HOW TO HIRE A DEDICATED DEVELOPMENT TEAM: THE FULL GUIDE

After the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses around the world realized that in-house teams are no longer the best method for doing business. Entrepreneurs are now using the outsourcing model to keep their business processes running. However, what should you do if you require technical assistance to resolve a variety of issues? Hiring a dedicated development team is the answer to this question.

Anastasiia Dyshkant

Content Marketing Manager

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After the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses around the world realized that in-house teams are no longer the best method for doing business. Entrepreneurs are now using the outsourcing model to keep their business processes running. However, what should you do if you require technical assistance to resolve a variety of issues? Hiring a dedicated development team is the answer to this question.

Businesses can hire experts without conducting countless interviews by enlisting the help of software development service agencies.

But choosing dedicated teams isn't just about having a quick and easy onboarding process. In this article, we will go over the numerous benefits of hiring a dedicated software development team to meet your specific requirements.

What is a Dedicated Software Development Team?

A dedicated development team is a long-term collaboration model with an outsourced team of developers in which a client and a developers' team collaborate. This is one of the most popular collaboration models, along with fixed price (FP) and time and material (T&M).

When you hire dedicated teams, you get a team of professionals who have been hand-picked to meet your specific business objectives. This team is similar to an in-house team in that they are technically your employees.

However, unlike employees, you do not have to deal with administrative, human resources, tax, and social benefits issues with a dedicated team. On the contrary, you can concentrate on higher-level business issues while your development partners take care of the rest.

To summarize, a dedicated team model provides you with a hand-picked professional team focused on completing a single project. Furthermore, all administrative costs are on their side. Related article: How to Hire PHP Developer.

The composition of your team is determined by your company's needs. As a result, your development team can include:

  • Front-end and back-end, full-stack engineers, mobile developers;

  • UX/UI designers;

  • DevOps engineers;

  • Quality assurance specialists;

  • Business analysts;

  • Product managers;

  • Project managers.

When do you need to hire a Dedicated Software Development Team?

The dedicated team model is appropriate for complex long-term projects that may grow in the future. When your idea lacks the product-market fit and requires a discovery phase, a dedicated development team is a way to go.

Early-Stage Startups

If you're an early-stage startup that expects to grow, consider hiring a dedicated development team. It will allow you to quickly build a team, save money on hiring processes, and develop the product faster. While your in-house team focuses on business-related tasks, the augmented team handles the extra work.

Companies with a Limited Budget

Small businesses and startups with limited resources can also benefit from an outsourced team model. Some projects and countries, such as the United States, France, Germany, and others, make it unprofitable to hire an in-house group due to high developer rates. It is critical in this situation to have the option of outsourcing to other countries with lower rates. Central and Western Europe, for example, have a large talent pool and a competitive environment.

Projects With Vague Requirements

When your idea lacks the product-market fit and requires a discovery stage, a dedicated team is a way to go. Because the discovery stage serves as the foundation for the project's entire development mechanism, it may take months of tests and interviews to finally settle down. The dedicated team model gives you the time and resources you need to focus on the discovery stage without worrying about overspending.

Long-Term Projects

The dedicated team model is appropriate for complex long-term projects with growth potential. To fully realize the potential of your project, you'll need a strong team of developers to help you along the way. Within a dedicated team, you can be confident that the people you begin working with will see the project through to completion.

Furthermore, let's take a quick look at tech giants like WhatsApp. They enlisted the assistance of a dedicated team of developers to assist them with their iOS app. Apple, Oracle, American Express, IBM, Verizon, Amazon, Doist, Automatic, Buffer, and 10up are among the companies that use the dedicated 

The Main Benefits of Hiring Dedicated Development Teams

Many businesses have heard about the significant benefits of using a dedicated software team model for project development outsourcing. We will explain each benefit in detail based on our 11 years of experience:

When entrepreneurs hire a dedicated development team, their projects will benefit from increased cost-effectiveness through the use of outsourcing. This enables businesses to hire a dedicated development team from anywhere in the world. It is critical to understand which countries are the best for outsourcing development.

Assume the company is based in the United States or Europe. The hourly rate for a developer ranges between $100 and $150. However, by looking at specialists from Eastern Europe who are just as qualified, work in a competitive environment, know English well, and are ready for continuous development, entrepreneurs can save up to $100 per hour (which the in-house team cannot).

Over 70% of the world's companies have announced significant budget savings by outsourcing parts of their business processes to a software development team. Businesses can then use the time saved on hiring to find project partners and secure profitable investments.

Business owners can either hire a project manager to work alongside the developers' software team or manage them themselves. In either case, the company's owner can change the size of the group and the timing of their work.

Businesses must always be aware of what is going on during the development and management processes. This should not, however, lead to business owners becoming bogged down in routine work and other time-consuming tasks. Project managers are an excellent compromise because they act as an intermediary in management and report on the progress of the work as it is completed.

The entire management activity is transparent and does not require the business owners' constant attention, freeing them up for other business tasks.

The project is supported by a dedicated software development team. Immersion in the tasks always produces the best development results. Being completely focused on the product allows for a faster response to any project changes. In this case, the dedicated development team model is adaptable enough to accommodate changes in current project requirements, industry performance, or budget constraints.

Because of the constant feedback, they receive from project managers and the company's owner, a dedicated team model fosters the best conditions for collaboration. Businesses benefit from transparent communication and processes when they use dedicated developer team models, which helps them achieve their goals quickly and efficiently.

Because developers and other specialists are dedicated to a single project full-time, the development cycle is shortened. They are far along in the process and will be able to produce more results by the end of the cycle.

When choosing a dedicated development team model, entrepreneurs can be confident that they will find highly effective expertise for projects with no boundaries. Hiring the best Python or Ruby developers on the team with outstanding, quality code and advanced expertise is not a problem if the company's requirements are met.

The dedicated software team hiring model is an excellent way to evaluate outsourcing flexibility. You can manage an outsourcing team of specialists at your leisure by hiring them. Simply inform the contractor if the company wishes to expand the outsourcing team.

Scalability is one of the most obvious benefits of a dedicated development team model. Customers choose how many people to hire to develop the software from the start, and they can increase or decrease the number of people on the software developers team as needed.

How much does hiring a dedicated development team cost?

According to the 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey report by Deloitte the top reason (70%) to outsource is cutting costs. Hiring a dedicated development team also gives the cost reduction benefit and here’s how. 

The pricing model in a dedicated team is quite simple. Since you hired a team, each employee has a set hourly rate, and you only pay for the hours worked. This is the only thing you have to pay for. There are no additional costs for renting an office for a team, purchasing equipment, paying taxes, paying electricity bills, and so on.

Furthermore, hiring a dedicated software development team is much cheaper and faster than searching for each professional independently with the HR team.

How to hire a dedicated team?

1. Start with a clear product vision

Before you even begin looking for developers and app agencies, you should clearly define your project. Every project manager understands that this is critical for any aspect of software development because it provides a single direction and blueprint for the entire team to follow. 

It is, however, arguably more important for a committed team. The reason for this is that they are an outside entity with no knowledge of your processes or company culture. They also do not have the luxury of joining your team as a new hire. As a result, they require as much input from you as possible in order to get the project off the ground. Related article: Learning and Development Trends to Consider in 2023.

Setting a clear vision for your app is also important for calculating its total cost. The truth is that many factors influence how much money and other resources are required to build an app. Defining a rough budget early on allows you to find the right dedicated team that fits it. 

The why of the app project is business requirements. What is it attempting to accomplish, and why is it significant? This is where you connect the app's goals to your company's goals, such as increasing revenue or increasing brand awareness.

The user requirements come next. This is the app's who—its users. Determine the user's problem that the app is attempting to solve and how they interact with it here. The user requirement for Uber may be to allow people to book a ride from anywhere using their mobile phones. The software requirement, or the app's what, comes last. You should list the app's specific features and functions, as well as its functional requirements, here.

Non-functional requirements that define how a system operates, such as expected performance and portability, must also be included. A non-functional requirement is that an app must open in less than one second or run in real-time even with hundreds of concurrent users. You can define the project's scope once you understand its requirements. These are the project deliverables that must be completed within a specific timeframe. The scope can also tell you about the resources required, such as the development team.

2. Research the market

After you've determined your requirements, the next step is to scour the vendor market for a potential match. However, keep in mind that you have not yet hired your team. You're simply looking for a partner firm to assist you in putting one together.

To be sure, there are numerous options here. This emphasizes the importance of the clarity you gained in the previous step (defining your product vision). Here are some things to think about when shortlisting potential candidates. Consider the location of your development team first. There are three options available here: onshore, offshore, and nearshore.

Please keep in mind that these are only guidelines and not absolute truths. For example, an American company hiring a U.S. agency may not produce great work, whereas a low-cost developer from a developing country may produce exceptional results.

As a result, after you've screened their location, it's best to look at their project history and portfolio to further assess their quality. For example, if they worked on a similar app to yours, it's a good indication that they have the necessary experience and skills. Case studies are especially powerful. They give you insights into an agency’s successful projects and the methodologies and work philosophies they used to achieve them. This allows you to determine whether the agency will be a good fit for your team.

Take special note of an agency's security measures. Regardless of the niche, cybersecurity is always important in app development. A reputable app agency will always highlight its security certifications and methods, so keep an eye out for those.

3. Select your team

After you've chosen your vendor and signed a contract, the real work of assembling a dedicated team begins. Remember that you do not yet have a team. The vendor company will only assist you in creating one. They will accomplish this by assisting you in the hiring process or sourcing developers from their internal talent pool. It should be noted that the exact composition of a development team varies from project to project.

For example, your in-house UX designer may already have an app prototype. At this point, your team might only need developers and QA engineers. If you want a cross-platform app, then you need both iOS and Android developers. Furthermore, some projects may require additional specialized roles in their team. Animators, UX copywriters, graphic designers, and cybersecurity experts are examples of such professionals. Some niches like fintech would also need subject matter experts to assist with compliance. It's a good idea to get involved in the hiring process for whatever roles you require. Examine their resumes for skills and experience. You should also interview them to confirm their experience. 

Hiring for roles is arguably the most important step in putting together your dedicated development team. As a result, it's critical to be as involved as possible. Don't just rely on your partner vendor to do it. After all, no one knows your project or business better than you.

4. Define work procedures

Now that your team is in place, it's time to define how they will work in the future. The methodology is the most important consideration in app development. The team's approach to the project is referred to as the development methodology. The goal is to create an app as quickly and efficiently as possible.

You should have figured out which methodology your vendor prefers or advocates by now. As a result, they should have no trouble adapting to yours. However, for most app projects, Agile development is the most common (and arguably most effective) methodology.

An Agile project is divided into individual sprints that go through mini-rounds of reviewing, testing, and planning. The app is delivered to the client for testing at the end of each sprint. Any changes or fixes will be implemented in the following sprint.

This method is effective because it keeps things moving quickly while tracking bugs, features, and fixes. Nonetheless, while Agile is the preferred methodology, others such as waterfall and prototyping have a place as well. The important part is that you communicate this with the vendor ahead of time to see if they support your chosen methodology.

5. Setup the infrastructure

The dedicated team should already have everything they need to complete your app project at this point. However, keep in mind that you will have a dedicated team working for you throughout the duration of the project. As a result, it would be preferable if you handled them directly. That means you should be able to communicate with them effectively, especially if they are far away. It may be worthwhile to appoint someone from your company as the dedicated team's coordinator or liaison. Having a single point of contact can greatly improve communication efficiency.

A key consideration here is how you want to be kept up to date on the project's progress. First and foremost, how frequently would you like to receive it? This is frequently determined by the development methodology you choose. For example, our team at PioGroup Software frequently conducts daily check-ins with clients to keep them informed. We also present app progress every two to four weeks, based on our sprint methodology. The tools you use should address three major areas: communication, issue tracking, and version control. 

What matters most is that everyone agrees on which tools to use. Some platforms, such as Jira, may have a learning curve for developers who have never used them before, so keep this in mind when hiring your team. However, the best vendors and development teams can work with your existing tools. Because it is easier for the remote team to transition to your systems than the reverse, everyone benefits. In this case, teamwork is all about coordination and flexibility.

6. Agree on quality assurance

Quality assurance is the final step before launching your dedicated team. Who will be in charge of it, and what testing methods will they employ? It is critical to clearly define the key app testing methods in order to ensure a quality, bug-free output from your dedicated team. It should at the very least include both functional and non-functional tests. This allows you to catch as many mistakes as possible. 

Performance tests are also necessary to ensure that your app works properly under a variety of conditions. Load testing, for example, can identify your app's failure point so that you can assess its reliability. You can also test your app on different devices to see if there are any compatibility issues. However, usability testing is the fundamental method that every committed team should employ. It can detect UX issues that can harm your app's retention and engagement.

Assigning a quality assurance (QA) role to a specific member is the best way to ensure that your dedicated team does proper testing. This person can help ensure the quality of your app at every stage of development.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a dedicated development team provides you with the added benefit of leveraging highly skilled services at a low cost. This model is suitable for long-term, short-term, and one-time projects. To make the most of it, businesses must understand the intricacies of hiring and working with outsourced teams.

Hiring a dedicated development team allows you to focus on your key areas of expertise while also assisting you in technological growth with your undivided attention to your project.

PioGroup Software guarantees first-rate quality from the start. Our experts bring your ideas to fruition while providing you with a superior experience, from evaluating your business goals to addressing issues that need to be fixed before developing solutions.

Send us an email [email protected] to discuss your ideas and get in touch with our experts.

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Anastasiia Dyshkant

Content Marketing Manager

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