Cloud App Development Services
Cloud app development implies building apps that run in the cloud and may leverage cloud features and services offered by cloud vendors. In cloud computing since 2012, ScienceSoft quickly and reliably delivers cloud-native and cloud-only apps that efficiently employ all cloud capabilities.
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Why Do Businesses Increasingly Opt for Cloud?
The Scope of Our Cloud Application Services
ScienceSoft provides end-to-end services to cover all aspects of cloud application implementation — cloud app consulting, cloud app development and testing, cloud app security services, cloud app integration with other cloud and on-premises apps, cloud app infrastructure management.
Ideation
- Structuring and elaborating on your high-level software idea.
- Suggesting innovative feature ideas based on the analysis your needs/software idea.
Cloud app planning
- Drawing up high-level functional and technical requirements to software.
For corporate apps:
- Eliciting business needs and concerns regarding existing and desired business process flows.
For products:
- Defining a “killer feature” for an MVP to get an advantage on the market.
- Defining OOTB functionality.
- Deciding on a customization and integration approach.
Business case
- Estimating the expected TCO of your cloud application and exploring ways to optimize it.
- Estimating the expected ROI of your cloud application.
- For products: mapping features to subscription plans and different product versions.
Cloud app dev project planning
- A product development and management roadmap with a release plan and a prioritized features list.
Cloud app architecture design
- Detailing cloud app architecture that meets availability, performance, security, portability, etc. objectives.
- Choosing an optimal tech stack.
- Ensuring compliance of the app’s architecture with industry regulations (HIPAA, FDA, PCI DSS).
- Designing a cloud infrastructure.
Cloud app UX/UI design
- Designing UI mock-ups.
- UX research.
- For products: planning UX with a view to higher conversion from trial or free version to paid users, better up-selling services and subscription options, higher retention.
- Designing/redesigning UX.
Cloud app dev
- Back-end development.
- Front-end development.
- Integrations with other software.
- Designing a CI/CD pipeline for cloud deployment.
Cloud app QA & testing
- Test planning.
- Regular code reviews.
- Unit testing.
- Conducting functional, integration, regression, exploratory, performance, usability, compatibility, security testing.
- Test automation.
- Release testing in case of iterative development.
Cloud app support and evolution
- Cloud application administration.
- Cloud application monitoring.
- L1 - L3 cloud application support.
- User behavior/transactional data analysis.
- For products: experimenting with features to find what really works (using A/B testing and other fact-based methods).
Seeking to empower already existing apps with cloud benefits?
We also help our clients move their legacy applications to the cloud – doing it gradually and with minimum disruption to the ongoing business processes, please see our legacy cloud migration offering.
Scalable and portable apps
We split an application into services/microservices and get them containerized to help you minimize downtimes caused by application overload or migration.
Modifiable and compatible cloud apps
We leverage layered architecture, clear separation of concerns (SoC), standardized and well-documented APIs, etc., to make cloud apps easily adopt updates (e.g., conceptual changes, new features) and integrate with other applications.
Resilient cloud apps
We use hierarchies of services, message queues, dynamic scaling and automated recovery, etc., to eliminate the possibility of app failure escalation.
Secure cloud apps
- Integrated security at every stage of the cloud app development life cycle.
- Secure code repositories and build-management programs.
- Security incorporated into deployment tools and the release pipeline.
- Strong data encryption and SSL, reduction of serverless permissions, enforced authentication, the use of a cloud provider’s controls, comprehensive logging and monitoring of events and requests sent from external APIs.
Cost-efficient cloud apps
We select the right cloud services for minimized efforts, timelines and costs to develop and operate an application.
Fast and Stable Cloud App Development
Incremental development in small sprints
We deliver in increments and provide major releases each 2-3 weeks and daily minor releases for you to track project progress, get real user feedback early, and focus on what’s truly matters. In 1-2 months, you get a ready-to-use MVP – a first software version of high quality.
Clear development standards
To simplify software maintainability and accelerate the development process, we offer:
- Ample coding documentation.
- Standardized and optimized software architecture.
- A proven set of development practices, tools (e.g., defined by Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)), and controls (e.g., code review processes).
- A well-established development methodology.
Shift-left approach to testing
To improve the testing process efficiency and overall software quality, we involve test engineers in the clarification and prioritization of application requirements, include developers in the software validation process, start active testing at the API level, and more.
A high level of automation
We automate software integration, testing, and deployment for the high quality of fast releases.
Domain knowledge
Domain knowledge helps our BAs and software developers to understand business needs deeper, create better solutions to meet them, and reduce re-work.
Skilled developers
We promote skill upgrades among our developers so that they can solve problems faster and create less complex and more efficient solutions.
Experienced project managers and well-defined communication points
Our PMs professionally bridge the gap between business and complex, cross-functional, distributed teams and take the role of a single point of contact to make the projects run smoother and faster.
Self-managed cross-functional teams
Our teams can include a Team Lead, developers, DevOps engineers, testers, BAs, and designers. The teams are trained to work independently and take full responsibility for the software feature implementation.
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How ScienceSoft Helps Optimize Cloud App Costs
ScienceSoft’s consultants provide an efficient cloud resource utilization plan due to:
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Comparing cost and capabilities of different clouds for each specific cloud app project.
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Keeping up with unique cloud cost optimization opportunities from the most popular cloud vendors (Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud).
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Designing an auto-scaling cloud app architecture and dynamic resource orchestration to achieve up to a 37% decrease in cloud hosting costs (optionally).
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Introducing proven application performance management practices to achieve a 19% increase in cloud app performance.
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Providing the cloud resource consumption optimization plan and helping with its implementation and continuous management on-demand.
Cloud App Initiative Q&A by ScienceSoft
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How can we avoid cloud vendor lock-in?Ensure that your cloud application is designed without complex infrastructure dependencies to easily switch vendors of some cloud services if needed. Another option is to create a cloud-agnostic cloud app, but it can tangibly increase the cost and duration of the development project. |
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How not to end up paying more for cloud than for local hosting?Consider cloud-native architectures for your application. Companies usually experience 30-60% cost savings from what would normally be required for local hosting when the application is correctly adapted to the optimal cloud resource consumption at the architectural level. Note: Re-architecting of legacy applications to make them cloud-native is not always technically and economically feasible. |
Techs and Architecture Patterns We Work With
Clouds
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Cloud databases, warehouses and storage
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AWS
Azure
Google Cloud Platform
Real-time data processing
Databases / data storages
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SQL
NoSQL
Back end programming languages
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Front end programming languages
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Languages
JavaScript frameworks
Mobile
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DevOps
Containerization
Automation
CI/CD tools
Monitoring
SaaS platforms
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Architecture patterns
Multi-tenancy architecture
Cloud-native architecture
Serverless architecture
Microservices architecture
Event sourcing architecture
Multi-tier architecture
We Eagerly Put in Use IT Innovations
Click the cards to find the detailed description of our capabilities with each technology.
Big data
Artificial Intelligence
Data Science
Internet of Things
Computer Vision
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Blockchain
Cloud app development
We plan, design and deliver scalable, portable, reliable and secure containerized cloud apps (including based on services/microservices). On demand, we:
- Assess development project feasibility, provide cost & time estimates.
- Power the app with advanced services (AI, VR, data science, IoT and more).
- Integrate the app with third-party systems.
- Provide continuous cloud app support and maintenance to meet new business needs.
Application migration to the cloud
We cover:
- Application and/or DWH migration to the cloud with all-around modifications (if necessary).
- Integration of cloud and on-premises environments into a hybrid infrastructure (if required).
- Data migration.
- CI/CD implementation.
- Cloud infrastructure configuration.
- Cloud application testing.
Pricing Options for Our Services
Fixed price
Best for: Feasibility study, PoC, small cloud projects with clear and stable requirements.
You pay the price established by a contract.
Time & Material, Time & Material with a cap
Best for: advisory activities (business analysis, architecture design, project planning, etc.), agile cloud app development and implementation, cloud app evolution (introducing substantial changes or adding new functionality).
You receive the end-of-the-month invoice based on the hours or efforts reported per month (under the stated upper limit in case of T&M with a cap).
Per-ticket pricing
Best for: L1, L2 cloud application support.
At the start of cooperation, we define the ticket cost, and you get charged based on the volume of incidents we resolve monthly.
Fixed monthly fee
Best for: L3 cloud application support (in-code defect fixes, functional changes).
At the start of cooperation, we define the hourly rate for cloud app support activities. After the service is delivered, you pay for a bunch of hours during which we’ve been providing support.
Some of Our Cloud App Development and Migration Stories
Ecommerce Ecosystem Migration to Amazon Cloud
In 1.5 months, ScienceSoft’s team migrated the entire application infrastructure from 20 dedicated servers to AWS to enable it to confidently withstand high loads. Also, after migration, the company eliminated the considerable expenses caused by running their services on dedicated servers.
Accounting Software Migration to Azure Cloud
ScienceSoft migrated the accounting application to the cloud to help minimize costs and time required to implement new features. Placed in the cloud, the system serves as the single location for information storage and sharing for product users who can access and work with the consistent data anytime, anywhere, using any device.
Custom Billing Software for a Leading European Marketplace
An automatically scalable (from 2 to > 50 app servers) and fault-tolerant cloud-based custom billing platform replaced a billing-as-a-service solution, utilizing cloud storage, publish-subscribe messaging and other services.
The World’s Largest PLM Software
A unique cloud-based product lifecycle management solution, powering 20,000 retailers, manufacturers and suppliers in 110 countries. The cloud-based platform helps the industry players conjoin their efforts, knowledge and clients, and provides users with full analysis and reporting capabilities.
The Back End for an Innovative Hotel Self-Service App
A microservices-based solution deployed in the Google Cloud environment serves dozens of hotels in Europe. The utilized technologies and architecture ensure that it stays fast and responsive even in the context of multi-userness and high-volume data processing.
The Data Analytics Platform for a Telecom Company
The solution measures the engagement, identifies the preferences of a particular user, spots trends in the user’s behavior, bills advertisers, and more. The use of Amazon Spot Instances allows the company to reduce the costs of AWS computing resources by 80%.
Our Happy Clients
Leo Burnett Worldwide: What Is Working with ScienceSoft Like
For 4 years, we have been trusted with software development and support projects, including those based on .NET and AWS cloud, from a renowned advertising agency Leo Burnett Worldwide. Sam Gooby, Head of Platform Production at Leo Burnett, reveals his first-hand experience on cooperation with our team.
Owing to ScienceSoft’s experience in distributed modular systems, we cooperated with them on the evolution of our Azure-based product for accounts payable management. ScienceSoft was to cover end-to-end development of an intelligent paperless invoice processing module for the product. The new software module performs stably even under heavy load, which helps provide high quality user experience for our customers.
Wadih Pazos, Chief Operating Officer, Paramount WorkPlace
ScienceSoft offers a high caliber of resources skilled in Microsoft Azure .NET, mobile and Quality Assurance. Over the past three years, Lixar was very pleased with the service provided by ScienceSoft development teams and executive management. For accelerated project timelines which require skilled resources, ScienceSoft is a company that your team should consider.
Jan Banda, Director, Lixar
