A dedicated developers team is a collaboration model where an outsourced team of developers is onboarded for a long-term project. 

It is one of the most popular business models amongst the Fixed price and T & M (Time & Material) models. Time and tested model for being a cost-effective in-house development solution.

Typically, a dedicated development hired by the client consists of a project manager, software developers, QA testers, and other specialists.

 A dedicated developers team comprised of selected professionals who could meet your business goals. A dedicated development team often resembles an in-house team as resources are directly controlled by the client himself.

Nevertheless, the client can directly control his dedicated team but he doesn’t have to worry about administrative issues like setting up the infrastructure or HR, tax, and social benefits for a dedicated team. This way, clients can better focus on their high-level business goals, and the rest of the stuff is handled by the development partner.

The dedicated software development team structure depends on particular business requirements. To give you a rough idea, there are several areas involved.

1-Authority and Direct Control

Direct control over selecting and managing the development team which includes everyone from coders to designers and project managers. Develop workflows, communicate and manage tasks, track progress and evaluate the performance of each resource. Unlike other development models, a dedicated team is one where you get direct and complete control over the hired team.

2-Acts Like An In-House Team

A dedicated team works like an in-house team because you can assign tasks and control the development process. You can also leave the micromanagement to your dedicated project manager. Also, time and zone synchronization with the dedicated team can let you resolve issues in real time.

3-Global Talent Access

You can tap into the global talent and this model is beneficial when you are looking to fill a specific skillset gap which otherwise may be time-consuming. With the expertise and experience of a dedicated team, you can optimize your tech stack capability.

4-No Infrastructure or Administrative Handling

Traditional hiring involves setting up the infrastructure and dealing with administrative and HR stuff. This isn’t the case with this software development model as HR, tax, administrative, and infrastructure costs are covered by the development partner from whom you hire the team.

Situations where you struggle for software development and dedicated teams can become a good fit:

• Unable to Find Local Talent – finding the right local talent and who is willing to relocate or work for you are some key questions while hiring.
• Lack of Funds – budget constraint is another main reason why you should opt for a dedicated development model as cost reduction is still the key driver for outsourcing a development team.
• Complex, Long-term Project – fixed price work well where features are defined, whereas a dedicated team can work on complex, undefined requirements4-Specific skillset gap – you may not have a rare skillset resource in-house and looking for resources from a global talent pool.
• Unclear Requirements – if you are unaware of your target market and their needs, a dedicated team can help.
• Growth Potential – projects with new features anticipated for the future.

There are certain key factors you can consider before outsourcing development with a dedicated team model.

Role of a dedicated team – defining roles and responsibilities and tasks that are expected from a team.

Setting timelines – determine whether the requirements (either vague) are for the long term or for a specific time, this helps in getting to some realistic offerings.

Skills needed – what skills do you want to fill and what skills do you anticipate the dedicated team will have?

Hiring cost – keep the budget in mind that a company will spend on the dedicated team.

Working methodology – be it agile, waterfall, or any other form of a suitable methodology for a project.

Goals, expectations, and requirements documentation

Evaluate project goals, and identify skill gaps, qualifications, experience, and how a developer will accomplish these goals. Jot all that down, it could be a rough draft.

Finding and reviewing development partners

Look for the region first, ideally, countries with your language understanding, and geography can help greatly. Second, there are listing websites like Clutch and The Manifest. Do consider their client reviews and ratings and read their case studies/past projects.

Vendor Selection

See if the company has effective communication processes, domain knowledge and expertise, and technical skills (accreditations, certificates, etc.)

Conduct one-on-one interviews

Assessing resource technical and professional skills, you need to be sure that the dedicated developers have positive attitudes and personalities to work with your team.

Onboarding developers

Provide tools, requirements documents, or any required access to your new developers. Step-wise instructions on how to set the development environment.

NDA signing

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legally binding agreement that explains confidential resources, information, etc. for certain purposes but not with any other third parties.

Working and reporting

Time zone differences and language barriers are some typical issues with remote collaboration. Reduce misunderstandings, define information types and channels and how long will it take for the in-house team to respond to emails.

• A dedicated software development team is available on the bench for instant hire.
• Pre-vetted dedicated developers, take your assessment and onboard just like that.
• Certified IT consultants, tech architects, developers, QAs, PMs, and BAs.
• Mature development and testing procedures.

Final Verdict

Long story short, dedicated development teams are ideal for projects with vague requirements and where the project is expected to evolve with time.

Also, aspiring startups and enterprises can greatly rely on this model as it’s cost-effective, give access to a global talent pool, fills the skillset gap, and more.

In case, you still have doubts about what sort of collaboration model will suit your project. You can always reach out and ask for it from our team of business analysts at CodeNinja Consulting Inc.