Keeping pace with the dramatic changes on the smartphone and tablet front is no small feat for any publisher, but doing so presents a particular challenge for smaller companies without a safety net of funds for experimentation with platforms that are at once in their infancy and yet increasingly seen as essential.

For many, the first question is: do we create the apps ourselves, or partner with vendors?

For its iPhone apps, Wells Publishing, a b-to-b media company serving the insurance industry, spent a one-time fee of $4,000 with an outside developer in early 2010 but decided before long to build them in-house. “When you use a vendor, you lose a lot of that control,” says Wells’ VP of design Guy Boccia.

Apps for the iPad, though, have been another story. At first, Boccia says his team considered building them in house but soon saw the continuous changes and updates and lack of specifications were too great a challenge.

Read more ...