There are countless variables that determine the cost of a development project. Just to give you some idea of what kinds of things make a difference, we have outlined a few of the most common factors:

Interactivity:
More and more, the internet is becoming a place where people can get things done. It's no longer just a source of information, now we can buy and sell, manage accounts, give or receive instruction, and much more without ever leaving our home. If your website is simply a source for information, it is very easy to maintain and update. However, the more complex the interaction becomes between your website browsers and your business, the higher the cost of development and maintenance. But remember, the ability for your clients to "get things done" on your website adds value to your service, which if marketed correctly can lead to awesome returns on investment in your web project.

Connectivity:
If your website is a place where users can interact with your business, you are going to want to connect the transactions that take place on your website to the rest of your business operations. For example, if you take orders over the phone and you expand your website so that users can place an order online, you must have a way to merge the data from website sales into the same systems that manage your phone order sales. This connectivity can become very complex when you allow users to manage and track orders, update their account, and make payments online. Connecting your website or other applications to the rest of your business processes can increase the cost of development.

Expandability:
The amount of traffic your application will endure can have an impact on development costs. For example, a website that needs to handle a few hundred users per day can be built much cheaper than a website that must handle millions of users each day. Two ways to increase the speed and performance of your website or application are to 1) increase computer speed and processing power and 2) write code that consumes less processing power per transaction. Both ways cost money, and should be balanced to maximize return on investment.

Programmability:
A good application development team has the ability to fulfill the functional requirements of any project, using the latest standard development tools. However, the amount of experience developers have had in creating a project similar to yours will have an impact on the cost of development. If your requirements are very standard, and have been done before over and over, the cost to develop are less because there are fewer unknowns. If your project is something new that has never been done before, the learning curve for developers is steeper which requires more time and resources. For this reason, it's good to choose a seasoned team of developers that has had experience creating a broad range of applications.

Testing and Quality Assurance:
Whenever you design an application that will be used by the public or by a large group of people, you have to commit a sizable portion of you budget to testing and quality assurance. This guarantees that your application will be usable. Even with our extensive experience and expertise in system and interface design, it is immensely helpful to have a group of people outside the project test it for usability.

Other Factors:
Many other factors have an impact on the cost of each project. To really know for certain what kind of cost your project will require, we recommend that you schedule a free discovery session with one of our project analysts. After arranging a confidentiality agreement, we can work together to come to an understanding of your requirements and your vision. From there we can give you a more accurate quote for your project.