Whether it’s a corporation or a startup someday or others have to choose between hiring a dedicated software development team or expanding their internal team. In this sketch, we’ll explain when it makes more sense to move to custom development and the conditions when it will work and when it won’t. Let’s take a look at how an offshore team works, the benefits of this approach, and tips on how to set up effective remote development.

What is a Dedicated Development Team?

For example, when a company addresses its software development partner to provide a team of software developers, project managers, designers, QA engineers, and other IT professionals to collaborate on a project. Based on the requested technical stack, skill levels, and experience in a specific area, the outsourcing company forms and provides a dedicated team of developers, the quality and quantity of which best suits the specified requirements. The reason these teams are called “Dedicated” is because they dedicate all their time and effort solely to the client and to the one specific project they are working on.

The Dedicated Team model is best suited for medium to long term software development projects with varying requirements and scope. A dedicated development team seamlessly integrates into the client’s idea until the project will be finished. The clients can manage their dedicated team just like their own team, except they don’t have to worry about hiring, administrative support, and associated costs.

How the dedicated development team model works

1. The client describes their key goals, required technology, skills, and experience in the project area, as well as their preferred development methodology and team size.
2. The outsourcing company conducts a thorough analysis of the request, displays the experience, and provides the client with a list of candidates and interaction options that closely match the project specification.
3. After the candidates have passed the interview stage and the parties have reached an agreement on the management processes (environment, schedule, accounting, communication, etc.). A dedicated development team is created and ready to go.
4. The client now has full control over the dedicated development team, their time, and work, while the outsourcing company provides administrative support and ensures that the project’s needs are fully met.

If you are still in a dilemma about which model (proprietary or specialized) is best for you, think about your business needs and assess the risks. And ask yourself the question: “Is the dedicated team model suitable for my business?” If the answer is “Yes” then:

• Your project is large or long-term. Due to the large volume of tasks in the workflow, a dedicated team will cope with changing requirements and ensure high quality at all stages of the software development lifecycle
• You are about to expand your project or enter new markets. If you expect your project to grow, a dedicated team is a good solution to help you build a team or expand your full-time team, bypassing the tedious recruiting and hiring procedures. You will also be able to independently participate in the selection of developers
• Freedom to change project requirements is important
• You plan to get your minimum viable product (MVP) as soon as possible
• The need to increase the number of software developers in the team of an existing project
• You want to get specialists with the necessary knowledge in a short time
• You would like to give your in-house developers more time to complete certain key tasks or functions 

What kind of IT professionals can you hire for your dedicated team? 

The choice of specialists is quite big, from developers and UI / UX designers to project managers.

• Front-end developers

Front-end or client-side development is the process of converting data into a graphical interface that allows users to interact with the product. Such developers usually work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

• Back-end developers

The backend of a project is where developers build business logic. It consists of a server, an application, and a database. Back-end developers have experience with Node.js and MongoDB databases as well as SQL.

• Full-stack developers

Full Stack developers are generalists who can develop a functional product themselves from scratch. Such a specialist understands both the Back-end component and the Front-end.

• Mobile developers

There are two main operating systems — iOS and Android. Developers have experience working with programming languages ​​for creating applications — Swift (iOS) and Kotlin (Android).

• QA engineers

Quality assurance services focus on delivering error-free products. QA engineers conduct manual and automated tests to find bugs and inform developers about them.

• UX / UI designers

Design is vital to the success of your project. UI / UX designers create screens and their conditions and also transfer the design to developers. They usually use “our design. Editors and programs.

• Business analyst

A business analyst is a specialist who uses business analysis methods to study the needs of organizations to identify business problems and propose solutions.

• Project manager and others

Of course, this is far from a complete list of IT Pros you can hire. The choice always depends on the requirements of your project and business goals.

The ability to change the scope of work, priorities, and quickly adapt to new requirements is the hallmark of a dedicated team. This is possible thanks to your direct communication with the engineers and your advantage in deciding on the project workload.

Direct communication with the client allows you to set clear deadlines and how to meet them.

This outsourcing team model makes it easy to budget for a month, quarter, or year. Accurate cost tracking is ensured by a clear understanding of what you are paying for — the monthly salary of dedicated team members and the payment for the services of your software development partner (outsourcing company).

A few tips for first-timers creating their dedicated team:

• Meet your dedicated team in person. Personal communication contributes to the creation of supportive and trusting relationships and ensures effective long-term cooperation.
• An important condition for fruitful cooperation is constant and honest feedback. It should be a two-sided game.
• “Do what you do best and outsource the rest”. You should have a clear idea of ​​what kind of experience you need from an outsourcing company and a dedicated team.
• If you are committed to a long-term partnership with a dedicated team, be prepared to invest not only your money but also your time and effort.

We hope that this article will help you understand what is a dedicated development team, how it works, and what profits it brings to your business. If you have a complex project in your mind and you don’t know how to start, contact the Unit Space customer support team. Share the scope and goals of your software development project with us, and we will share our experience and help you assemble a team with skills and knowledge which is most suitable for your development needs.