Interview with the CEO of Dot Com Infoway – Venkatesh CR

Expert's Active Contribution Assessment - How Mobile Technology will Help Businesses Enlarging their Foot-Print Globally

 

1. Tell us in brief about your company. How has Dot Com Infoway begun this journey? How did you come up with this business idea? What was the essential key factor to being a pioneer in mobile technology?

 

The growth chart of our company has been quite exciting. From 5 employees in 2000 – when we began – we grew to 100+ full-time staff in 2019. Then, we had a small office in Madurai, and we all fitted in it quickly. These days we work in a dedicated building equipped with cutting-edge IT infrastructure.

 

Ours is a highly talented team of English-speaking software developers, mobile app developers, web developers, website designers, SEO experts, UI & UX designers, copywriters, and Blockchain developers. So we got an entire gamut of IT expertise under a single roof. Because we have vast experience with international offshore projects, 95% of our clients are from overseas.

 

2. How do you provide direction in Dot Com Infoway? What is your role in managerial activities?

 

As one of the founders, I know the company from the inside out. In front of my eyes, I have seen each member growing and reaching their potential. So, I have a connection with everyone on our team.

 

I like to call myself the "growth facilitator" in the company. My job is to see that the company is constantly progressing. However, I also know that professional growth is only possible with personal development. Hence, I provide my managerial and leadership services on a one-to-one level and at the company level.

 

I'm also constantly looking for new opportunities that can be stepping stones for our company. I strongly believe in the concept of "leading by example".

 

3. Give us a brief about your enormous achievement in the industry.

 

Of course, our biggest achievements are when our clients are happy with our work. We feel rewarded when satisfied clients recommend our services, and we get most of our business from word of mouth.

 

Having said that, awards and recognitions do matter because they get us the validation that reassures our new and existing clients. We have a vibrant presence overall major technology portals and directories and I'm glad to state that we rank among the top contenders under various categories such as top mobile app development company, top digital marketing company, top B2B company, and top mobile game development company, just to name a few categories. In addition, we have been awarded and recognized by prestigious portals such as Clutch, and TopDevelopers.co, Top App Creators, Good Firms, and Mobile App Daily, among many others.

 

4. Where do you see your company in the next five years?

 

Plays a bigger role in the global IT spectrum. In our capacity, we are already changemakers, but in the next five years, we will be reaching for the new, possibly uncharted frontiers and making a mark over there. We will also be focusing on building indigenous business opportunities because we firmly believe that our country holds immense possibilities. It is just the beginning, a very tiny tip of the iceberg. We want to carve our share of the iceberg.

 

5. What are the key factors to be considered before selecting the right platform for mobile application development?

 

The users are our number one priority because, ultimately, they are the ones who are in a position to make or break a mobile app. Then come the features. Some platforms may allow us to design and develop the features demanded by the client, and some may not. The type of application – native, web, or hybrid – may also impact the ultimate decision. Still, with an increasing number of operating systems streamlining their core features, this will not be a big issue in the coming days.

 

At Dot Com Infoway technology is not a significant factor in our expertise level. We have a large team of developers working on practically every type of technology. Contemporary technologies and development tools give you more or less the same capabilities, provided you know how to tap into them.

 

So, the first consideration is the target audience and then comes the features.

 

6. We would like to learn about your distribution strategy. How do you take your apps to market and what approaches have worked for you?

 

Since we are a full-service digital marketing company we have a skilled workforce and cutting-edge digital marketing tools to reach our audience and ensure that our mobile apps and digital products (and those of our clients) get the target audience. We achieve that through strategic market analysis. We use advanced data analytics for audience segmentation. We have created an engaging presence on social media, putting more significant stress on influencer marketing. We also use in-app marketing through the network of our mobile apps and acquired traction from other mobile apps and publishing platforms. We create optimized listings on all major mobile app stores and mobile app distribution directories.

 

What approaches have worked for us? Of course, every mobile app project is unique; hence, an approach that has worked on another project sometimes needs to be revised on our current project. Nonetheless, strategic targeting and ongoing engagement have yielded the best results.

 

7. Mobile apps on the consumer side are all about volume. Tell us a little about your pricing strategy to optimize volume & how you think consumer-focused mobile apps should be priced. To drive the volume, do you run SEO/SEM activities or employ other approaches?

 

We need to face the reality – almost for every idea, there is an app, and an average consumer is spoiled for choice, although I wouldn't like to use this expression negatively. Having a lot of options puts the consumer in a commanding position. Consequently, mobile app development and marketing companies like ours need to be more creative and proactive in pricing. We have extensively worked on niche mobile app categories. This gives us an advantage. Though there is a choice, the choice is limited, so our target customers are more eager to try out our apps, even when they have to pay for them. 

 

Over the years, we have developed a better understanding of price dynamics. Accordingly, we decide whether we should sell the mobile app or provide a freemium version that allows our customers to recognize the app's usefulness to the extent that they are ready to pay for it. Our pricing strategy is never to exploit the vulnerability of the customer. Instead, it is based on our efforts and the resources needed to keep the mobile app available and functional.

 

We use a mix of SEO, SEM, and customer outreach programs through email marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, and strategic brand building.

 

8. What are the key trends driving the growth in new-age technologies like IoT, Blockchain, & Big Data?

 

By 2019 there were 9.2 billion big and small devices attached to the IoT. The figure was expected to reach 20.8 billion by the end of 2020, but the COVID outbreak may have made some dent. The technology is still in its nascent stage. Connections are vulnerable to data breaches and hacking. Most consumers and technology/electronic companies acknowledge that the future belongs to the devices connected to the Internet of things. There is great potential for technology companies that can provide secure and reliable networking and communication.

 

Being one of the major players in the field of blockchain development (around our domain), we can see that this technology is going to have a major impact on fintech companies and the world of e-commerce. Enterprise systems will seek greater trustworthiness because of the reliability that blockchain technology brings. Technology giants like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, MasterCard, and Factom are betting big on blockchain-related technologies. Our team of blockchain developers themselves is working on significant projects in this technology.

 

Big data hardly means anything in itself. But when it goes through filters, analytics, and algorithms, it turns into indisputable intelligence. Amidst the chaos, it begins to show discernible patterns that can work wonders for your marketing and interpretation needs. Greater data security measures are being taken to protect people's privacy. Cloud services are playing a significant role in the realm of big data sciences. From exploring deep space to predicting the color of the shirt a consumer is going to buy, everything is being impacted by big data.

 

9. In terms of corporate strategy, what do you think are the main drivers that make your company stand out from the crowd?

 

To tell you the truth, we constantly have our finger on the pulse of the market. Although we have been doing lots of pioneering work and even setting new trends (making people aware of something that they needed but had no clue that they needed). Our corporate strategy is powered by a user-centric approach. The end-user is the ultimate recipient of the mobile app features, whether we are building a mobile app (or any technology solution for that matter) for one of our clients or as an in-house project. This is what helps us stand out. There are problems. We offer incontestable solutions.

 

10. You’ve been in this sphere for a long time, what is the one piece of advice you want entrepreneurs to take seriously?

 

Well, this may sound like cliche advice, but it is timeless. Believe in yourself and from this belief, draw energy that helps you persevere. Technology is a tool. When humans started using stones and sticks, at that time, it was cutting-edge technology. The transition from the Bronze Age to Iron Age was maybe another technological transformation. Similarly, we live in the digital technology age. Technologies keep on changing, but the fundamentals of having focus, belief in yourself, and the ability to persevere never change.

 

Dot Com Infoway
https://www.dotcominfoway.com/
crv@dci.in