Rodoyo Digital, a partner of the Iconic group, has unveiled its latest project, the creation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan SHAGUN website, commissioned by the Government of India for its education department. Aside from this website, Rodoyo is also making great strides in bringing more affordable apps to clients. Michael Bratt spoke to founder Earl Portnoy to find out more.
Rodoyo’s involvement in the SHAGUN website began when it was approached by Neil Butcher and Associates, the communication and marketing company handling the World Bank of India. Initially Rodoyo only conceptualised the website. “Because they were so satisfied with our service, design and overall offering, they said why don’t we actually quote on developing the website, we did and we won the pitch,” Portnoy explains.
Behind the site
WordPress was chosen as the development tool for the site for several reasons, according to Portnoy, “For ease of use on the backend, because it was adaptable to the needs of the client and to our development needs, and because it’s such a stable and robust platform, and also from a cost point of view”.
A four-person team worked on the site, including Portnoy. The website took three months to build, and the biggest challenge was how complex it was going to be. “All the states in India, around 30 of them, were going to be uploading content to the site. The challenge was to take this very complex backend and make it appear very simple on the frontend. And also make it easy for all these states to upload their content … it took a lot of development to make that complex design work in a simple manner, but I think we achieved that,” Portnoy says.
Top quality mobile apps at a more affordable price
Aside from the website Rodoyo is also upping its game in the mobile app space. “The drawback with mobile apps has always been the cost. So it’s always been seen as a very expensive type of development and only really available and possible for big companies or those with big budgets. Costs and timing, always took a long time to develop, lots of testing, lots of going back and retesting and redeveloping. What this technology that we now have access to lets us do, is offer the same quality of design, the same level of functionality, what we are really offering is the big mobile app but at a smaller price,” says Portnoy.
Access to this technology came about for Rodoyo through its collaboration with the other developers on the SHAGUN website. Portnoy adds, “So we can really target any business and the return on investment is really good because for that small price that they are paying up front and that monthly subscription fee they are really getting this slick functionality that you would have had to pay hundreds of thousands of Rands in the past for”. What makes this tech of developing apps cheaper than previously is that the app is available for both Android and iPhone as it shares the same CMS. Another benefit is that timing is reduced; now an app takes four to five weeks from conceptualisation to being putting in the stores, whereas before it took months, not weeks for this process.
Local development advancements
An exciting element of the development space is that a team of developers, including Rodoyo, are banding together to create these website and mobile apps. Even for international clients, all of the conceptualising and development is done in Johannesburg. Portnoy says, “It makes it much easier to work and manage these projects and to expand the offerings of Rodoyo. Collaboration is really important … The SHAGUN website was completely done locally.”
A major benefit of Rodoyo is the after development support it offers. It doesn’t just conceptualise and develop a site or app and then forget about it, it is a continuous relationship and engagement with clients. Portnoy says, “Our thinking has always been to form a long term partnership with our clients where we can grow a website or app as their business or needs grow. We never just look at it as build it and then walk away.”
Contact Rodoyo Digital here.
Follow Michael Bratt on Twitter @MichaelBratt8
