Optimization of mobile development: Engineer Israpil Ramazanov on why companies lose money on app creation

Mobile development is growing rapidly: according to Sensor Tower forecasts, by 2025, the combined revenue from apps and games in the App Store and Google Play will reach $270 billion, with approximately 230 billion downloads expected. However, the growing demand for mobile solutions creates new challenges for companies related to the efficiency of development, testing, and product releases.

A typical situation: a company invests in developing a mobile application for its customers but delays the launch due to constant errors and the need for refinements. Every day of delay means lost revenue and dissatisfied clients. Meanwhile, analysts note that proper automation of development and testing processes can reduce application release costs by 30-40%. How can this be achieved in practice?

Engineer Israpil Ramazanov has progressed from working as a process engineer in the defense industry to leading mobile development in major companies. Today, he manages the development and implementation of digital solutions for a network of American veterinary clinics, ensuring efficient workflows and enhanced client experiences. He also shares his experience in successfully implementing automated processes in various organizations, including ETM — a company that started as an electrical installation business in 1991 and evolved into one of Russia’s largest suppliers of electrical equipment.

Why companies lose money on mobile development 
“Most companies that order mobile applications face three key problems,” notes Israpil Ramazanov. “First, delays in development timelines: what was planned to launch in three months often stretches to six months. Second, the a constant need to fix bugs that users find after the release. And third, high costs for maintaining the application — every update requires significant resources and time.”

Based on the expert’s experience, companies often underestimate the importance of well-structured development processes. “Many think that hiring good programmers is enough, and everything will work. But without automation, even the best specialists will spend most of their time not on product development but on routine operations and fixing errors,” Ramazanov explains.

How automation helps businesses: A practitioner’s perspective 
Engineer Israpil Ramazanov talks about how he successfully used automated processes at ETM. ETM is a leader in Russia’s electrical engineering market, with revenue over $1 billion in the first half of 2024.
“ETM was developing a mobile application for its 130,000 corporate clients, enabling them to quickly find and order the necessary equipment directly from the site. When I joined the team as a senior React Native engineer, we faced a serious problem: every app update took several days, required the involvement of the entire development team, and often contained bugs that dissatisfied customers,” says Israpil.
He explained that they had implemented an automation system similar to quality control in manufacturing, where every program change was automatically checked, tested, and delivered to users only after its reliability had been confirmed. “As a result, the time for releasing updates was reduced from several days to a few hours, and the number of errors decreased by 25%,” Ramazanov says.

Key Steps to Effective Development 
Ramazanov highlights three key areas that help companies avoid problems when creating mobile applications:

• Process Automation 
  At ETM, the team spent up to 40% of their working time on manual testing and releasing updates. After implementing automation, this time was redirected to developing new features, accelerating the product’s growth.
• Interface Standardization 
  “We created a library of ready-made interface components that could be used like building blocks. This reduced the time to create new screens by 30% and ensured a consistent app style that users were accustomed to,” Israpil shares.
• Testing Optimization 
  Automated checks at various levels allowed problems to be identified before users noticed them. This is especially important for B2B companies, where every mistake can lead to disrupted deals, the engineer notes.

Where to start with automation: Practical steps 

Ramazanov recommends starting with an audit of existing processes: “The first step is to honestly assess how much time you spend on releasing updates, how often critical errors occur, and how long it takes to fix them. These metrics will help you understand the scale of the problem and evaluate the impact of automation.”

The next stage is to prioritize areas for optimization. “At ETM, we started with test automation because that was where the biggest time loss occurred. It’s important to understand that you don’t need to automate everything at once — it’s better to choose the most critical area and focus on it,” the expert advises. Ramazanov also emphasizes the importance of team training: “Implementing new processes requires time for adaptation. At ETM, we conducted regular workshops where developers learned to work with new tools. This helped achieve results from automation more quickly.”

He emphasized that automation was not just a technical process but a means to make applications more reliable tools for clients. “Companies that neglect these processes risk losing clients due to constant failures and slow updates. In today’s business world, a mobile app is as important a sales channel as a website or office, and it must work flawlessly.”

The question today is not whether development automation is necessary, but whether you are ready to invest in the quality of your mobile application to make it truly beneficial to your business.

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