Technological innovation is a cornerstone of any modern industry. With how much the global economic landscape changed in the past two decades, it is obvious to anyone that the people who made these changes happen are the most important business resource out there. However, the supply here does not always coincide with the demand. Assembling an in-house development team is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Even if you manage to achieve a decent price/quality ratio, the time to market may still be unacceptable, allowing competitors to simply outpace you.
Nevertheless, there is a way out. According to statistics, 92% of the largest companies and 37% of small businesses turn to third-party software developers. You can even hire a ready-made team with all the necessary staff and expertise formed specifically for your project. This approach is called a dedicated software development team model, and in this article, we will discuss its features and use cases.
What Is a Dedicated Team Model?
A dedicated team model is a type of collaboration between a company and a technology vendor. Under this model, the customer turns to a service provider to hire a ready-made development team assembled specifically for their project. The team should include all the necessary specialists and be ready to work from day zero.
As a rule, dedicated development teams are assembled to work exclusively on one specific project and have no other tasks besides it. Team composition typically includes one or more engineers but is not limited to them. Depending on the customer's needs, it may also include project managers, business analysts, designers, etc.
Benefits of a Dedicated Team Model
There are lots of benefits to hiring a dedicated development team. It is not for nothing that many companies, including global corporations and market leaders, regularly resort to the dedicated development team model. This approach allows you to save time and money while getting a good level of technological expertise at a reasonable price. Let's take a closer look at the key benefits of the dedicated team model.
Cost Efficiency
One of the main dedicated team model advantages is that it’s a very cost-efficient approach to outsource. Building a team of technical experts is usually a very expensive endeavor. You need to hire recruiters, run a recruiting campaign, screen candidates, get them up to speed, and then provide them with everything they need to do their job.
At best, this will take you around six months and require hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, by hiring a dedicated development team, you get a fully staffed and ready-to-work unit at a fraction of the cost.
This is especially true if your company is located in high-wage countries of Western Europe or North America. Companies from less expensive regions, such as Eastern Europe, can offer you a price tag 30%-50% lower than in-house specialists with similar levels of expertise. At the same time, you do not have to pay for recruiting, training, office, and onboarding, and avoid administrative and legal costs.
Suitable for projects of different sizes
By opening an in-house department, you hire a certain number of employees, which makes expanding or reducing staff a real challenge. A dedicated project team, on the other hand, can always be scaled according to the scope of your project.
If you start small and plan to expand, you can always hire a smaller team. If you need a team to work on an existing project, you can hire a large staff right away. In case you need an additional team for a side project, outsourcing it will save you lots of time and money.
Flexible Team Composition and High Work Efficiency
A dedicated development team structure is decided on an individual basis according to your needs. For example, you can have a fully staffed team with developers, testers, project managers, and designers that nonetheless won’t include any employees you won’t need. You can also hire just the developers if you want your in-house team to handle project management and quality control.
Moreover, no matter how many and what specialists you hire, a dedicated team will cater to all your emerging needs. These people are well-experienced in outsource workflow and can easily integrate into your existing business structure. This way, you’ll get better operational efficiency from day zero.
Transparent Pricing Model
With a dedicated team engagement model, you negotiate an onshore price with the provider and pay a fixed amount for a certain period of time without hidden fees. This way, you’ll always know exactly what you're paying for.
The rate typically includes employee salaries, infrastructure costs, and other related expenses. So, once you know the rate and terms, you’ll be able to predict exactly how much money you’ll need to allocate.
Process Control and Management
A dedicated development team allows you to delegate process management to a vendor if necessary. If you don't have the technological expertise and human resources on your side, the provider may well allocate project managers to keep an eye on the project, and some companies even find this option preferable.
Still, you can always go the opposite route and hire only technical experts, meaning your in-house project managers and technical leaders will supervise their work and set tasks.
Team Scalability
We've already mentioned that dedicated development teams are quite flexible and can adapt to your needs, and this includes project scaling. Expanding the team or removing unnecessary employees is a normal practice.
This is especially convenient if you are launching a new product and plan to expand in the future. The opposite is also true; when the project wraps up, you can keep just a select few employees to support it.
Focus Only on Your Project
Dedicated development teams are assembled for a specific project. This means that the provider guarantees that each employee will only be involved in one project at a time. You will get a reliable team of people focused on the task you’ll set before them.
Also, this way, you can be sure that the team is always aware of the current state of the project and all their resources are directed to working on it. This is convenient if you are planning to partner with a team for a considerable length of time.
Dedicated Team vs Team Augmentation
Team augmentation and dedicated team are quite similar, which makes differentiating between the two all the more important. Although both are related to outsourcing, those are two distinct forms of it. Let's break it down in detail.
- Team augmentation is hiring specialists to reinforce your in-house team. For example, your project might require a technology that your team has never dealt with. In this case, it makes sense to hire an expert instead of training your existing employees. As a rule, such experts work on a Time and Materials model and can be hired for short-term periods.
- A dedicated team is assembled for a range of complex tasks that require several experts working together. A dedicated IT team consists of specialists with different skill sets who are able to achieve synergy with each other. Dedicated teams are usually hired for long-term and large-scale projects, as well as for subsequent post-release support.
When the Dedicated Team Works and When Doesn't
A dedicated project team is a good solution if you have established the project’s workflow, but development is not your priority, and you don't want to expand your in-house staff. For example, your company may not need a separate IT department.
In addition, a dedicated team is a great way to reinforce existing staff who are already engaged in other related activities. If your entire core is busy with back-end development, hiring a dedicated team to handle the front-end might be exactly what you need to succeed.
Green Flags:
- You don't have and don't need a separate IT department
- Your business has strategic priorities other than software development
- You need to strengthen your existing team
- You can't tell right away what the scope of work will be
- Requirements may change as the job progresses
At the same time, if you want to hire specialists for a short period of time, building a dedicated team is unnecessary. This type of cooperation is designed for long-term collaboration and will be inconvenient and unprofitable for short-term projects.
Red flags:
- You are focused on a short-term project
- You need a contractor for a one-off task
- You don't need the team to support the project in the long term
Consider Temy Your Trusted Partner
If reading all of the above has made you realize that you need a dedicated development team of your own, Temy is at your service. We provide dedicated teams for businesses across all industries. Contact us, and you will get a dedicated development team in no time at all. We will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your project, estimate the potential scope of work, assemble the team, and take over onboarding. All you have to do is to set tasks and monitor the progress.
Our dedicated teams have a wealth of expertise in:
- Web, Android, and iOS application development
- Data engineering & visualization
- Software testing & QA
- Cloud Solutions & DevOps
- UI/UX Design
- Internet of Things
By hiring the Temy dedicated development team, you can be sure that everything will be done on time at a predetermined price. Here are just some of our successful cases:
- For the Adomi Smart Home project, we assembled a dedicated team of 4 engineers, 1 designer, and 1 QA. Within two years, our team turned a prototype into a full-fledged cloud application capable of managing a smart home. This is a great example of how the expertise of a dedicated team can build a project from scratch and provide long-term maintenance.
- Another great case study is the creation of Reali Price Predictor, an application based on artificial intelligence. A team of 4 engineers, a QA, and a designer set out to create an advanced price prediction tool. By training the neural network on a dataset with historical data, our team was able to achieve high prediction accuracy. For more than two years since, Temy and Reali have been collaborating on product development.
As you can see, our teams have what it takes to guide your project to success. Don’t hesitate to contact us now to discuss all the details.
Conclusion
So, a dedicated development team is a great way to get high-tech expertise in a short time and at a moderate price. This model is most suitable for long-term projects where the coordinated involvement of several specialists is critical. A dedicated team is assembled for a specific project according to its needs and objectives and can be scaled as needed. Moreover, if you find a provider in outsourcing locations with lower rates, you can also enjoy significantly lower costs. Of course, all of this requires a reliable partner with a large pool of experts and relevant experience in your niche.
FAQ
Usually, a dedicated team is not hired on-shore. It is most profitable to outsource work to providers in regions like Eastern Europe, where the level of technological expertise is high and developers' rates are lower.
The cost of a dedicated team depends on the number of employees, the type of project, and the provider's region. The more specialists there are on the team, the more expensive it is, and on average, the price can go up to $100,000. However, it is possible to hire a team in a region with lower rates. For example, in Eastern Europe, the cost of a dedicated team is usually closer to $50,000. In any case, you should negotiate the price with a vendor on a case-by-case basis.
A dedicated development team can either work under the customer's project manager or include one of its own. In the first case, you’ll have to take control and ensure the team is properly integrated into the existing workflow. In the second case, you will save time and money.
Dedicated development teams typically operate in a wide variety of industries. So, you should look at the total number of cases, their quality and relevance, and the successful projects from your business niche. The more experience the provider has and the more relevant cases in your industry there are, the better. Also, you should look at customers’ feedback to make sure that this company is trustworthy.
You need to focus on the scope, duration, and budget of the project. One of the key disadvantages of the dedicated team model is that it only makes sense for those looking for a long-term partnership. Otherwise, you may spend money irrationally and subsequently lose valuable technological expertise. Talk to the provider and determine which model is best for your project.
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