Dedicated Development Team: Complete guide & Analyzed
We live in unforgettable times as the world tries to adjust to a new normal. Numerous businesses have seen their expansion stagnate due to the Covid-19 epidemic, with some suffering severe financial losses and others ceasing operations. Companies are being compelled to operate remotely and outsource jobs to survive. Dedicated development team outsourcing is a dependable and cost-effective method of outsourcing all or a portion of product development. It is suitable for various tasks, from scaling massive online platforms to creating MVPs from scratch. The model is commonly used in software development to provide remote customer collaboration.
This post will discuss the fundamentals of this method, assess the important benefits, and determine how to create a well-rounded dedicated team model. Additionally, it will show how the dedicated team model works and how the Groove Technology team utilizes it to give the most outstanding experience possible.
What is the Dedicated Team Model?
A dedicated development team is a collaboration model with an outsourced developer team, where the customer and the developer team collaborate long-term. This is one of the most common partnership models, and it is on par with the fixed pricing (FP) and time and materials (T&M) models in terms of popularity. If you opt to engage with a dedicated development team, you will receive a group of specialists that have been hand-picked to meet your company objectives.
This group is like an internal team, technically your employees. However, unlike employees, you don't need to worry about administrative, human resource, tax, and social welfare issues with a dedicated team. Conversely, you can focus on higher-level business issues while your development partners do the rest.
Dedicated developers are optimal when the project's scope cannot be defined precisely and requirements may vary throughout development. The primary goal of this strategy is to hire a team that will compensate for a lack of critical experience while also functioning as a seamless extension of your own organization.
We at Groove Technology have been assisting businesses in doing just that for more than 5 years and are continuing to gain more knowledge and experience in this field. This post may be of interest to you if you are the CTO, CEO, or Creative Director of a startup or product development company, as we give our opinions on bringing in professionals from a distance to your project in this article.
You need a Dedicated Team if:
- You do not have the desire, time or excess resources to find the right talent and train your own team;
- It may be necessary to expand the team during work;
- The scope and requirements of the project can grow, so you need to scale quickly;
- You are looking to expand into a new and unknown market;
- You need a backup for your core team, to free them up for other purposes or to help maintain focus;
- You have a specific business idea but lack your team;
- You want to build your project (e.g. MVP or demo) quickly;
- You are lacking skills in a highly specialized subject and require highly skilled professionals.
How does it works?
This pattern is best explained through different steps:
- The client needs to outline exactly what they want. The client must determine the number of employees needed for his project and what technology skills they should possess.
- The supplier hires a dedicated team that corresponds to the requirements of the project. The team along with the client agree on the workload and the requirements of the project within the specified period.
- Experts are assembled into groups and work begins during normal hours.
- The client has ultimate control over the project and team, while the dedicated team's services are geared on producing the finest results possible.
Most of the time, if you want to hire a dedicated team, you can have a team of professionals that fits the needs of a specific project. Therefore, the structure is always different and tailored which might include the following key players:
1. Business Analysts
Business analysts play an original role. They are responsible for providing project definition and clarification of system development requirements immediately after the sale. Their primary role is to make communication between the client and the dedicated team clear and transparent.
2. Project Managers
A project manager is someone who handles the complete software project. The role of the PM begins to emerge after the entire communication between the client and the team is complete. They work directly with the dedicated team, manage the workflow, control the process and drive the team to work effectively.
3. UI/UX Designers
UI/UX designers are responsible for bringing creativity to the table. They use customer-generated wireframes, draw models from them, and create application interface designs. They are primarily responsible for enhancing the user experience by ensuring that the software product looks excellent.
4. Programmers/Developers
The main part is done by the programmer or the developer in the team. They translate human language into the language understood by computers and technical equipment, through coding. They work at various levels, including junior, mid-level and senior levels.
5. Quality Assurance
As the name suggests, the people on this profile perform the role of quality assurance of software products. They conduct testing, evaluate the application flow, and identify bugs and errors in the application to report to the development team to fix.
A step-by-step guide on hiring a dedicated development team
A concise step-by-step guide has been produced for you by our team to assist you in the process of hiring a software development team.
Step 1. Write your goals, budget and requirements
Before you hire a software development team:
- Decide your end goal.
- Budget for each process.
- Describe your request.
These steps will help you organize the hiring process and product development process from the start. When you know exactly what you want to get in the end, you won't have any trouble with your dedicated team going forward.
Step 2. Find and interview potential groups
You can now begin recruiting a squad. You can discover a fantastic devoted workforce in a variety of locations. You can hire a software development team through social media platforms such as LinkedIn. There you will find firms that offer dedicated software development teams as well as their representatives. By viewing their profile, you will get information about the experience of the team, the knowledge specific to the team developers, the projects the team has worked on, the results their clients have received, …
You can also find a dedicated team on rating sites like Clutch.co. There you can learn more about the projects the team has worked on, the problems the team has solved, and read customer reviews. You can also compare companies and teams by their ratings, among others.
After you've compiled a list of prospective teams, you may begin interviewing them. Ask as many questions as you can to understand exactly if this or that group is a good fit for your project. Maybe a few quick tests to check thoroughness and acumen in detecting and correcting errors.
Step 3: Sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
The protection of intellectual property and confidential information is very important in 2021. Trust and security issues are one of the risks when working with an outsourcing company in general. To make sure this is not an issue, review the NDA and intellectual property policy before initiating development-related processes. Remember that when you hire software developers, you can sign individual NDA agreements with each expert.
Step 4. Start Your Dedicated Software Development Team
Once you've chosen the right dedicated team for your project, you can get started. Communication is the most important aspect of working with a professional software development team. Normalcy necessary here. It is necessary to be able to monitor and control the progress of each process. Agree with the team when you contact them to approve tasks and discuss important issues.
Step 5. Set KPI
One of the important steps is setting KPIs. Key Performance Indicators allow you to determine how effective, fast, and efficient an employee is. The achievement of the goals set by the company for the team depends on these indicators. It is essential to select and calculate exactly which KPIs will adequately measure the performance of a particular member of a dedicated team.
The advantage of the KPI tool's capabilities to members of a dedicated software development team is obvious – you don't have to monitor how managers work hourly. Just perform the KPI calculation at the beginning of the month and the end of the month – KPI control.
Step 6. Provide documentation and functional specifications
An official document detailing the expected behavior of a product concerning user interactions and intended for software developers seeking guidance when working on a product/service.
Typically, this set of documents includes:
- Project scope (features/tasks, deliverables, costs, deadlines)
- Risks/considerations (may affect functional product design)
- Product overview (how an app will solve a particular problem)
- Use cases (in the context of user actions)
- Requirements (core features of the product)
- Configuration (steps to be taken for product configuration, such as setting up user accounts)
- Non-functional requirements (non-core features)
- Bug reporting (how a product should handle exceptions/errors)
Step 7. Pay a visit
How do you know your dedicated development team is running efficiently? You can rely on the criteria suggested by the group's common performance models and conduct regular surveys. But the best way to see how your team is doing is to visit our Groove Technology office. You're always welcome!
Why is Groove Technology a good choice?
Groove Technology is a technology partner for innovation organizations, supporting research, technology consulting and software product development services. Since 2006, we've been helping customers in E-Commerce, Education, SaaS, Supply Chain, Logistics, and others build the software product of their dreams. Groove's capabilities range from initial R & D to the implementation of cutting-edge technologies and maintenance throughout the product’s life cycle.
We have extensive expertise in:
- UI/UX Design
- Web Development
- Web and mobile application design
- Development of MVP
- SaaS Platform, E-Commerce, E-Learning
- Enterprise portal
- Custom web application development for businesses of all sizes
Groove Technology prides itself on being a trusted development partner, not just an outsourced service provider. We focus on building long-term relationships over any short-term interests, taking ownership of projects and growing with our partners.
FAQ
Which country is suitable to set up a dedicated group?
It is necessary to choose a country while keeping these factors in mind, which are:
Time zone;
Distance;
Labor market;
Pricing;
Legal aspects;
Possible banking problems;
Political climate.
What are the criteria of a reliable dedicated development provider?
Check the following aspects when hiring a supplier:
Similar value;
Pricing;
Communication;
Safety;
Testimonials;
Internal team structure;
Vacancy closing time;
Possibility to visit the supplier's office.
To hire the best developers, make sure to follow these rules:
Analysis of available models;
Research proposal;
Create a list;
Preparation of job descriptions;
Start recruiting;
Interviewing the best candidates;
New recruitment.
Final word
Today, most of the leading tech giants and startups provide their IT processes to third-party vendors. The dedicated team model is one of the most effective engagement models that enable companies to drive business processes, drive value, tap into resource bases, and eliminate risk.
While there are many advantages to this model, the dedicated development model is not a panacea for all development projects. If you want to complete a long-term project with simple requirements and on time, then entrusting it to a dedicated team is the right thing to do. If not, you're better off looking for other collaboration models.
Let's connect to book a one-on-one consultation with our business consultants for advice on the right model.