Hiring Dedicated Development Team: A Comprehensive Guide

Nowadays, businesses and startups often find themselves in need of specialized development expertise in order to stay competitive and deliver innovative solutions. Outsourcing and a dedicated team approach, particularly, aim to help entrepreneurs and organizations with this gap. Over the years, the role of outsourced developers has undergone a significant transformation. Once limited to completing smaller tasks and projects, they have evolved into indispensable tech partners. This shift stems from realizing that dedicated development teams bring more to the table than just coding skills.

Dedicated teams function as an extension of any business or organization, understanding the goals, values, and long-term vision of the project. They actively participate in shaping and validating your project’s concept and business model rather than being mere contractors. Their expertise extends beyond writing code, as they actively ideate and refine the development process, ensuring a smoother journey from inception to final product delivery.

Given the evolving scope of the dedicated team’s workload and recent changes in the industry, business owners have become increasingly discerning in their selection of dedicated developers. This decision represents an investment poised to yield returns over several years. In this post, we will share some tips & tricks for those looking for dedicated software development teams.

What is a dedicated team model?

The dedicated development team model is a dynamic approach to software development and project execution. In this model, a business or organization assembles a team of specialists who work exclusively on a set of tasks or entire projects. Unlike traditional outsourcing, where tasks are assigned to external parties on a per-project basis, dedicated teams complement the client’s internal team. This cooperation model ensures continuous collaboration and alignment with the specific project goals, fostering a sense of immersion into the project and dedication toward the project’s success.

Dedicated development teams operate remotely (more common) or on-site, depending on the agreement, allowing for flexibility in terms of location and resource allocation. One of the key benefits of the model is its adaptability; as soon as a dedicated team of experts can scale up or down as needed, accommodating changes in project scope. Such scalability ensures efficient resource utilization and cost-effectiveness, making the dedicated software team approach particularly appealing for complex or long-term projects where ongoing development, maintenance, and iterative improvements are essential.

Who makes up the optimal dedicated team?

The optimal dedicated team is a carefully curated ensemble of skilled professionals who collectively bring a project to life with their expertise. Each team member plays a specific role that contributes to the project’s success, ensuring that every aspect, from conception to execution, is meticulously handled. 

Depending on the project’s requirements and complexity, a dedicated team typically consists of various team members and roles, such as developers, designers, testers, project managers, business analysts, specific domain experts, and others. Their collaboration and individual contributions harmonize to create a successful project that meets objectives, satisfies user needs, and aligns with broader business strategies.

The key advantages of hiring dedicated development teams

Hiring dedicated software developers offers a range of benefits that can significantly impact the project’s success and overall business growth. Here are several notable advantages:

Specific expertise and domain experience

Experienced remote software development teams consist of professionals with specialized skills and experience in multiple technologies and domains. This expertise ensures that your project is handled by professionals adept at tackling specific challenges, resulting in better-quality solutions.

Resource scalability 

Remote development teams can be tailored to suit your project’s evolving needs. Whether you need to expand or downsize the team, you can do so with relative ease. This flexibility enables efficient resource allocation, optimizing costs and ensuring optimal project management.

Cost-effectiveness

Compared to maintaining a full in-house development team, hiring a dedicated team is usually a more cost-effective solution. It eliminates the need for fixed overheads like office space, equipment, employee benefits, and recruitment costs, allowing you to allocate resources where they’re most needed.

Faster time-to-market

A dedicated software team can accelerate the development process due to their focused attention and streamlined workflows. With a team devoted solely to your project, tasks can be complemented more swiftly, helping you get your product or solution to market faster.

Access to the latest technologies

Technology is ever-evolving, and a dedicated team of developers stays up-to-date with the latest tendencies and tools. This access to cutting-edge technologies can result in more innovative and future-proof solutions for your project. 

Dedicated focus and ownership

As the name suggests, dedicated remote teams are fully committed to your project. The sense of ownership translates into a higher level of engagement, accountability, and a vested interest in the project’s success, leading to better outcomes.

Enhanced focus on core business

House teams can focus on core business activities, strategic planning, and other essential tasks that contribute directly to your company’s growth by outsourcing development to dedicated developers.

Global talent pool

The decision to hire a dedicated software development team allows you to tap into a global pool of talent, ensuring that you can find the best professionals for your project regardless of geographical location.

Primary challenges when looking for a dedicated development team

When searching for a reliable services provider, several challenges may arise, requiring careful consideration and strategic planning. These challenges can impact project success and overall collaboration. Here are some of them to be aware of:

Facing too many options

Lately, the global size of the software outsourcing market amounted to $350.5 billion, as opposed to $45.6 billion in 2000. In 23 years, the market has grown incredibly, creating new cooperation tendencies. Therefore, choosing the best provider for the project becomes increasingly more challenging, especially when it comes to identifying one with the precise skills and expertise for your project requirements.

Not understanding what choice criteria to set

Business owners, overwhelmed with choice options, don’t know where to start their evaluation. There is always a chance of ending up with a jack of all trades — a team that offers many IT services but isn’t really proficient at any of them. Another risk would be choosing a team that’s good with the technical aspects of software development but has poor management and a lack of effective communication skills. 

Determining which region to choose 

Even though markets are more or less united in terms of developers’ technical expertise, there are still a lot of dynamic variables that vary from country to country, such as time zones, language knowledge, hourly work rates, technical readiness, and overall market maturity. Although there are a lot of countries where software development outsourcing can be a good idea, coordination across different time zones can lead to delays in communication and project progress.

Not understanding how to evaluate a potential contractor

Ultimately, even if the business manager has defined choice criteria, there is still a chance of having improper expectations. Sometimes, a product owner isn’t familiar with the complexity of the task and tends to underestimate the challenge. In another case, software development teams might overestimate the task. As a result, profiting from business owners’ lack of experience can be another challenge.

How to research IT outsourcing companies

Even though it’s common to think that these issues can only be solved with experience, in-depth research can bring clarity to all problematic aspects. Proper due diligence can help you identify a reputable and reliable company that aligns with your project requirements and goals. 

If you take your time to understand the specifics of the outsourcing market as well as the offshore team’s methodology, you will easily get through these roadblocks. Here’s a few steps guide on how to do it. 

1. Define your project needs

Before starting to research, clearly define your project requirements and desired outcomes. This step will help you assess whether the outsourcing companies you’re considering can meet your specific needs. Additionally, you should plan the allocation of responsibilities between your in-house team and dedicated development team in order to avoid miscommunication. 

   2. Familiarize yourself with a market

Firstly, you need to define the region or specific country in case you choose an offshore development. Several aspects need to be evaluated: hourly costs (developing countries of Asia and Latin America, as well as Eastern European countries, are typically considered more attractive in this sense), time zone differences, compatibility with your corporate culture, etc. Make a list of potential companies based on recommendations from peers, online searches, industry forums, and directories. Look for companies with your industry expertise and preferred technology experience.

    3. Verify information about the software provider

Usually, a dedicated development team is the one to provide the answers to questions about technical proficiency and certain project management-related questions. However, transparent communication may sometimes only seem to be really transparent. It’s difficult to know if the service provider is honest about actual practices or just telling business owners what they want to hear. So, you shouldn’t rely merely on the words — it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion.

Read client reviews and testimonials and check the company’s background, experience, portfolio, and case studies. If there are any doubts about the potential contractor, contact previous clients of the company. If the provider mentions particular businesses or personalities, reach them via LinkedIn or Facebook. Ask them if they have worked with this company and inquire about the overall impression.

You can also check different online platforms that offer reviews and ratings, particularly for the providers of software development services. These websites evaluate the quality of companies based on reviews from verified clients. Here are the two most popular:

• Clutch.com — an independent platform that evaluates the expertise of outsourcing providers in software development, testing, web design, and marketing. The Clutch team checks the validity of the testimonials by independently contacting the authors of the reviews.
• GoodFirms.co — GoodFirms aggregates the leading software development providers from different local markets and comes up with TOP lists for particular development areas, similar to Clutch. The evaluation is based on the company’s portfolio and client reviews. 

4. Evaluate communication and collaboration

Effective communication is crucial in outsourcing relationships. Assess how responsive companies are during your initial interactions, and consider their project management approach to ensure compatibility with your in-house developers. Discuss pricing models and clarify security measures as well as data protection practices. After gathering all the information, compare the companies based on all factors and check the overall suitability for your business goals. Considering that, make an informed decision by choosing the company that aligns best with your needs.

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How to evaluate a dedicated software development team

You can make a final choice when you have a lineup of best-dedicated developers. Start your selection by evaluating the company’s experience and past work. Some companies position themselves as long-term IT partners and offer a complete package of IT development services. Others specialize in low-cost refactoring and testing, being rather short-term projects-oriented. Before you make a choice, you need to know which fields belong to the team’s strong suit.

Also, make sure that products developed by a dedicated development team actually make it to the market. For example, if you are thinking about mobile app developers, look at the products they do on Google Play or App Store; if you are selecting web developers, check web applications online. In some cases, a smaller trial or pilot project is a good start for the hiring process.

Custom software development vs. staff augmentation vs. dedicated development team models comparison

The dedicated teams, staff augmentation, and custom software development are three distinct outsourcing models, each tailored to specific software development project requirements and business needs.

In contrast to dedicated team developers, the staff augmentation process focuses on skill augmentation, where external specialists (one or several) are temporarily integrated into your existing team to address specific skill gaps. This model provides rapid access to specialized expertise and resources, catering to short-term needs or specific project phases. It’s particularly useful when you want to maintain direct control over project management while enhancing your team’s capabilities with external technical specialists.

Custom software development, in turn, offers a comprehensive solution for end-to-end project execution. With this model, an external provider takes full ownership of the entire software development lifecycle, from planning and design to implementation and deployment. It’s well-suited for organizations seeking a turnkey solution, especially for one-time projects where minimal involvement in day-to-day development is preferred.

Compared to the previous two, the dedicated teams approach offers a high level of control, collaboration, and flexibility, making it ideal for long-term projects that require ongoing development, close communication, and adaptability to changing requirements.

Ultimately, the choice among these models depends on various factors, such as type of project, current project requirements, duration, complexity, budget, desired level of involvement, and need for specialized skills. Each model offers unique benefits and trade-offs, allowing businesses to tailor their outsourcing approach to align with their specific goals and project dynamics.

Indicators that it’s time to hire a dedicated development team

Here are several indicators that this approach might be the right choice for you at the moment:

• You lack an in-house experienced team;

• Your project workload fluctuates, or you need to scale up your development efforts quickly;
• You are seeking to provide support for complex projects with a long development cycle;
• Your project demands a quick time-to-market;
• You want to hire external specialists but retain a higher degree of control over the development process, team composition, and project management;
• You want to focus your team on core business activities and strategic initiatives;
• You are looking for talent beyond your local market;
• You require specific skills for a certain phase of your development project.

Reasons why you might want to avoid the dedicated development team

While the software development dedicated team outsourcing model offers numerous benefits, it might not be suitable for every project or organization. Here are some reasons why you might want to avoid this approach:

Short-term projects

If your project is short-term or has a fixed scope, engaging an external team might be overkill. The model is often better suited for longer-term collaborations where consistent support and adaptability are required.

Limited budget

Establishing and maintaining an entire team can come with overhead costs and management efforts. A fixed-price or time and material model might offer more cost predictability if your budget is tight.

Inflexible requirements

If your project’s requirements are well-defined and will probably not change significantly, a fixed-price or fixed-scope model might provide a more straightforward and cost-effective solution.

Lack of internal collaboration

If you prefer close in-house collaboration and face-to-face interactions with your development team, the remote nature of most teams might not align with your communication preferences. Same with security concerns.

Full control over each development stage

If you’re looking for more hands-on control over each phase of development or want the ability to pivot the project direction rapidly, a custom software development model could provide more adaptability.

How to start working with outsourced developers

Several pillar steps are essential for every successful project. Skipping even one of them could lead to management difficulties and long-term complications. 

1. Outline your idea and business model

Ensure a team understands your business processes and model. You want an honest tech partner who is well-qualified enough in order to develop a product that can succeed on the market. 

2. Set all your expectations upfront

A dedicated development team has to get the vision of your project. For that to happen, set all your expectations before work starts. Tell them what kind of projects you had before and show the outcomes so they can better understand what they should aim for. State all your functional and performance requirements. Clearly define what you expect from remote developers in terms of functionality, features, and deliverables.

3. Outline all possible risks 

Ask your software development outsourcing provider to assess possible risks in advance to understand what additional costs you may face along the way. You also want them to come up with a problem-solving strategy for any issues that may occur.

4. Go through the management side of a project

Specify which tools will be used for communication and management, schedule all the meetups in advance, and determine what systems will be used for the control and monitoring process. Make sure that you and outsourced developers are also on the same page about all terms and conditions and that they are specified in the сontract.

5. Provide clear documentation

Offer comprehensive documentation about the project’s architecture, design guidelines, coding standards, and any other relevant documentation that will aid the outsourced developers in understanding your project. 

What is the cost of employing a dedicated development team

The cost of employing dedicated software developers can vary widely based on factors such as the team’s size, expertise, location, and project complexity. Generally, such teams are priced monthly, with costs covering devs’ salaries, overhead, project management, and potentially additional services. Offshore or nearshore teams in regions with lower labor costs can offer cost savings, while teams in higher-cost areas or with specialized skills may command higher rates. 

Why ELITEX is the best choice while hiring a dedicated development team

A good outsourcing development team works as a long-term partner and emphasizes understanding your business logic and end-customers needs. At ELITEX, we make sure that our products are capable of driving profit in the long run and prioritize long-time collaboration. We create web development projects with a vast tech stack, including JavaScript, Node.js, Angular, React, and Python, as well as UI/UX development and quality assurance services. 

Our priority is ensuring that our skills contribute to particular business goals. With extensive experience across various industries, such as fintech, e-commerce, news & media, e-learning, and property management, the ELITEX team will be able to bring a wealth of diverse insights and solutions to address your specific project needs. If you want our specialists to take a look at your project, just contact us. We can join your project at any development stage, from its ideation to post-release maintenance!

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