For many, the first question is: do we create the apps ourselves, or partner with vendors?

For its iPhone apps, Wells Publishing, a b-to-b media company serving the insurance industry, spent a one-time fee of $4,000 with an outside developer in early 2010 but decided before long to build them in-house. “When you use a vendor, you lose a lot of that control,” says Wells’ VP of design Guy Boccia.

Apps for the iPad, though, have been another story. At first, Boccia says his team considered building them in house but soon saw the continuous changes and updates and lack of specifications were too great a challenge. “We realized we were better off buying a product that will give us a guarantee so we wouldn’t have to worry about changing what we built and training every two weeks.” After working with three different vendors within two years, Boccia says he feels the changes have slowed down enough, and his team has learned enough, to bring development in-house.

Lees verder op foliomag.com.