Find out about the dedicated team model, explore its structure, and discover how the model’s pros and cons can affect your software development process.
What is the dedicated team model? What is a dedicated project team structure? These are parts of a unified business approach toward software development. The model stands along with the Time and Material framework and helps bring in resources from a different company that is dedicated to delivering your project.
What Is the Dedicated Team Model?
Grand View Research indicates the global business software and services market is valued at $474 billion. More importantly, Statista anticipates this market will reach a staggering $812 billion by 2027. It is a massive market, and many companies offering custom software development services are looking for a way to enter it.
There are different instruments for getting a piece of the pie. While some businesses extend their in-house teams, others use the tool known as the dedicated team model. It is closely related to outsourcing, another phenomenon in the making. Statista shows that about 46% of companies use outsourcing as a primary entry point. Keeping all this in mind, let’s plunge deeper into the dedicated team model phenomenon, investigate its ins and outs, and determine what advantages it can bring to the needs of your business.
The Dedicated Team Model in a Nutshell
In simple terms, the dedicated team model is a particular business approach used in software development. In broader terms, this method includes three constituents: your company as a client, an outsourcing company as a middleman, and a dedicated team of developers as the human resource you are looking for. In such a case, an outsourcing company finds a team of professionals who will be dedicated to completing your project. You should understand that the dedicated team model is not an extended one. How? While the extended team approach enables an extension of your existing team, the dedicated team model offers a separate team, which is separate from your management.
The dedicated team model can be applied in different industries. There is a growing demand for software development services in various markets (share, by end use, 2021). See Fig. 1.
Choosing the right model is a direct way toward getting an entry point and a competitive advantage. Yet, to get the most value out of the dedicated team model, you need to know how it operates. There are four steps involved:
- The client outlines their needs, including the number of new employees required and the tech stack they deliver.
- An outsourcing team, a provider, hires a dedicated team based on the aforementioned requirements.
- The client and the team agree on all the terms and conditions and deal with aspects like the cost of labor and any associated expenditures.
- The dedicated team works on the project under the client’s control and oversight.
These are the basic steps of the dedicated team model’s functionality. Knowing how the approach works allows you to prepare for any potential hiccups. What’s more, it enables you to get all the project requirements together and have a clear vision of what you want from a dedicated team. As a result, the dedicated team model is a way to bring outsourcing to match your needs. Because of the broad dedicated team structure, the model works for almost any project on the market.
Dedicated Project Team Structure in Project Management
You can get dedicated team services through agencies, aggregators, and reaching out. If it is your first time with the dedicated team model, the best approach is to look for a well-recognized agency (for instance, Odesk), and let the vendor pull all the weight. If you have experience working with dedicated teams, you can use Clutch or GoodFirms to check the reviews of ratings of various dedicated teams and agencies working with them. Finally, if you have time and resources to pinpoint the particular team or professionals, reach out via LinkedIn and look for fresh talent in that massive talent pool.
With all the methods mentioned above, you can have your hands on a variety of experts. The list of roles within a dedicated project team structure is long and, most often, includes the following professionals:
- Engineers: These are technical experts who deliver the ins and outs of a selected tech stack.
- Front-end. Work with User Interface (UI) elements while focusing on what an end product will look like.
- Back-end. Handle web services, data storage, server components, and implementation logic to ensure the end product’s functionality.
- DevOps. Collaborate with other developers to coordinate the development, operations, and testing.
- Quality Assurance (QA). Test the product, assess its quality, and find all the loopholes that need to be fixed before the release.
- UI/UX designers. They create the product’s interface and determine how it will behave upon user interaction.
- Business analysts. They translate technical information into something executive management and shareholders can understand while building the bridge between IT and the management.
- Project managers. They orchestrate the development process through all its cycles, from initiation to control and closure.
The dedicated development team model presupposes having access to professionals that can meet the specific needs of your project. Depending on the budget, a client can either have a particularly dedicated team member on board or the entire team. Besides, a collaboration with a dedicated team can start at any given phase, from discovery, throughout the development, and to the buyout. As a result, the dedicated project team structure is multifaceted and can meet the needs of the most complex projects.
Advantages of the Dedicated Team Model
When done correctly, the dedicated development team model is all about the benefits it brings. Businesses try different approaches because each has particular needs, budgets, and human resources. However, there are some universal aspects any given company would like to have. The following are the key advantages brought by dedicated teams.
Cost-Efficiency
It is every software development company’s dream to have high-quality outsourcing services for a reasonable price. It doesn’t matter if it’s an offshore or nearshore dedicated team. When you get good services for a good price, it means you have found a good deal. Yet, it is often hard to find the prices you like because of the constantly growing salaries in the software development market (see Fig. 2).
Keeping that in mind, hiring a dedicated team is economically viable and reasonable. It is the key advantage of the dedicated team model. You don’t need to spend valuable time and resources gathering a team of professionals together. It is plain simple. You pay the price and have a dedicated team up and running.
Clearer Focus
Dedicated teams envision a focused approach. There are no distractions involved. Hiring professionals have a clear goal, apparent guidelines, and a well-established objective in mind. Dedicated teams are highly invested in the project. Such a method generates in-depth insights and creative solutions. Furthermore, dedicated teams can be adjusted to the new requirements with a clear focus in play. The dedicated team development model delivers results with a precise focus on the project.
Faster Development Cycle
Often, companies bring dedicated teams on board to boost their development cycle. Because the mode entails more of a hands-on approach, these teams can work at a higher pace in control than agile teams or those encompassing the Time and Materials model. Besides, if you properly use DevOps insights, you can streamline the workflow even further and have your first Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as soon as possible. This advantage is vital in markets with tight competition. Use the dedicated team model to bring value to your customers at a higher pace.
Improved Collaboration
When using any given model for a long-term project, you’ll likely face problems with collaboration. The longer people work on the same project, the more they lose sight of a broader picture—that is, the initial objectives that were set. However, it is something that the dedicated team model can help with. Dedicated teams promote collaboration within the team itself as well as between the team and a client. With a clear focus, they are fully invested in the project delivery. This entails tight communication and interaction, which brings new levels of collaboration.
Seamless Integration
It is safe to say that products that do not stop evolving have the highest chances of success and survival. Often, users’ preferences change. New trends are popping up. And technological advancements bring new variables into the equation. It means that an app, for instance, should be updated and maintained constantly. In such a case, the dedicated team model works best for evolving projects. You can keep a team intact throughout the product’s lifecycle. And you don’t need to scale the team at any point.
More Transparency
In the past, it was hard to keep track of outsourcing projects. Clients often faced additional expenditures due to the lack of transparency. Luckily, there are tools like Jira and Trello now. They offer time-tracking capabilities coupled with project management elements. However, with dedicated teams, you often get another level of collaboration. Working on the same project tightly establishes polished workflows. With instruments like Jira and Trello, you have clear task delegation and productivity assessment. Putting all these things together grants new levels of transparency.
Disadvantages of the Dedicated Team Model
To be honest, the dedicated team model is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It means dedicated team services have some disadvantages to keep in mind. While only a few of them still need to be accounted for.
It Takes Time
Having a dedicated team on board depends on several factors. And being fully invested in the selection process is one of them. Simply put, if you don’t spend enough time carefully putting a dedicated team together, you’ll have disappointing outcomes. In other words, being involved with the dedicated team model takes a lot of time. As a result, if you don’t have time to spare and are looking for a quick solution, a dedicated team is not an option.
Not for a Short-Term Project
To get the full potential of a dedicated team, you need to spend a great deal of time together. The process is built upon tight collaboration and interaction. Besides, a dedicated team is best for complex and evolving products. Essentially, the approach is unfit for short-term projects.
Not a Silver Bullet
If you are looking at the dedicated team model as an approach to meeting the requirements of any project, you need to look at it differently. What is more, there is no such team on the market that can be equally applicable to all the scenarios. Before selecting a dedicated team, always double-check whether such a model meets your needs. For instance, if you don’t have clear goals for your project, getting a dedicated team on board might not be the wisest solution.
Issues with Time Zones
If an offshore dedicated team is involved, there can be problems with various time zones. However, you can compensate for the issue with different agile instruments involved. To deal with repositories, consider Git. In turn, Jenkins can help with server automation. ActiveCollab enables an agile management approach. Finally, Bamboo is there for testing and deployment. Equipped with these tools, dedicated offshore teams work as if they were in a single time zone.
Why Outsource Your Software Development Project with the Dedicated Team Model?
At this point, we see that the dedicated team model is a viable option for timely project delivery. However, one might have a reasonable question – why outsource a software development project in the first place when you can have an in-house team working on it? One of the most obvious answers—outsourcing is a massive market (see Fig. 3).
The fact that the outsourcing market is booming is an apparent indicator of a growing demand for the approach. However, the case of outsourcing can even be taken further. Along with a booming market, the method brings several key benefits.
- Outsourcing allows for freeing internal resources and lets in-house teams focus on the most important business operations.
- Outsourcing is cheaper than in-house team extension, which brings lower operating costs.
- Outsourcing makes staffing flexible and allows shuffling of human resources following the project’s priorities.
- Outsourcing is a direct way to access a global talent pool to meet all your project needs.
These are the core reasons companies choose outsourcing. In a nutshell, it is a great way to have the professionals you need for a reasonable price and without too much hassle concerning aspects like hiring and termination. You can fill the project’s gaps at any given stage.
Reasons Why You Need the Dedicated Development Team Model
You might have noticed that the dedicated development team model is not for everyone at this point. To understand whether you need this approach, it is important to cover some basics. Without further ado, these are the reasons why you need to hire a dedicated team:
- Your in-house team doesn’t have enough expertise.
- You have a large and complex project at your disposal.
- The project is long-term and entails constant updating.
- You look for flexibility at all costs.
- You need project control without questions asked.
If at least one of the aforementioned reasons is on your checklist, then the dedicated team model is a go for you. If all the elements mentioned above are on the list, your project won’t survive with a carefully selected dedicated team. As a result, you need the model when you face a long-term complex project and want control and flexibility in the process.
Dedicated Intetics Team — How Can We Help You?
So, if you are sure, you need a dedicated team, it is time to look for vendors that can offer you the best option. At this point, it is best to choose the companies that have the knowledge, experience, expertise, and portfolio. Intetics is the company that can offer you these aspects and many more. How?
- First, we use a progressive delivery model, creating a dedicated team for our product.
- Second, we selected engaging and relevant software engineers and experts who can achieve your project goals as quickly as possible.
- Third, throughout the entire journey, Intetics Offshore Dedicated Team is responsible for the delivery and results.
Intetics delivers long-term organization coupled with 100 percent dedication to your project for a reasonable price. You will have no headaches and hiccups associated with logistics and operations. What is more, the Intetics Offshore Dedicated Team has worked in almost every domain. The company offers 27+ years of experience translated into unique approaches that help clients achieve business needs.
Wrapping Up
The dedicated team model is a distinct form of outsourcing. It is different from team extension. The approach stems from bringing forward a team of professionals that meet the specific needs of a client’s project. A dedicated team is the best fit for long-term complex projects with various moving parts. If you want a short-term project delivered, look for a different model. Working solely with an in-house team is not the most reasonable option. There are some tangible benefits of outsourcing, including the dedicated team model. If you intend to try out those advantages, it is time to start with a simple nudge.
