Sush Mobile: Creating Mobile Magic
Craig Parnham, CEOEnterprises have woken up to the impact that a strategically designed, high performance enterprise app can have on the efficiency of an organization. However, the demand still surpasses the supply and Gartner estimates that by the end of 2017, the demand for mobile application development will grow at least five times faster that internal IT organizations’ capacity to deliver them. It has been observed that enterprises find it tough to rise up to the challenge and develop such apps since hiring the right developers is expensive.
This gives rise to a need for expert solution providers who can help companies build the right enterprise apps to propel them into an organization of tomorrow and beyond. Two bright-eyed university graduates from Delhi, India who had migrated to New Zealand identified this market requirement and founded Sush Mobile, a developer of custom mobile software solutions for enterprise and government organisations. The organization develops end-to-end mobile solutions, specialising in apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, for businesses primarily in the enterprise space. Today their services encompass the breadth of development skills and associated services, incorporating, project management all the way from strategic planning and business analysis, through to skilful UX/UI design and expert development. The firm’s objective is to help clients leverage mobile and other convergent technologies to meet business objectives and generate measurable return.
Beating the Odds
Though the company was founded in 2008 as Sush Global Solutions, Sush Mobile came into being in 2010. The founders’ original idea was to build web applications, but they quickly identified a gaping hole in the market - mobile applications. “Mobile was still new, and no one was offering a comprehensive approach to developing mobile apps,” recollects Sulabh Sharma, Co-Founder of Sush Mobile. He and joint co-founder, Sheenu Chawla then set out to grow its business as a mobile solutions developer, offering comprehensive in-house mobile solutions development. However, this was not enough to ensure success and the growing start-up faced its fair share of challenges during its initial days. “Starting on the heels of a global financial crisis made sales hard for everyone. With no previous identity, relationships, or equity we were akin to a new kid on the block. We had to work hard to overcome that,” adds Sulabh. Their business was entirely cash flow-driven. To make matters worse, Sush Mobile's core product, bespoke mobile software development as solutions, was still very much a foreign concept for many NZ businesses. At the time, most companies questioned the needs/benefits of a mobile strategy. Although it seemed the odds were against them, Sush Mobile’s passion, diversification, tenacity, and countless all-nighters made all the difference.
A venture that had started with two quickly grew to a team of 30 vibrant, passionate, and motivated staff within only four action-packed years. The mobile software development house has achieved significant success in a very short time, and has since more than doubled revenue after its first year, showing reasonable margins. Incredible growth has been accompanied by a rapidly growing customer base and increasingly-larger scale projects.
In August 2014 Sush Mobile was acquired by Finzsoft Solutions Limited, a part of the Silverlake Axis Group. Sush Mobile has welcomed the opportunity to pioneer solutions in new markets across APAC and apply some of the rich R&D insights the SilverlakeGroup has developed to help companies in Australasia and beyond.
Building a Strong Body of Work through an Agile, Iterative Approach
“Mobile apps allow consumers to access what they need, when they need it, literally at their fingertips. Be it for customer on-boarding or self-service, health tracking, or any other infinitely configurable solution, our mobile apps offer the ability for enterprises to leverage contextual information from a smartphone to demonstrate relevance to their customers,” says Craig Parnham, CEO, Sush Mobile.
The company takes on a unique approach towards app development and believes that mobile apps should be seen as one component of a greater solution; not a solution on its own. User experience (UX) research enables Sush Mobile to build workflows within mobile interfaces which are intuitive from the outset and contribute to valuable outcomes for its clients. The company first investigates where the value of a mobile solution exists for its customers, and then builds out a strategy to maximise return in a way that integrates well with organisational requirements. Sush Mobile’s strategic technology roadmap and integration planning exercise (STRIPE) sets the mobile solutions development house apart. “Our STRIPE exercise often identifies a breakthrough in customer insight that allows us to create a customer-inspired moment. When all of the pieces come together to form an experience that delights users, we create mobile magic,” adds Craig.
STRIPE which was created as an internal tool, to help clients determine viable app ideas, draft prototypes, and test concepts early on has brought the organization a considerable amount of success.
Sush Mobile’s strength comes from a mix of dedicated teams and processes that the company has spent the past five years refining. “Core strengths here are attributed to our development team who, though are well-rounded, excel at delivering native Android and iOS apps. The UX/UI team compliments the developers and continues to be a great source of pride as well,” Craig explains. The agility and precision that Sush Mobile has been able to achieve by maintaining all operations under one roof, has been a tremendous advantage for the organization.
Focusing On the Technology of Tomorrow
Having commenced with mobile apps development shortly after the launch of the first smartphones, Sush Mobile has seen sweeping change not only in the technological capabilities, but also in user-uptake and deployment of solutions. “In particular, we have been seeing notable growth in the Business-to-Employee (B2E) area, as organisations look to streamline internal workflows through ready-when-you-are mobile interactions. We expect to see this trend continue as solutions making use of tablets, smartphones, and wearables start to replace functions traditionally performed from a desktop computer,” elaborates Craig. With the recent growth in IoT and big data, the organization also expects to see advancements in how contextual information can be used to help drive internal operational efficiencies and create better customer experiences. For example information about sudden changes in weather or traffic delays could inform employees or customers to make last minute changes to their schedule.
Today Sush Mobile has earned a place as one of New Zealand's leading mobile software development houses, and has proudly partnered with globally recognised IT corporations, like IBM, SAP, and more. As of now, Sush Mobile has developed more than 120 mobile solutions for over 50 clients, including some of the best known organisations in New Zealand. The company, with offices in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney, is now regularly invited to participate in open RFPs from government and enterprise as well as increasingly from abroad.
The organization has developed its service offerings by building around its core business. In addition to mobile development, the company is able to offer resounding analytics and process-based strategy development and design services. “Quality, sustainability, and value have always been central to Sush Mobile's business. We have focussed on developing a highly skilled team, and is continually supporting staff in their roles by facilitating additional training, workshops, and industry events,” says Craig.
The mobile solutions provider opts to form business partnerships over one-off transactions. Sush Mobile continues to develop ever-more ground-breaking solutions for companies across New Zealand. By refining its development processes and carefully expanding into new territories, the company has been able to maintain exponential growth. True to its roots, the team, though now much larger, has continued to nurture a culture of curiosity, passion, and a desire to make the world a better place through technology and human collaboration.
“Mobile apps allow consumers to access what they need, when they need it, literally at their fingertips. Be it for customer on-boarding or self-service, health tracking, or any other infinitely configurable solution, our mobile apps offer the ability for enterprises to leverage contextual information from a smartphone to demonstrate relevance to their customers,” says Craig Parnham, CEO, Sush Mobile.
The company takes on a unique approach towards app development and believes that mobile apps should be seen as one component of a greater solution; not a solution on its own. User experience (UX) research enables Sush Mobile to build workflows within mobile interfaces which are intuitive from the outset and contribute to valuable outcomes for its clients. The company first investigates where the value of a mobile solution exists for its customers, and then builds out a strategy to maximise return in a way that integrates well with organisational requirements. Sush Mobile’s strategic technology roadmap and integration planning exercise (STRIPE) sets the mobile solutions development house apart. “Our STRIPE exercise often identifies a breakthrough in customer insight that allows us to create a customer-inspired moment. When all of the pieces come together to form an experience that delights users, we create mobile magic,” adds Craig.
STRIPE which was created as an internal tool, to help clients determine viable app ideas, draft prototypes, and test concepts early on has brought the organization a considerable amount of success.
Sush Mobile’s strength comes from a mix of dedicated teams and processes that the company has spent the past five years refining. “Core strengths here are attributed to our development team who, though are well-rounded, excel at delivering native Android and iOS apps. The UX/UI team compliments the developers and continues to be a great source of pride as well,” Craig explains. The agility and precision that Sush Mobile has been able to achieve by maintaining all operations under one roof, has been a tremendous advantage for the organization.
Focusing On the Technology of Tomorrow
Having commenced with mobile apps development shortly after the launch of the first smartphones, Sush Mobile has seen sweeping change not only in the technological capabilities, but also in user-uptake and deployment of solutions. “In particular, we have been seeing notable growth in the Business-to-Employee (B2E) area, as organisations look to streamline internal workflows through ready-when-you-are mobile interactions. We expect to see this trend continue as solutions making use of tablets, smartphones, and wearables start to replace functions traditionally performed from a desktop computer,” elaborates Craig. With the recent growth in IoT and big data, the organization also expects to see advancements in how contextual information can be used to help drive internal operational efficiencies and create better customer experiences. For example information about sudden changes in weather or traffic delays could inform employees or customers to make last minute changes to their schedule.
Sush Mobile develops end-to-end mobile solutions, specialising in apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, for businesses primarily in the enterprise space.
Today Sush Mobile has earned a place as one of New Zealand's leading mobile software development houses, and has proudly partnered with globally recognised IT corporations, like IBM, SAP, and more. As of now, Sush Mobile has developed more than 120 mobile solutions for over 50 clients, including some of the best known organisations in New Zealand. The company, with offices in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney, is now regularly invited to participate in open RFPs from government and enterprise as well as increasingly from abroad.
The organization has developed its service offerings by building around its core business. In addition to mobile development, the company is able to offer resounding analytics and process-based strategy development and design services. “Quality, sustainability, and value have always been central to Sush Mobile's business. We have focussed on developing a highly skilled team, and is continually supporting staff in their roles by facilitating additional training, workshops, and industry events,” says Craig.
The mobile solutions provider opts to form business partnerships over one-off transactions. Sush Mobile continues to develop ever-more ground-breaking solutions for companies across New Zealand. By refining its development processes and carefully expanding into new territories, the company has been able to maintain exponential growth. True to its roots, the team, though now much larger, has continued to nurture a culture of curiosity, passion, and a desire to make the world a better place through technology and human collaboration.
