Choosing and managing a dedicated software development team
Companies worldwide depend on outsourcing to dedicated teams to expand their skill sets, tap into new markets, and optimise costs. Many consider hiring a dedicated development team to scale quickly, minimise costs, and reduce associated risks.
TeleSoftas is one such company that has helped companies build and augment their software development teams. This article will share our expertise in selecting and setting up outsourced dedicated development teams.
You’ll understand:
- What is a dedicated software development team
- Is this business mode right for you and your company
- Benefits over in-house teams
- How to hire and manage a dedicated software development team
What is a dedicated software development team?
Dedicated software development is a business approach when a client hires a remote team working full-time exclusively on their project. The intermediary, an outsourcer company, takes full responsibility for recruiting and maintaining this team, with all overhead expenses already included in the hourly rate of each specialist.
Typically, it comprises a team lead, a project manager, software engineers, QA specialists, UI/UX designers, and a business analyst. A dedicated team is an excellent match for medium and long-term projects, especially those with changing requirements, as it allows greater flexibility.
Dedicated teams provide clients with a highly skilled cross-functional team. With this service, the customer is responsible for product backlog management and ensuring the workload for the group assigned to the project.
Ensuring the dedicated software team model is for you
The dedicated team model has a straightforward and transparent pricing system. There are monthly payments that depend on the team size. The invoices are based on assigned team monthly rates.
Companies will benefit from a dedicated team model if some of the following apply to them.
Have a long-term project
Long-term projects require constant development. Any team changes will lead to additional costs for hiring, recruiting, loss of skill sets, and knowledge sharing. With a dedicated team model, a dedicated software development service provider will ensure no gaps in team aptitudes.
Boost their workforce
Hiring a dedicated team will boost company productivity if an in-house team needs more individual tech expertise.
Besides, companies will waste no resources with onboarding and bureaucracy; a dedicated team begins work immediately. It wraps up a project within a specific period.
Require top-notch talent/skill sets
A dedicated software development team concentrates the top technical talent in one place.
No need to rely on HR scouring over CVs and LinkedIn searching for skilled talent — a dedicated team will have roles to bridge your team gaps within their teams. They could be product engineers, software developers, data analysts, DevOps, UX designers, project managers, QA engineers and mobile and web designers.
Companies can scale the unit up or down based on their project needs. One thing is for sure; each specialist will bring their unique expertise to your project.
Constrained budget
Many companies cite outsourcing as one solution to reduce software development costs. As mentioned above, it is not only the cost of the software engineering itself, but the recruitment and hiring process itself that becomes costly, not to mention the time taken to recruit.
With dedicated software development teams, companies can gauge the project’s cost without determining any indirect fees, becoming a highly cost-effective option. Many companies cite outsourcing as one solution to reduce software development costs. As mentioned above, it is not only the cost of the software engineering itself, but the recruitment and hiring process itself that becomes costly, not to mention the time taken to recruit.
Benefits of hiring a dedicated software development team
A dedicated software development team provides numerous benefits besides boosting the workforce, cost-effectiveness and bridging a gap in tech stack experience.
With most software projects, the scope often changes. The project itself needs to be scalable and provide after-project support and maintenance when required.
Faster product development
When outsourcing projects to a dedicated development team, companies receive faster product development because of the experience, skill, and expertise of dedicated software engineers, QA specialists, project managers, designers, and other team members.
Their demonstrable experience in outlining projects and timeframes means they know to ensure that it is always delivered on time.
Effective communication and collaboration
TeleSoftas understand that successful dedicated teams work in sync with their clients. Dedicated teams like ours are project-focused, trained, and fully equipped that play a pivotal role in the development project’s success.
Furthermore, software teams must be able to speak in non-technical terms. Only in rare cases the client has a background in programming. More often, it’s a non-technical person who cannot understand all the programming jargon. Client-relationship management is more than merely collaborating together.
It’s why dedicated software teams must also have an abundance of soft skills. Ensuring that a developer can explain a complex technical problem or pitch an idea with understandable examples to assure that the outcome is what the client, technical or not, receives. The business project output will always reach high standards of excellence.
Effective team collaboration of like-minded professionals enhances the quality of the project because various project perspectives are discussed and then aligned, benefiting the solution or product long-term.
Improved team leadership
The solution or product will go downhill if the team management is not managed effectively. Dedicated software teams provide a team with professional team management.
A dedicated team has experience, ability, knowledge, and teamwork, which are essential factors. The dedicated team does not need to learn how to associate with a team; they are already well-versed in cooperating with management and team members on various seniority levels.
Better focus on the task at hand
One of the most significant benefits of a dedicated software team is that their entire focus is always on the project in hand, being committed to getting the product built and ready.
A dedicated software development team works as per a required management procedure and methodologies. Entirely at their disposal, the dedicated team is aligned with the project goal and business aspirations.
The time zone difference, the region, or the geographical area does not hamper them from fulfilling the project task, thus significantly contributing to a company’s success.
A dedicated team is adaptive to the client’s working environment; they find common ground to work upon to satisfy the client by combining the business’s vision and expertise.
Flexibility
Another advantage of a dedicated development team is flexibility. It becomes significant when a company needs to downsize or upgrade the dedicated team size according to a project’s needs.
Flexibility can aid in adapting to changes in project scope or other sudden challenges that appear while the product is developing.
A flexible approach makes building a product or solution easier yet still matches the requirements of the individual task without limiting the comprehensive workflow.
Hiring a dedicated software development team
Suppose you have decided to hire a dedicated software development team. How do you determine which partner is right for your company?
Research & compare
Numerous platforms specialise in ranking software development companies based on their in-house metrics.
Clutch.co, GoodFirms, The Manifest, Google, and others gather data, including portfolios, tech stack, client reviews, hourly rates and industry focus. Companies can begin by searching for leading firms via a required category search.
Examine skills & experience
Search for a company with demonstrable experience in assembling dedicated software development teams. Examine case studies on a potential partner’s website to ensure they deliver products in a relevant field or sector.
Pay attention to the legalities
Three legal areas legally protect a company’s interests when hiring outsourced developers:
A non-disclosure agreement covers a company’s sensitive data.
A master services agreement is the leading contract that includes payment terms, intellectual property rights, and how the partner will resolve a dispute.
A statement of work covers the terms and conditions of a project, billing, schedules, deliverables and duration.
Typically, software development partners handle all legal aspects.
Communication is key
Can the dedicated development partner speak your language?
Or can they speak English sufficiently to understand your goals and articulate them to every colleague?
Will their project manager keep you in the loop or provide regular meetings and video calls?
Feel free to ask these questions — better to determine the commutation and collaboration style upfront before signing any contracts.
Mind the time difference
Communication between the team and the client is crucial to the project’s success. Companies should be aware that teams based in time zones outside their region will have to factor in time delays. Selecting a partner within your region, for example, a German company outsourcing to a Lithuanian one will ensure that teams work similar hours and react quicker to the project’s progress.
Managing a dedicated software development team
Whilst working with a dedicated software development team has many advantages, it is not a solution that could benefit all. Managing an outsourced team can be daunting at first, but it is actually not as troublesome as one may believe.
Within TeleSoftas, our cooperation includes but is not limited to the following:
- Outlining project requirements.
- Clarifying and visualising project goals to understand a project’s tech stack, team configuration and recommendations.
- Assembling a team.
- Grouping candidates with matching experience, skill sets and English proficiency; and handling all onboarding activities and project briefings.
- Streamlining management.
- Ensuring dedicated developers are motivated and committed to the project.
- Continuously improving and optimising our management and assessing performance.
- Enhancing communication.
- Keep the development process effective by establishing seamless team communication that includes daily team meetings, receiving updates from project managers and sprint planning.
- After the product is released, work with your team to add improvements and provide support.
Outsourcing to a dedicated software development team
Unsurprisingly, selecting the leading dedicated software development team is the first part of successfully developing an in-house solution or product.
Hiring a dedicated software development team has become a popular solution for several businesses and enterprises because this business model permits companies to substantially cut down development costs whilst remaining in charge of all the ongoing processes within their projects.
However, it is not merely about speed. It is about having a team that provides consistency, reliability and knowledge, guaranteeing that the right personnel are with a company when they need them most.
Originally published at https://telesoftas.com on January 25, 2023.