Atmosphere Apps

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are the MedEd division of a media conglomerate. We do custom medical education across digital, print, and live platforms. I am V.P. of client services and manage a team across all our different verticals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atmosphere Apps?

A long-term client managed a printed drug reference that matches branded products to their generic versions and vice versa. We wanted to build an app that contained all the same images, dosing, strength, and other information found in the print version.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided them with the print version, which was a much flatter representation of what we hoped to build. They worked with us to create a digital interface that coordinated with the print version, but was more accessible. In addition to images, streams, and other functionality, they’ve also helped us implement notations, include proprietary product information, and create A to Z listings for name brand products and their generic counterparts.

We originally built the app for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. The BlackBerry version has since phased out, but we still maintain the iOS and Android versions.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had one main point of contact for the full length of our relationship.

How did you come to work with Atmosphere Apps?

They support native applications for our parent company, which is how we first knew about them. We’ve worked with other companies in the past, but this is the most complicated app we’ve worked on and we wanted an experienced firm to help us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $300,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work began in 2011. We launched the app in 2012 and continued to add features and make changes. It’s still running.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The evidence we track includes downloads and usage. Our client is very happy with user engagement with the app and the number of new downloads. This is an app we don’t heavily promote, but it is frequently utilized by both new and existing users.

How did Atmosphere Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

I love working with them. They’re very responsive and always recommend ways to make the interface better. When it comes to client correspondence and app store requirements, they’re truly an extension of our team. Most of our communication is through phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Pharma is a challenging marketplace, but they are always looking for ways to apply best practices to apps and to our space in general. I appreciate their innovative and unique ideas to improve usability and UX.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Based on our experience with them, there’s nothing they should improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their ideas. One area they really excel in is their ability to find solutions and creative approaches to challenges. They will find ways to bring your project to life.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a publisher of textbooks and health resources, both in print and digital. 

What is your position?

I'm the executive editor for medicine. I manage the group that does the medicine list and series of books that's been around for nearly 30 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Atmosphere Apps?

Atmosphere Apps was brought in to create and build an in-depth pharmaceutical drug guide application.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Originally, Atmosphere Apps was building a PDA [personal digital assistant] version and has since transitioned into our mobile application development team.

How did you come to work with Atmosphere Apps?

Atmosphere Apps was a development partner of a company that we acquired in 2008. We never considered looking for a replacement.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

This was an extensive project – more than $200,000. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our app is featured as one of the top apps on the medical list in Apple on a regular basis. It's usually in the top three. Much of that has to do with the way the app is developed, the way Atmosphere Apps organized it, and the regular updates that we're able to give people. The app is updated once a week. That is attributed to how they developed the app. 

What distinguishes Atmosphere Apps from other providers?

I've been working with the CEO, Eric Poirier, since the beginning. They are very easy to work with – very willing to hear new ideas and to incorporate them. Atmosphere Apps is very enthusiastic about updating things and staying current, and I enjoy working with them personally and professionally. They're great partners.

Is there anything Atmosphere Apps could have improved or done differently?

I think this is just a result of their not being a huge company. Sometimes, the turnaround time could be improved. Part of that could be because they're not getting what they need from us. But, I think sometimes my bosses would like to see things happen more quickly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a media and information company in the United States. We focus primarily on B2B [business-to-business] markets with a major focus in health care, information security, and marketing communications.

What is your position?

I'm the senior vice president of strategy and product development, and I oversee our web development and software development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Atmosphere Apps?

Atmosphere Apps built a custom database for us that met our needs for many years. We've only just recently migrated from the database. We used it for five years and decided to bring development in house. We have also worked with Atmosphere Apps to build many custom apps for our various titles. We now have something like 15 apps in the app stores.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Atmosphere advises us on mobile strategy and helps steer us in the right direction. They have built several apps that are quite customized for us as well as apps that are more traditional media apps. We've been able build very tight integrations via APIs [application programming interfaces] between our content management system and the systems at Atmosphere Apps. When one of our editors publishes a piece of content with a click they can indicate if it's for the web only, for mobile only or for both. Once they click publish, the content is published within minutes to all platforms including the apps on Android and iOS.

How did you come to work with Atmosphere Apps?

We started with Atmosphere six years ago. When we started working with them, we had another vendor that was hosting a database that supported one of our key products. It was fairly customized and that vendor went out of business, so we needed to scramble to find another solution provider. Atmosphere stepped in and got us out of a tight spot. From there, we worked with them to start building apps.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have done projects that are in the $50,000 to $100,000 range, but they're typically in the $10,000 to $25,000 range. We've spent a lot of time and money on both sides building these integrations. We're able to build a new app. We launch new websites all the time, and we're able to launch an app on both iOS and Android – tablet and phone within a week start to finish – by leveraging the platform and the integration that have already been built. At this point, our costs are small dollars because of all the work that was done upfront to make that possible. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have a web-based medical education product. Our target audience is increasingly mobile – much more than other markets. This particular market has a higher percentage of users accessing the information on mobile. We've been able to keep that audience engaged by building a custom education platform for those users.

What distinguishes Atmosphere Apps from other providers?

We found Atmosphere Apps to be very technically adept, and our senior technical folks worked very well with the technical folks at Atmosphere Apps. Even though they're a vendor, we work well together with them and treat them as if they were an extension of our internal team.

Is there anything Atmosphere Apps could have improved or done differently?

Not really. It's been a good relationship.