Before apps can be monetised or even launched, they need to be rigorously tested for functionality and usability, starting from the very first log in experience to more complicated functions.

That is what CEO and founder Eran Yaniv (pictured) set out to do when he set up Perfecto Mobile in 2006.

“Perfecto provides a platform that is pretty broad and provides solutions for quality throughout the application life cycle – from development, testing, deployment, production and even customer support,” he said.

“We are able to provide access to devices that reside in any part of the world and recreate it as if the developer is holding it in their hands,” he explained.

“We also enable app makers to create an automated script that mimics user interaction with the device and execute that on a continuous basis automatically,” he added.

A lot of this is done at its twelve data centres around the world (with a thirteenth planned for Australia) and Yaniv is keen to point out that these are not your “regular data centres”.

“We have created for the developer a complete controlled environment to test their application,” he said.

“Think of putting a plane in a wind tunnel, making it rain, that kind of stuff. When you put an app in our environment you decide what device and operating software it will go on.

“We can inject GPS location into the device and decide what the camera sees as we can inject any image into the device if the camera is picking it up.

perfecto 2“Developers can even set network parameters around the device – if the network is slow or fast, 3G or 4G – and decide what load will be on the back end server,” he explained.

The London datacentre has around 150 phones plugged directly into the racks testing and monitoring a number of different apps in real time conditions.

So who are Perfecto’s clients?

“In the beginning we went to operators as they have an ecosystem of developers,” he said.

Many operators like Vodafone and Rogers used the solution but Yaniv doesn’t think they are primary drivers anymore. “By 2010 thanks to Android, it was clear enterprises can utilise the mobile channel for their business,” he commented.

“So we went to app stores and realised that apps for banks, insurance companies, retail and so on are the ones that drive a lot of business. Now our clients also include companies in media, entertainment, manufacturing and oil and gas.”

The company has 250 clients, most of which are Global 5000 companies.

The most important indicators he tells his clients to be aware of are that the service should always be available, responses should be quick, and the app needs to be functional and usable.

Perfecto also offers services that continuously measure user experience after an app has launched.

Future plans
Yaniv wants to go beyond mobile phones, not just to wearables but to the Internet of Things, perhaps even changing the name from Perfecto Mobile to Perfecto Digital.

This is because he believes in two years, “enterprises wont have mobile apps, they will have apps that will be accessed by phones, TV, cars and more.”

Additionally, he says customers are “telling us we should hang additional services on top of our platform.”

“For instance, when an app is being developed it needs to go through security testing and verification so that the code is not vulnerable statically or dynamically. We can provide that kind of solution,” he said.

Perfecto also wants to help manage beta testing of apps, and create “a layer called analytics for quality which will aggregate all aspects related to quality of apps from various sensors and probes throughout the app lifecycle.”

“Some probes will be ours but we will need to integrate those that are not to create a picture that will provide more insight to customers about quality,” he said.

It has already produced a Mobile Test Coverage Index report, which provides a device selection methodology for app developers and testers.