Outsourcing is now the new word for a successful business and for this reason it has been adopted worldwide across private and public sectors. The growing popularity of different outsourcing services leads to new hiring models.
It enables a company to achieve business goals, add value, tap in the resource base and then mitigate risk. In other words, becoming a partner with an offshore development company helps in managing all the given tasks while the company continues working on what it does best.
Before we move ahead, here are a few questions for you:
- Are you struggling to find the right kind of talent for your company?
- Do you require a backup for your core-team?
- Is the project workload increasing and you want to scale up rapidly?
- Does your in-house team lack expertise in a particular technology?
If the answer to one or all the questions is ‘yes’, it means you are already planning to outsource. But the real question is ‘what hiring model should I consider?’
Time & material, fixed or dedicated team model? No idea, which one will be the best for you according to your requirements and budget? This article will guide you on which one of these three is the best engagement model and why.
Investing in a dedicated offshore team is a trending business strategy. Especially for the companies that strive to work with experts, while optimizing the cost of operations.
What is a Dedicated Team Model?
In a dedicated team model, the clients and offshore companies mutually agree for working remotely on a project. As per the client’s requirements, the best-suited team of offshore developers is selected to dedicatedly work on that particular project. The best part about the dedicated team model is that the authentication for making decisions will remain by your side.
In short, you are setting up an offshore development center, will professionals working dedicatedly for your company. Taking this wise decision will save you a lot of capital in terms of the following:
- Overhead cost
- Employee benefits & Traning
- Infrastructure
- Investment for upgrading to new technologies
Moreover, working with the offshore team will you the freedom to concentrate more on the business end, thereby, gaining a better position in the market.
Source - RubyGarage.org
How is the Dedicated Model Unique in Terms of Scope, Time & Cost?
Scope: The scope and workload completely depend on you. As the offshore developers will be a part of your company, you can clearly communicate with them regularly. This model is most flexible in terms of requirements.
Time: Create a project charter and milestones. It will ensure the timely delivery of the project. Just make sure to create the milestones in association with your offshore development team. If everything works well, you can renew the contract.
Cost: In the dedicated team model, you will be charged every month, depending upon the cost finalized while signing the contract.
How Does the Professional Team Plan the Project in this Model?
- Discover: Be clear with all your requirements and the direction where you want your project to go. You have to determine the total number of employees required. And then both the parties (you and your offshore team) can work on the contract terms that will determine the partnership.
- Work: Prior to initiating the development process, outline the various phases & assign the work. This will keep everything clear and will urge your team to work as in-house employees while following the agreement terms.
- Scalability option: If scalability is a necessity, you can discuss the expansion or shrinkage of the team as per project requirements. There is an enormous margin to adapt and negotiate with the team on the terms that will be beneficial for the particular undertaking.
How Does a Dedicated Team Work?
The model where you hire developers is best explained with the help of the following steps:
- The client draft the exact requirements in detail. It will include the total number of experts required according to their respective skillset.
- The next step is to hire a dedicated team that corresponds to the project requirements. After that, the time & cost of developers is finalized with a legal contract.
- The client will get complete management control over the project as well as on the team. And the dedicated team focuses on delivering the best results.
Benefits of Dedicated Resources
Source - Google.com
1. The Team Promotes Collaboration
One of the biggest challenges that come with long term projects is narrowing the perspective. Adopting a dedicated team model is all about promoting collaboration within the offshore developers, clients, and the in-house team. This enables long-term planning efficiently.
2. Continuous Integration
For success, the project should be ever-evolving. You should keep adding new features and updating the previous ones. The dedicated team model turns out to be very effective for such projects.
3. Long-term & Reliable Partnership Comes Handy
When you get in touch with a reliable team of offshore developers, it prompts you to team up with them. The only thing to remember is that both parties should make each other feel valued. Help them to understand your virtues, values and work culture and then see the magic of working with an offshore team.
Every offshore model implies signing a legal document. If there are certain terms and conditions, do notify your outsourcing service provider in advance. Also, sign an NDA as it ensures the privacy of your business keeping your data confidential from your competitors.
Related Post - Legal Precautions in IT outsourcing for Startups!
When it is time to take a new leap, share responsibilities and this will take the partnership to another level. The offshore company always has your back as they guide you regarding the advanced tools that save efforts and time, thereby improving the overall functionality of the project.
4. Complete Provision of Resources
Having a team devoted to your project, you will not only get skilled experts but all the required software and hardware support. In other words, you will get everything under one roof, whether it is a developer, designer, quality analyst or project manager.
5. Budget-Friendly
One of the big gest advantages of the dedicated team model is cost-efficiency. It is affordable to hire a dedicated team rather than hiring various in-house developers to form a team.
Hiring a new team is a challenging task. You have to carry out a thorough interview session. This takes a lot of time and effort to gather the team that will be the right fit for your project. Furthermore, the recruiting process itself is a hassle and requires huge capital.
Hence, the dedicated team is a viable solution and the best of both worlds as it is configured for a certain type of project. Handing over extra tasks for outsourcing, it gives room to focus on core competencies and save money for other important processes.
The dedicated team has a transparent, simple and monthly billing cycle. Depending on the size of the team allotted to a particular project, every month the client has to pay the service provider.
If you are certain about the number of developers you need, you can evaluate the expense of IT outsourcing using our outsourcing cost calculator.
6. Accountability
You can keep track of the progress of the project in real-time as per your terms of the agreement by communicating directly with the team. This further reduces the chances of any misunderstanding and enhances the transparency level. The collaboration also allows for an accurate evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the team members.
7. Better staff management
You can adjust the strength of the team based on the proficiency level, experience & knowledge.
Example: The in-house new joiners need some time to adapt to the company’s environment to become comfortable. But when you hire offshore developers, they don’t take much time, accounting for their experience with such previous associations.
Whenever the large-scale deployments become necessary, the outsourcing team can be expanded and the ones working on the project can transfer their knowledge to other new members.
8. Fast-paced Development Cycle
Speed is another major factor to consider. Because of the more hands-on approach, the complete process proceeds at a higher pace than other models like Time & Materials.
If you implement the DeVOps approach, it streamlines the workflow and automates the majority of routine operations that give more time to work on other things.
Keeping different advantages in mind, you can adjust the project according to the situation. The dedicated team model is ideal for projects that are scalable based on market performance or technological progress.
9. Adaptability and Task Focus
One of the major advantages is the focussed approach. There is a team at your disposal having no major distractions. The whole team is completely immersed in the project and this, in turn, generates diverse and inventive insights into the possible solution.
With focus comes adaptability. And the dedicated team has the ability to reconfigure at every stage of the project as per the needs and requirements. The factors that pay a huge role include technology, market performance, budget constraints, etc. All of which require a timely response. Because of the increased development turnaround, the issue is greatly simplified.
10. More Control Over the Project
You get full control over the selection of the experts and management of the team members. With the dedicated team model, you can manage highly experienced and competent professionals based on your project requirements.
Streamline communication and interaction with the team results in the project delivery ahead of the deadlines. A quick call is the best way to stay updated with the task progress.
How do you know if the dedicated team model is for you?
Whether you are a start-up, a mid-sized company or an enterprise-level firm; nothing makes any difference. A dedicated team will be a fruitful choice when:
- The project is complex.
- Multiple projects are increasing the workload on in-house employees.
- There is no clear vision for the future project deliverables.
- Many requirements will be revealed during the discovery phase, also the R&D tasks.
You should choose a dedicated team regarding staffing needs. Make sure you have a project manager in your in-house team because he will be the one managing the dedicated team.
How to start working with a dedicated team of professionals?
There are innumerable companies that offer dedicated team model engagement. So, it is very challenging to choose one.
Your initial step should be to find a perfect match between the project specifications and the technology stack that is being provided to you.
Another major factor is the level of motivation of the offshore team. The developers should be self-motivated and enthusiastic about their respective work. They should be innovative and willing to help you achieve your business objectives.
You have to ask the company about the outstaffing services that they offer (whether they provide business analysts, quality assurance teams, testing teams or technical support teams). These answers will surely help you understand how far you can move in the near future in terms of scalability and add-ons.
Tips to consider for effective outsourcing:
- Have an established development process.
- Share a clear responsibility matrix.
- Identify the objectives.
- Don’t use an outdated technology stack.
- Assign the challenging engineering tasks.
- Require high-quality standards.
- Keep swapping responsibility from time-to-time whenever required.
Summing Up
The dedicated team model is the ideal choice of outsourcing regardless of the size of your business. As it offers an optimal balance between flexibility and predictability. On top of that, you will have the authentication to manage and access the process & resources.
This is achieved when you understand the process, maintain a backlog, plan deliveries and communicate effectively. In short, choosing this engagement model is a win-win situation.
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