The quality of software development defines the success of any business project. Considering the scale of the project, its goals and features, and financial capabilities, each customer looks for the most convenient model of interaction with the IT contractor. Recently, companies are increasingly considering introducing a particular group of developers into their structures through outsourcing. After reading this article, you know how to hire a dedicated development team.
A dedicated team is usually formed according to the customer’s goals, wishes, and requirements. This model works well for developing large, long-term projects where conditions change frequently. It is pretty flexible regarding the scope of work, costs, resources, and the development team itself.
By hiring a dedicated team, you are hiring a coherent organism inspired by your goals, which follows your direction and won’t leave you halfway to your destination if something goes wrong.
You have to think about two possible opportunities while forming a dedicated team. The first one: you hire a team as a separate full-service group, which includes all the necessary employees, such as the project manager, developers, QA, designer, etc. Otherwise, you may hire a dedicated development team to expand and strengthen your team with several external experts.
The name of the dedicated team model speaks for itself. It is a remote team from another company working on your project. Unlike the extended team model, a dedicated team is a separate working group with its governance and structures.
In this model, the outsourcer’s development team works exclusively on a specific project full-time with direct accountability to the client. The outsourcing company provides recruiting services, administrative support, and resources for project implementation. The outsourcing company, in this case, plays an auxiliary role in organizing the work.
The client in this model has more control than in other models. In standard configurations, clients can interact with the team and track daily activities and overall project progress through conventional management, directly, or a combination of both. It helps both parties to be on the same wavelength and adapt to the circumstances.
It leads to the critical value of this approach: focus. The team is engaged in implementing one project, increasing the speed and quality of the results. You don’t have to worry about the team being overwhelmed or overworked: they’ve set a goal and are making steady progress towards achieving it.
Customers save a lot on infrastructure by hiring a team because they have to pay hourly for remote work on a project. There are no worries such as renting an office, purchasing equipment, paying electricity bills, etc. Moreover, it is much cheaper to hire an already well-coordinated team than to independently look for developers with the necessary skills.
This model is helpful if it is challenging to think through everything to the end of the project. The model is pretty flexible and can adapt to any changes.
When you hire a specialized development team, it allows you to compensate for the lack of specialists for the implementation of your unique business idea. At the same time, you get the experience of experts, the necessary skills, knowledge, and resource base.
The execution team profoundly understands the requirements of the project, is quality-oriented, and works on a long-term basis.
According to this model, the client can directly manage each specialist provided by the IT company.
The customer participates in hiring IT specialists and oversees the development process at all stages, receiving regular reports on completed tasks. If desired, they can outsource all work on the project to an outsourcing company that provides a dedicated team.
The customer, at any stage, can make changes to the project, add functions to the software product, and distribute tasks among performers.
From the beginning, the customer independently decides how many people need to be hired for software development. If necessary, customer can add members and reduce or increase the team.
The total cost of the project is formed from the tasks set and the time required to complete them. Every month, the client pays the salary of all team members and the service provider.
It is achieved through the model’s flexibility, transparency, and 100% payback of the hired team. It allows you to avoid many risks, including overpayments, in creating a product.
Hiring a dedicated development team begins with choosing a collaboration model. Each model has its pros and cons, so it is essential to focus on the model that best suits both parties. Among the most well-known models of cooperation are Fixed Price and Time&Materials.
Which model to choose: Fixed Price Model vs. Time&Material Model?
Such a cooperation option assumes that you will pay a fixed price for the execution of the project per hour. When signing the contract, you must have a precise estimate of all work, calculated after a general project analysis and associated risks. Keep in mind that the analysis of work and the creation of an estimate will depend on the goals and needs of the project. Therefore, it is crucial to have terms of reference that the development team can evaluate.
Advantages of the Fixed Price model:
Clearly defined terms of the project. If the developers know the project’s exact goals and complexities, they can calculate a detailed plan and timeline for the project.
Predictable results and less risk. Before signing the contract, all stages, specifics, technologies, and development control are discussed. Your company will no longer need to look for methods to track development.
An accurate understanding of how much you will spend on development. If there is a clear idea of the final product, then it is easier to calculate the cost of technology, terms, and other project resources.
Disadvantages of the Fixed Price model:
Improvements might be needed. Such situations may occur due to errors, inaccuracies, or aging of decisions. Then the company will need to allocate additional funds for revision. Be sure to indicate the possibility of a correction in the Additional agreement.
Possible misunderstandings. There may be misunderstandings between the client and the development team during the development process. It can provide to the situation that the product may not meet the client’s expectations.
Long planning. All you need for an accurate development plan is to prepare, evaluate, and approve the complete list of technical tasks and design features. Only then can you start development.
Changes in the market. Clients focus on the market while creating a technical task, but the market may differ from expectations at the end of the project development, which means there will be a need to refine the software.
This model suits companies with small projects and limited budgets and capabilities. Also, companies from the public sector or those that need a minimum viable product are interested in the Fixed Price model. In such projects, it is essential to have precise requirements; otherwise, you may end up with the wrong result.
Such a model of cooperation provides periodic payment only for completed work. To achieve the desired result in the development process, both the team of developers and the client take an active role.
Advantages of the Time&Materials model:
Flexible conditions. All work is divided into stages. After each, you can check the completed work and make changes if necessary.
Ability to quickly start work on the project. This model does not take much time to prepare, which is good if you do not have much time.
Fix hourly payment. All payments have to be made after the work is completed. There are also cases when customers make a partial advance for a guarantee. The customer pays only for hours spent developing the product. Usually, the hourly rate is discussed before signing the contract and is spelled out.
The quality of software. After completing the development process, the team will test the product and make all the necessary changes to improve it. As a result, you will have a high-quality product that meets your expectations.
Openness and high involvement in processes. Thanks to this model, you can better monitor the development process and communicate more often with developers, making changes to the development direction on time and without unnecessary nerves.
Disadvantages of the Time&Materials model:
It is not always known when the project will end. Any edits and additional testing may affect the development completion time.
Inaccurate budget. You will only have an approximate project cost, so you should be prepared for any changes. Moreover, the more needs you have, the more the project will cost.
This model is suitable for you if you plan to launch a long-term project or a project with requirements that will change. Companies also work with the Time&Materials model when no specific amount of work and flexibility in development processes is required.
Many projects. It can happen that during the development of a primary product, you understand the need to develop a new one. If the internal team constantly switches between two projects, it can lead to a drop in productivity in developing both software solutions. You can hire an external team to avoid needing to scale or separate the internal team.
Uncertainty and the possibility of rapid scaling. If a new project lacks certainty, it is unclear how exactly the requirements will be changed during development. In such a case, you need maximum flexibility with the possibility of operational scaling.
Hot deadlines. Early identification of the problem is critical. When it becomes clear that the project will not be completed within the initially planned timeframe and internal developers cannot cope with the scope of work, you should resort to expanding the team.
The need for specific competencies. Some projects require developers to immerse themselves in the subject area for a long time and build expertise in a particular technology. For example, if you need to develop a fintech solution, it would be a good idea to involve experts in this field. Hire a dedicated development team. It’s easier, cheaper, and faster than training your developers.
Lack of project management experience. It happens that a company has an IT department that regularly performs its duties but does not have experience in the software development process management. Some companies lack a development management infrastructure or have their HR department to motivate developers. In such a situation, there is nothing left but to involve external experts in the project.
Forming a dedicated team suitable for a project can take a lot of time. The Dedicated Team model is ineffective on short-term projects.
The development team’s composition depends on the business’s goals and objectives. At the start of a project, you most often need:
The team leader participates in team gathering, evaluates the priority of tasks, coordinates work, improves processes, and helps in difficult situations.
The backend developer is responsible for the internal part of the application: the work of the admin panel, user data, personal accounts, etc.
The front-end developer creates the “face” of a website or application, designs the interface, and monitors how all the elements work, such as buttons or links.
UI and UX designer works on the graphical part of the interface (animations, illustrations, buttons, and fonts) and designs it for easy and convenient usage.
QA engineer checks the software for bugs and errors, coving all possible test scenarios.
The analyst acts as an intermediary between business and developers. He understands the users’ needs and describes how the software should work.
Most often, companies hire dedicated development teams in regions where developers are distinguished by high-quality work and relatively low labor costs. These regions include:
In Asia, the cost of one hour of work for an IT specialist can start from $35, Eastern Europe from $40, and South America from $45. In other regions, rates will be significantly higher with a comparable quality of work.
At the end of 2021, the volume of the global IT outsourcing market reached $360 billion, having increased by almost 13% compared to 2020. Analysts of Statista published such data at the end of April 2022.
According to them, spending on such services will accelerate in 2021. The study notes that there was even a decline in 2020: at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies began to cut costs and abandon new projects.
Do not neglect the Discovery Phase. The duration of this stage is ca. 20-40 hours for medium-sized projects. For large projects, it is from one to two months. It is an excellent opportunity to determine if the vendor meets your expectations.
The service provider usually gives you an optimistic and realistic picture of the project’s progress. Be sure to ask him for a complete list of risks, and also ask him to provide the most pessimistic alignment.
Lack of understanding of risks can lead to the following consequences:
Choose a vendor that allows you to cross time zones with the developers for at least four hours daily. But let’s be realistic: full interaction takes much more time.
The difference in time zones can be significant if you have extensive experience managing a distributed team. If you are not used to working in a flexible mode, be sure to include a manager in the team of external specialists who will be responsible for the effectiveness of communication planning.
Communication with a dedicated team or individuals through third parties can slow down the development process and result in misunderstandings that can harm the project.
You always need to be able to contact one or another developer directly. Among other pros, this is a great way to understand the fit of developer grades to your requirements.
Client-side onboarding should have a clear structure with must-dos, accessible sources of information, and mentors to help new developers get on board faster. You can face severe problems if you do not attach importance to this.
What are your main steps for hiring a team of dedicated developers:
Properly built communication is an essential component of the project’s success. To fully understand what is happening and optimize the development process, you need to conduct regular retrospectives. Do not forget about interpersonal communication and team-building activities.
Does your project need developers with specific expertise and immersion in a complex subject? While choosing a contractor, keep this in mind. Does your contractor understand your business processes? Is it necessary to teach developers something new and spend precious time on this? Investigate previous projects of the vendor that are similar to yours.
If you have an idea for a project but no developers or if you need help to complete the project on time, our experts are ready to join your team. VITech offers highly qualified web developers to implement many client tasks and business requirements. We also provide dedicated development teams to solve complex problems and work on large projects.
We analyze all your requirements and help you select a developer whose skills will fully meet your expectations. Regardless of the complexity of the tasks, we will provide developers within the promised time frame.
You will be able to interview developers before hiring to assess their experience and discuss the project’s specifics. A technical interview is carried out with our engineer and a technological leader on your side.
Partnership with an outsource developer is one of the most effective tools for optimizing a company’s business processes. With the proper building of partnerships, an outsourcing team can become not just “insurance” or “spare hands” for implementing current tasks, but a strategic asset for productive business development. Many companies even manage to maintain a leading position in their segment precisely due to the qualified distribution of operational tasks.
If you doubt whether to hire a dedicated development team, remember that you are investing in the future. As experience shows, true experts are proactive, and their solutions can surprise you. Still, before choosing a third-party vendor, you must carefully consider your business goal, the resources needed, and the duration and scope of your project.
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