CEO and Trailblazer Vitaly Makhov Celebrates the Rollicking Success of DOIT Software

1. It has been over 5 years with DOIT Software, can you take us through a brief journey from laying its cornerstone to the present scenario?

DOIT Software was built around the values of founders and a passion for technology. Working with technology solutions that help people and businesses always inspire us to develop and improve our approach, culture, and processes. And here we are now, working with our clients for 2-3 years already and helping to grow their businesses.

2. What makes DOIT software different from others?

When it comes to comparison of the number of companies in the software development area, there are thousands of very similar ones with the same price ranges and tech teams.

We try to be more partner-oriented and proactive in our approach so that the client is satisfied and achieves their desired goals in the market with our help - it’s the best value that we can gain together.

Speaking of transparency, here are some examples:

• when we receive a request that is out of our range of expertise, we would recommend another company with the right expertise from our partner's network
• If for some reason we recognize that we cannot provide results, we will be upfront and tell you before starting.

3. With the ongoing gaga over ‘Native vs Hybrid’ apps, which side are you placing your bets on, and why?

It really depends on project and business challenges, both the native and hybrid apps have their own positive and negative sides.

In our opinion, Hybrid works better for simple and content related mobile apps, or if you only need a “pilot version”.

But when overall performance and design matter as main requirements, then Native development is our recommendation.

4. Google I/O 2019 revealed the modifications given to Flutter, with many advancements like the Hummingbird being rebranded as Flutter Web. What do you think about the framework that makes it so state-of-the-art?

Flutter Web will make a big breakthrough in the way web-systems are developed today. And it could become a big challenger to default methods of web development. As for Flutter mobile development, I need to mention it's hot reload - so you can immediately see in the app any changes in the code.

5. As deduced by CAGR, it is expected that AI is the Supply Chain market is expected to generate $21.8 billion with a 45.3% growth rate. What technological developments in recent times do you feel have aided AI to gain rapid traction?

AI creates new business opportunities in many industries. It is well said that “pain can drive progress”, and in many manufacturing processes, AI has helped with data collection, analysis, and forecasts to make improvements in demand-driven production. There are many cases, for instance, the rise of IoT in consumer segments (like Amazon Echo and Google Home) and industrial IoT (AWS IoT Greengrass).

6. With powerful VAs like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, do you think AI will reach the cognitive abilities of the human brain? Also, which among the three is your favorite?

Nothing is impossible nowadays. We use all VAs in our R&D office life, but most votes amongst our team are for Google Home and Google assistant.

7. What is the most challenging project that DOIT Software was involved in? What were the complexities involved and how did you overcome all of it?

The biggest challenge was in the early stage when we needed to augment the team with external resources. Developers that we hired always created bugs in the code and it seemed to be a never-ending process. It was a great failure and produced an amazing lesson for us. Since then, we’ve taken the hiring of resources extremely seriously and we are scrupulous of each detail.

8. There are so many technological changes occurring at godspeed, how does DOIT Software manage to keep up with the state of things?

We support Lifelong learning in our R&D team when it comes to the development of hard skills and soft skills.

I like the concept of T-shaped skills development, and I am proud to say that most of our developers, designers, engineers, PMs, and management teams are always in the process of broadening their horizons and we try to support and motivate such initiatives. 

9. As the leader of an IT agency, what highs and lows have you experienced all this while?

It was a tough time in the first couple of years when we tried to assemble a good team. At that time we had challenges from all sides - sales, recruitment, and processes. I can say that it was a learning stage for us that led to the needed knowledge and experience to build a sustainable company. 

At the end of 2019, we saw the results of our long-term work when good signs came from all sides: our production process works great and our clients are happy, recruitment processes work very well, and we’ve received more and more recommendations from our clients. I believe we’re working in the right direction.

10. How do you cope with failure?

Of course, it’s impossible to avoid failures. Our principle is to take responsibility for our failures and learn from them to avoid the same thing from happening in the future.

11. What is the best recipe for creating a mobile application?

If we are talking about starting from scratch,  once we have as many details on requirements and the main idea as possible, we can start with the discovery phase.

A very reasonable approach is, to begin with, proper product discovery, starting very early. It should happen before you even write the first line of code or attempt to sell anything. Usually, this helps to save a significant amount of money.

Key Takeaways

• Transparency, Pro-activeness, and being partner-oriented are the primary pillars of DOIT Software. 
• Regarding the ongoing gaga over ‘Native vs Hybrid’ apps, Vitaly recommends opting for  Native development when overall performance and design matter is the pivotal requirement.
• According to Vitaly, Flutter Web could be a big challenger to the default methods of web development in the coming days. 
• A reasonable approach to mobile app development is, to begin with proper product discovery at an early stage.