Interview with Jeanne Kolesnik from Epocware

Today we have an interview with Jeanne Kolesnik, Business Development Manager for Symbian OS software at Epocware/Paragon Software Group in Dolgoprudnyj/Moscow region. The reason is obvious as Epocware is one of the leading developer of Symbian OS applications and is the first company to receive the Symbian Signed for Symbian OS V9 for their Handy Weather application.

Q: Can you introduce our readers with Epocware?

A: Initially Epocware was a team of developers of Paragon Software Group (the company was formed in 1994) that was focused on national localization systems, handwriting recognition systems and translation dictionaries for PDAs. This group of developers started in 1997 and was focused on utilities and national localization systems for Psion/EPOC, that’s where the Epocware name comes from.

Paragon Software Group foresaw that Symbian OS software market would be different from the one for PDAs. So, in the year 2000, there was a strategic decision made. EPOC focused team of developers formed Epocware, an independent business unit of Paragon Software Group, specifically to address Symbian OS software market.

At present Paragon Software Group is an international software holding with headquarters in Germany and regional offices in Russia, Switzerland and USA. It has several departments: Paragon System Utilities for PC development, Paragon Software (SHDD) for PDA development and Epocware for Symbian smartphones development.

Q: The competition is fierce in the travel assistance software and mobile dictionaries. How Epocware differentiates itself and its products from the competition?

A: As we started in the early days of EPOC / Symbian we had an obvious advantage, the time. Coming up with quality and requested by customers products we managed to establish brand awareness and trust both from customers and our business partners perspective. When people started migrating from EPOC to Symbian OS based communicators and smartphones, they could continue using Epocware applications on new platforms and devices. Of course, we were continuously tracking the platforms changes and market requests development, listening to customers demands to bring new innovative solutions. However, the main focus always was on information management and personal productivity applications. This all together helps to distinguish Epocware as a trust worthy provider for mobile applications.

Q: Which phone do you use and why?

A: I am still using my Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 6630 since December 2004. At that time it was the best choice for me among all S60 (those days Series 60) phones, it has nice design, camera, those days better graphic interface then other models.

Then since last autumn I am using Nokia 9300i, but this is more for my working activities as it’s much better for emails and Internet browsing.

At the moment I am thinking of a substitute based on S60 3rd Edition, but my goal is to have a single device combining all advantages of the two phones mentioned above: business device with a full keyboard, camera, and not too bulky. So far there is no such a model, but I hope I will not need to wait long as there is a demand in such a device for sure.

Q: Epocware’s products have been highly praised and have won many awards including the ones from Forum Nokia and Handango. What’s next from Epocware?

A: Yes, Epocware achievements and contribution to the development of Symbian OS software market were broadly recognized by the industry and marked with a number of awards.

Main products by Epocware, well known among thousands and thousands of customers all over the world, are: SlovoEd translation dictionaries with authoritative dictionary content from Merriam-Webster, Van Dale, Larousse Spain and other distinguished language reference publishers; personal productivity & information management applications (“Handy” series: Handy Weather, Handy Safe, Handy Day, Handy Expense, etc.); and some games for all Symbian OS platforms.

The company itself and it’s applications won different awards from “Application of the Week” at S60.com; “Application of the Month” at UIQ.com; “Best applications for Education and Work”, “People’s Choice Awards” and “Developer of the Year” at Handango to “Forum Nokia PRO Award Winner” in Productivity/Business applications.

But the latest and one of the most significant achievements about which we are all excited at Epocware is the fact that Handy Weather for S60 3rd Edition became the first application signed for Symbian OS v9. What’s next? The future will show. Our intention is to keep on delivering quality and innovative products to help customers to get most of their smartphone usage, to make their everyday life easier. The good job will be awarded accordingly.

Q: At the end, is there anything you could advise the Symbian developers on how to create a successful mobile applications people want to buy?

A: There is no universal advice here and first of all one remark, people are not much willing to buy nowadays, they would prefer to have everything for free.
So, in order to encourage them to buy an application, it should really meet their demands.

I think all developers are searching for an answer to the question “how to create a successful mobile application”. One can spend months on investigation and market research analysis, create an application and at the end it will not be popular. From the other hand, a simple idea can become a killer application.

But surely there are certain criteria for success. In addition to the fact that there should be a demand for an application, the key factors for further adoption are: an application should be easy to use, easy to explain, easy to discover and last but not the least easy to get (download, install and buy). So, it looks like we have just formulated the simple rule of “4 easy” for a successful application distribution. After distribution, professional customer support and care is also essential. Following this rule, success is inevitable!

To conclude – we can expect more great apps from Epocware as they keep their eye on the market. In the meantime, don’t forget to visit Epocware’s site and find something to make your day easier!