a more modern, digital approach risked giving the wrong impression of the client company’s commercial positioning.
Therefore, the client needed a platform that would collect all user data, from the initial request to the issuance of the sales contract.
How to create a custom software app for your company
The creation of a custom software app for your company undoubtedly starts with a high level of digital awareness and understanding of your needs. First of all, you need to be clear about why you need this app: typically, it is to cover some kind of uniqueness, for example in the case of exclusive products or processes, or when processes have specific requirements. In short, in all cases where other solutions are expensive, inefficient, or inadequate.
In short, the company must be fully aware of its needs and how it would like the workflow to be once the custom software app has been implemented. It will then be up to the analysis and development team to take charge of these requests and satisfy them or propose some kind of compromise for each one. Let’s return to our case study to see how all this plays out in reality.
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SORINT.lab’s solution for developing custom apps
A team of eight people from SORINT.lab worked for over a year and a half to develop and publish the web-based and mobile application, as well as the platform for processing all the data involved.
Requirements analysis and prototypes validated by the customer
As a starting point for the development of a customized app, SORINT.lab carried out an in-depth analysis, together with the customer, of the requirements necessary for the smooth running of the entire process.
One of the most significant challenges was to ensure that all data collected using optical character recognition (OCR) systems, generated by processing documents provided by the user, were linked together. In addition, the various systems involved—such as the offer configurator, based, for example, on personal information, and the ERP software—needed to communicate with each other and allow the status of the offer to be retrieved if it had not been finalized the first time.
System integration and request monitoring
Following the analysis, the first prototypes were created and validated by the customer. Further gradual and granular developments integrated the user interface and, more generally, all aspects of the user experience, which was always built with constant feedback from the customer. The development of customised apps cannot be separated from the direct involvement of the customer: only in this way can the final result be tailor-made.
In addition to integrating the various systems involved in configuring the offer or generating the final contract, another challenge was to create a stable and resilient system. An important feature, in fact, was to carefully monitor the flow of all requests so that even those that were not completed remained properly archived.
Faster operations with custom apps
The development of a custom app for the customer has thus brought a number of clear advantages. These derive, more or less directly, from making operations more efficient and faster. Custom applications are created precisely for this purpose: to adapt perfectly to the designated process, eliminating all the inefficiencies that a general-purpose software product would entail.
Advantages of customized apps
The improvement in the overall user experience, in terms of efficiency, response speed, and completeness of information, has brought some important advantages:
- The number of sales negotiations has increased.
- The time required to manage each negotiation has been reduced.
- A system of heterogeneous contact points has been created, thanks to a dedicated mobile application.
The initial requirements were therefore fully met by SORINT.lab, which set up the entire platform for collecting, managing, and processing data—some of which was sensitive—as well as completely configuring the application tailored to the customer’s needs.