What should you look for in a dedicated development team?
Experience, skills and culture. Make sure your external partner has a relevant track record engineering software in your industry, with the technologies you’d like to implement. A dedicated development team should be cross-functional, which ensures they can effectively manage all areas of a software development life cycle and share knowledge with your in-house specialists (an obvious long-term, value-added benefit). Lastly, while proven experience and technical capabilities are vital, don’t forget to pay attention to a dedicated development team’s culture, as this impacts not only the cooperation, but also the results. Seek out missionaries, not mercenaries, and look for an outsourcing partner that prioritizes transparency and ownership.
How can you evaluate a dedicated development team’s experience?
Consult case studies and look for client testimonials that support an outsourcing team’s claims. While a client quote is a stronger referral, even anonymized case studies indicate proficiency with tech stacks, methods, architectures and environments. Consider whether an outsourcing company has worked in your industry and research if a dedicated development team has demonstrable practice with the technologies you would like to work with. It is also important to gather first-hand experiences and insights, so you should try to personally meet with team members and verify that their knowledge, experience and expertise align with your requirements. If possible, try to get feedback from your potential outsourcer’s previous and current clients to learn more about what it’s like to work with them.
How can an agile methodology benefit software development?
Nowadays a dedicated development team, especially a remote team, must be agile. Not just because the project scope of a development project will probably change, but because an agile methodology boosts the chances of success. Making sure external dedicated teams have the flexibility, scalability and project management tools to evolve with your growth is paramount. Unforeseen issues crop up, markets change and customers’ expectations evolve. Partnering with a dedicated software development team that not only reacts to new realities, but also anticipates future needs, is a distinct competitive advantage.
Should a dedicated development team replace in-house specialists?
Hiring a dedicated team is not about replacing your in-house specialists, but about enhancing your capacity and capabilities. Dedicated software engineers augment the skills you have and free up your resources to focus on your core business.
While an external team can manage the day-to-day running of a project, they should still cooperate closely with a client’s internal team to ensure that knowledge is exchanged and goals are understood.
Your project manager should be surrounded by a dedicated team of developers who understand the short-term goals and long-term possibilities of the software they are engineering. A dedicated team should bring a range of experience and skills that drive software development, design and quality assurance.
How should a dedicated development team be built?
First, an outsourcing partner needs to learn what your software development needs are, related to architecture, tech stack, team setup and project management approach.
Next, your outsourcing partner builds a development team with the right experience and skills to handle all development tasks, work management and knowledge sharing, so you can focus on your core business. Cooperation could start with a proof of concept (POC) phase or the design of a comprehensive solution. With a POC, it’s worth exploring a try and buy option, which means payment is only obligatory if you are satisfied with an outsourcing team’s work.
The goal should be to form a long-term partnership that evolves with your business, scales teams to manage several projects or even supports you as a remote delivery center.
