Mobile Application Development: CTO’s Pointer-by-Pointer Checklist

Cost, TCO & timelines (INR)

• Benchmarks:
  • MVP/basic: ₹3 - 10 lakh
  • Mid-complexity: ₹10 - 40 lakh
  • Enterprise/AI/FinTech: ₹40 lakh - ₹3+ crore
• Insist on 3-year TCO: dev + infra (cloud + CDN) + SaaS + maintenance (15–20% p.a.) + expected scale costs (inference, push, CDN).
  Timelines: realistic first release 3-9 months, depending on integrations. Anything <8 weeks for a real app ≠ credible.
  

Architecture & stack (measured, not opinionated)

• Demand a high-level architecture diagram, data flow, and a scalability test plan. Look for stateless backends, caching, and CDNs for assets.
• Native vs cross-platform: require device benchmarks (cold start, 90th-pct frame times, memory) on your user devices. Use tech choice to meet KPIs, not trends.
  

Security, privacy & Indian compliance

• Minimum: OWASP Mobile Top-10 mapped to your threat model + SAST/DAST in CI.
• DPDP readiness: consent flows, data residency assumptions, deletion workflows. Call out the DPDP Act obligations explicitly in the contract.
• Regulated apps: verify experience with RBI rules (KYC, PCI/UPI expectations) and any sectoral audits.
• Require: recent pen-test report, SBOM for third-party libs, and SLA for CVE patching (critical ≤48h; high ≤7 days).
  

DevOps, CI/CD & release discipline

• Ask for their pipeline: lint → unit → SAST → build → staging deploy → automated E2E → manual gate. Request sample CI YAML.
• DORA metrics to ask for: Lead Time, Deployment Frequency, Change Failure Rate, MTTR. Good teams share targets/values.

Testing & QA

• Device matrix includes low/mid/high Androids, and relevant iOS versions. Network simulation (3G/2G/packet loss) is mandatory.
• Test pyramid target: unit:integration: E2E ≈ 70:20:10. Ask for historical flakiness % for E2E suites.
• Release gating: automated smoke + critical path E2E must pass before prod.

Observability, SLOs & runbook

• Require sample dashboards (crash, API p95/p99, business funnels). Ask: What are the SLA numbers they propose? (e.g., 99.5% core flow availability; API P95 <200ms).
• Insist on alerting thresholds, on-call rotation, and documented runbooks with MTTR SLAs.
  

AI & data (if applicable)

• For any generative/ML features, demand: per-1M inference cost estimates, data governance plan, and model fallback strategies. Consider on-device options to reduce recurring cloud costs.
• Monitor model drift; include rollback and explainability plans.
  

People, continuity & delivery model

• Get CVs for an architect, lead iOS/Android, QA lead, and PM. Require named resources + bench/backup plan.
• Clarify engagement type: staff augmentation vs outcome-oriented product team. For CTOs, prefer a product-team model with clear ownership.
  

Contractual guardrails (must have)

• Milestones with testable acceptance criteria, not demos.
• 3-year TCO and cost-overrun rules.
• IP & code escrow.
• SLAs for security incidents, availability, and bug severity TTRs with penalties.
• Right to audit security controls.
  

Quick vendor scorecard (use in RFP)

• Architecture & scalability (0–5)
• Security & compliance (0–5)
• Observability & SLOs (0–5)
• Process & delivery metrics (0–5)
• Cost transparency (0–5)
• ≥20/25 → pilot. <15 → don’t proceed.

How AaiNova helps

• We run a CTO-level intake: map business KPIs → measurable tech KPIs (SLOs, costs).
• Offer a 4-6 week vertical-slice pilot: architecture + demoable features + performance/security report + 3-yr TCO.
• Build + operate option: mobile + cloud + AI under one SLA package (reduces vendor handoffs).
• Over the last 8+ years, we’ve helped companies engineer their development processes, eliminate execution risk, and scale with confidence.
• You can explore the complete list of our proven case studies here.

Success stories 

• Real Estate Referral Platform: full wallet + BNPL flow; outcome: 100% digitized referrals, built fraud checks. (See case study).
• Mera Samay (AI Astrology): Flutter + AI chat; outcome: instant personalised insights and strong DAU engagement.
• AI Data Analytics for Manufacturing:  conversational BI; outcome: ~80% reduction in ad-hoc IT queries.

If you’re planning a mobile application development initiative and want clarity before committing budgets, architecture, or timelines, let’s talk.

We’ll review your idea, challenge assumptions, outline risks, and give you a clear technical direction.

👉 Talk to the AaiNova team: https://aainova.com/contact