Question 1

How do I get started with Ortem Technologies?

Accepted Answer

Getting started is simple. Reach out via our contact form or book a free 30-minute discovery call. We'll discuss your goals, review your requirements, and propose a clear project roadmap — typically within 48 hours of our first conversation.

Question 2

What does the project process look like from start to launch?

Accepted Answer

We follow a structured delivery model: Discovery & Scoping (requirements, tech stack selection, cost estimation) → Design & Architecture (wireframes, system design, database schema) → Agile Development (2-week sprints with demos) → QA & Testing (automated + manual) → Launch & Go-Live → Post-Launch Support. You get a dedicated project manager and weekly progress updates throughout.

Question 3

Will I have a dedicated team, or will my project be outsourced to freelancers?

Accepted Answer

You get a dedicated, in-house team — not freelancers. Your team typically includes a project manager, 1–3 developers, a UI/UX designer, and a QA engineer. The same team stays with your project from kickoff to launch. We do not subcontract your work to third parties.

Question 4

How do you communicate and provide progress updates?

Accepted Answer

We use Slack or Microsoft Teams for daily async communication, Jira or ClickUp for task tracking, and Loom or Zoom for weekly video demos. You'll always know exactly what's being built, what's been completed, and what's coming next. We operate in your timezone and guarantee same-day responses during business hours.

Question 5

Do you work with startups, or only with enterprise clients?

Accepted Answer

We work with both. For startups, we offer MVP development engagements designed to ship fast and validate your idea with real users. For enterprises, we handle large-scale modernization, multi-team coordination, and compliance-grade delivery. Our minimum project size is $10,000 USD.

Question 6

Can I hire a dedicated development team without managing a full project?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer a Staff Augmentation model where you embed our engineers directly into your existing team. You retain full control of priorities and direction while we supply senior-level talent on a monthly retainer. This works well for teams that need to scale quickly without the overhead of hiring.

Question 7

How much does it cost to build a custom software application?

Accepted Answer

Custom software development typically ranges from $15,000–$30,000 for a focused MVP, $30,000–$100,000 for a full-featured product, and $100,000+ for enterprise-grade systems with complex integrations. The main cost drivers are feature count, third-party integrations, number of user roles, and compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, etc.). We provide a detailed estimate after a free scoping call — no surprises.

Question 8

How much does mobile app development cost?

Accepted Answer

A single-platform mobile app (iOS or Android) typically costs $20,000–$60,000. A cross-platform app built with Flutter or React Native covering both iOS and Android ranges from $25,000–$80,000. Apps with advanced features like real-time chat, payments, ML-based personalization, or hardware integration (BLE, GPS, IoT) sit in the $60,000–$150,000+ range. We provide fixed-price quotes for well-defined scopes.

Question 9

How long does software development take?

Accepted Answer

A production-ready MVP typically takes 8–16 weeks. A full-featured web or mobile application takes 3–6 months. Enterprise platforms with complex integrations range from 6–12 months. Timeline depends heavily on scope, third-party API availability, and feedback turnaround speed from your team. We always deliver a detailed timeline with milestones in our proposal.

Question 10

Do you offer fixed-price projects or time-and-materials billing?

Accepted Answer

We offer both models. Fixed-price works best for well-defined projects where scope is agreed upfront — you know exactly what you'll pay. Time-and-materials works best for evolving products, ongoing development, or staff augmentation where requirements change frequently. We discuss both options during the scoping phase and recommend the model that best fits your project.

Question 11

What is the payment structure for a typical project?

Accepted Answer

For fixed-price projects, we use milestone-based billing: typically 30% upfront, 40% at midpoint delivery, 30% at final delivery. For time-and-materials engagements, we bill monthly in arrears with a 7-day net payment term. We accept bank transfers (ACH/wire) and major credit cards. All payment terms are documented in the contract before work begins.

Question 12

Are there any hidden fees I should know about?

Accepted Answer

No. Our proposals include all costs: development, design, QA, and project management. Third-party costs like app store fees, cloud hosting, API subscriptions, or licensing for paid tools are itemized separately so you always know what's Ortem's fee vs. external vendor costs. Any change in scope that affects cost triggers a formal change order — nothing gets added to your bill without your written approval.

Question 13

What is custom software development, and when do I need it?

Accepted Answer

Custom software is built specifically for your business workflows, data model, and users — unlike off-the-shelf tools that force you to adapt to their limitations. You need custom software when SaaS tools don't cover your core workflow, when licensing costs exceed build costs at scale, when you need a proprietary competitive advantage, or when compliance requires you to own and control your data environment.

Question 14

How do I know if my idea is ready for development?

Accepted Answer

You don't need a finished spec. You need a clear problem statement, a target user, and a rough idea of the key workflow you want to automate or improve. Our discovery process turns rough ideas into detailed technical specifications. If you're unsure whether your idea is feasible or how to scope it, book a free consultation — that's exactly what it's for.

Question 15

Can you build a SaaS product for my business?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We've built multi-tenant SaaS platforms from scratch, including subscription billing (Stripe), role-based access, usage-based pricing, onboarding flows, and admin dashboards. We handle the full stack — architecture, backend APIs, frontend, infrastructure — and can help you plan the feature roadmap for your V1, V2, and beyond.

Question 16

Will I own the source code after the project is complete?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. Full intellectual property and source code ownership transfers to you upon final payment. We don't retain any license over code we build for you, and we don't add proprietary dependencies that lock you to us. You'll receive all source code, credentials, and documentation to run and maintain the system independently.

Question 17

Can you integrate with our existing tools, databases, and APIs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Integration is a core part of most projects. We commonly integrate with Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe, Twilio, AWS, QuickBooks, SAP, Shopify, and hundreds of REST/GraphQL APIs. If you have a legacy system or internal database, we assess it in the discovery phase and recommend the safest integration or migration path.

Question 18

What happens if my requirements change during development?

Accepted Answer

Requirements change — that's normal. We use Agile sprints so scope changes are managed through a formal change request process. You can add, remove, or reprioritize features at the start of each sprint. For fixed-price projects, significant scope increases result in a change order with a revised cost and timeline. Small clarifications within scope are handled at no additional charge.

Question 19

Should I build a native app or a cross-platform app?

Accepted Answer

Native apps (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) deliver the best performance and access to platform-specific APIs, but require separate codebases. Cross-platform apps (Flutter or React Native) share a single codebase across iOS and Android, reducing cost by 30–40% with near-native performance for most use cases. We recommend cross-platform for most new products and native only when deep platform integration (ARKit, advanced camera, background processing) is a core requirement.

Question 20

How long does it take to build and launch a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

A basic mobile app with user authentication, a core feature set, and app store submission takes 10–16 weeks. A full-featured app with payments, push notifications, social features, and backend API takes 4–7 months. App store review adds 1–3 days (iOS) and 1–2 days (Android) after submission. We factor this into your launch timeline.

Question 21

Do you handle App Store and Google Play submission?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We handle the full submission process for both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, including preparing screenshots, writing store descriptions, setting up App Store Connect / Play Console, configuring signing certificates, and managing the review process. We've submitted hundreds of apps and know how to navigate rejection edge cases.

Question 22

Can you build the backend API and admin panel alongside the app?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is our standard approach. The mobile app is just the front end — we also build the backend API (Node.js, Python, or Go), cloud infrastructure, database, push notification service, and an admin dashboard for your team to manage content, users, and analytics. Everything is delivered as a unified system, not piecemeal.

Question 23

Can you add AI or ML features to a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We've integrated on-device ML models (Core ML, TensorFlow Lite) for features like image recognition, face detection, and offline inference. We also connect apps to cloud AI services (OpenAI, Google Vertex AI, AWS Rekognition) for conversational AI, smart recommendations, and content moderation. AI features are scoped and priced during the discovery phase.

Question 24

Do you offer post-launch maintenance and app updates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer monthly maintenance retainers that cover OS update compatibility, dependency patching, bug fixes, analytics review, and feature additions. iOS and Android release new major versions annually — without maintenance, apps can break or be delisted. Our retainers start from $500/month depending on app complexity.

Question 25

How much does it cost to build an AI-powered feature or chatbot?

Accepted Answer

A basic AI chatbot integrated into your website or app using GPT-4 or Claude costs $5,000–$15,000 to build and integrate. A custom AI agent with document ingestion, memory, and workflow automation costs $20,000–$60,000. A full ML model trained on your proprietary data (fraud detection, demand forecasting, recommendation engine) costs $40,000–$150,000+ depending on data complexity and accuracy requirements.

Question 26

Can you build AI features on top of our existing software?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most AI projects we do are integrations into existing products, not greenfield builds. Common patterns include: adding an AI assistant to an existing SaaS dashboard, embedding document Q&A into an internal tool, adding an ML recommendation layer to an eCommerce platform, or automating a manual workflow with an AI agent. We assess your existing system and propose the lowest-friction integration path.

Question 27

Do you build Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems and AI agents?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We build production RAG systems that connect LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini) to your internal knowledge bases, PDFs, databases, or CRM data so the AI answers questions using your actual business data — not generic training data. We also build multi-step AI agents with tool use, memory, and structured output for automating complex workflows. These are live production systems, not demos.

Question 28

Can you build AI without access to our sensitive data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We design AI architectures that respect data privacy from the start. Options include: fine-tuning on anonymized datasets, using on-premise or VPC-hosted models (Llama, Mistral) that never send data to third parties, building synthetic data pipelines, or using differential privacy techniques. For healthcare and financial clients, we design HIPAA and PCI-compliant AI pipelines.

Question 29

How do you measure the ROI of an AI project?

Accepted Answer

Before writing a single line of code, we define success metrics with you: hours saved per week, reduction in support ticket volume, increase in conversion rate, fraud cases caught, or cost per decision. We build measurement into the system from day one (logging, A/B testing, dashboards) so ROI is visible and verifiable — not a post-launch estimate.

Question 30

What AI/ML technologies and frameworks do you use?

Accepted Answer

We work across the full AI stack: LLMs (OpenAI GPT-4o, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Llama 3), ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn), Vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector), Orchestration (LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI), MLOps (MLflow, Weights & Biases, SageMaker). We recommend the right tool for each use case — not a fixed stack.

Question 31

What types of web applications do you build?

Accepted Answer

We build the full range of web products: SaaS platforms (multi-tenant, subscription billing, role-based access), customer portals (dashboards, self-service tools), internal tools (admin panels, data dashboards, workflow automation), eCommerce stores (Shopify, custom), corporate websites with CMS integration, and web apps that replace legacy desktop software. If it runs in a browser, we can build it.

Question 32

What frontend and backend technologies do you use?

Accepted Answer

Frontend: React, Next.js, Vue.js, Angular depending on project needs — we don't force a single framework. Backend: Node.js, Python (FastAPI/Django), Go, .NET. Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis. We choose the stack that best fits your performance, scalability, and team requirements — and document the reasoning in the technical spec.

Question 33

Do you build progressive web apps (PWAs)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. PWAs give users a near-native app experience in the browser — offline support, push notifications, installable on home screen — without requiring App Store distribution. They're ideal for businesses that want mobile reach without the cost of native app development. We build PWAs on React and Next.js with full Lighthouse performance optimization.

Question 34

How do you ensure web applications are fast and SEO-friendly?

Accepted Answer

Performance and SEO are built in, not bolted on. We use server-side rendering (SSR) or static site generation (SSG) for public-facing pages, lazy loading for images and components, CDN delivery via Cloudflare or AWS CloudFront, Core Web Vitals optimization (LCP, CLS, FID), structured data (JSON-LD), and semantic HTML. We deliver a Lighthouse score above 90 for all public web properties.

Question 35

Can you redesign or rebuild an existing web application?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Modernization projects are common for us. We start with a technical audit of your existing system — code quality, performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, scalability limits — then propose either a phased migration or a full rebuild depending on the codebase's condition. We prioritize zero-downtime migrations so your users never see an outage.

Question 36

Which cloud platforms do you work with?

Accepted Answer

We work with AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure. We are cloud-agnostic and recommend the platform based on your existing infrastructure, compliance requirements, and cost profile. We also work with multi-cloud architectures and Cloudflare for edge delivery, DNS, and DDoS protection.

Question 37

Can you migrate our existing application to the cloud?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Cloud migration is one of our core DevOps services. We handle lift-and-shift migrations, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), re-platforming to managed services, and full cloud-native re-architecture. We assess your existing infrastructure, plan the migration strategy, and execute it with zero-downtime cutover. Most migrations include a 30-day parallel-run period before full cutover.

Question 38

Do you set up CI/CD pipelines and DevOps automation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We set up full CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, or AWS CodePipeline. This includes automated testing gates, containerized build environments, staging environment promotion, blue-green deployments, and automated rollback. Good CI/CD reduces deployment risk and lets your team ship features daily instead of monthly.

Question 39

How do you manage cloud costs and prevent bill shock?

Accepted Answer

We design infrastructure for cost efficiency from the start: right-sized instances, auto-scaling groups, spot instances for non-critical workloads, S3/CloudFront for static assets, and managed services instead of self-hosted where the economics make sense. We also set up AWS Cost Explorer or GCP Billing dashboards with budget alerts so you see costs in real time, not at the end of the month.

Question 40

Do you offer ongoing cloud infrastructure management?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our DevOps retainer covers infrastructure monitoring (Datadog, CloudWatch), incident response, security patching, cost optimization reviews, and capacity planning. We can act as your outsourced DevOps team or work alongside your existing engineers. SLA-backed uptime guarantees are available for business-critical systems.

Question 41

Will you sign an NDA before we share our idea or requirements?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. We sign a mutual NDA before any discovery calls or technical discussions. We understand that your idea, business logic, and data are confidential. NDA signing is part of our standard onboarding and takes less than 24 hours. Contact us and we'll send it over immediately.

Question 42

Who owns the intellectual property and code after the project?

Accepted Answer

You do — 100%. All code, designs, databases, and documentation created for your project belong to you upon final payment. Our contract explicitly assigns full IP rights to the client. We retain no license, no revenue share, and no ownership over anything we build for you. This is non-negotiable and included in every contract we sign.

Question 43

Are you able to build HIPAA-compliant healthcare applications?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We have experience building HIPAA-compliant applications including telehealth platforms, patient portals, and clinical data systems. HIPAA compliance requires specific infrastructure controls (encryption at rest and in transit, access logging, Business Associate Agreements with cloud providers), audit trails, and access control policies. We handle all of these as part of the project scope. We also sign a BAA with you as required.

Question 44

Can you build PCI-DSS compliant payment systems?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For applications that process card payments, we implement PCI-DSS compliant architectures using tokenization through Stripe or Braintree (which handles the PCI burden directly), avoiding raw card data storage entirely. For platforms that require Level 1 or Level 2 PCI compliance, we work with your compliance team to ensure infrastructure and code meet the specific requirements of your assessment.

Question 45

What security practices do you follow during development?

Accepted Answer

Security is part of our development process, not an afterthought. We follow OWASP Top 10 guidelines, conduct code reviews with security checklists, use static analysis tools (Snyk, SonarQube) in CI/CD, store secrets in vaults (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault), and implement proper authentication (OAuth 2.0, JWT with short expiry, MFA). For sensitive projects, we offer third-party penetration testing coordination.

Question 46

What happens if there are bugs or issues after launch?

Accepted Answer

All projects include a 30-day post-launch warranty period during which we fix any bugs that arise from our development work at no additional charge. After the warranty period, we offer monthly maintenance retainers or time-and-materials support. Critical security vulnerabilities are patched on a priority basis regardless of contract status — we don't walk away from security issues.

Software Development FAQ: Custom Apps, AI & Mobile Dev Questions

Working with Ortem Technologies

Pricing & Timelines

Custom Software Development

Mobile App Development

AI & Machine Learning Solutions

Web Development

Cloud & DevOps

Security, IP & Legal

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