Solving the Great Puzzle

Software developed by outsourced teams permits companies to carry out development projects and, in the meantime, keep total costs to a minimum. There are different sorts of outsourced teams out there which function to deal with specific software development tasks and selecting the correct one for your project will help eliminate errors and bypass miscommunication over the course of the project, saving valuable funds.

We’ll now forage further into the subject of composing your outsourced software development squad, so by the end of this article, you’ll have all the most important advice for molding your team together.

An outsource development what?

Unsure about what outsource development teams are? Well, you’ve come to the right place! They are a clever way for companies to keep those in-house expenses down, maintain aerodynamic operations and trim the needs for development. The outsourced team, specialists in their field, have know-how and experience that your business can utilize, enabling you to increase your capacity for development, stick to even the most difficult deadlines without breaking the bank and cut resourcing costs in half.

Four significant advantages of bringing outsourced software developers on board were slashing the cost of IT, greater efficiency in operations, flexibility of augmentation and a relationship with developers with greatly-specific skills and experience. Therefore, outsourced teams allow for quicker, cost-efficient and more adept first-rate solutions.

One of these three engagement models are often used by companies who make the most of outsourcing:

• Outstaffing. This software development team composition features extra outsourced staff members who help with development, known as “smart teams”. This structure can include growth of staff numbers, adding a devoted team to a complete development hub.
• Product advancement. Based on agreed-upon requirements, this model is a fixed-bid project and uses a wholly outsourced cohort of software developers to complete tasks. The product advancement model meets the main company’s needs and produces tailored solutions, whether that’s by undertaking the development of particular applications or solutions, or a total Product Development Services project.
• R&D - Research & Development. An R&D model of outsourcing, emphasizing innovation, dictates the possibility of investing in new, breakthrough technologies, compared with the established tech marketplace. With a technical feasibility study and proof of concept development usually included, an outsourced R&D team dynamic has, as its main goals, the reduction of uncertainty surrounding technology, and providing clients with an unwavering belief in the groundbreaking technology solution they’ve invested in.

The ideal way to organize your software team

So, you need to piece together the members for your perfect team of software developers, but what does that look like exactly? The outsourced team should be combined to meet the specific needs of your company and the ideal combination is the only that best delivers the most arduous requirements within the deadlines and funds of the project. These team compositions are three types you will stumble upon:

• Generalist teams, where a wide range of knowledge is covered, allowing them to take a project from start to finish
• Specialist teams, these ones tend to be a bit more niche, but the expertise is very high. These are best utilized when more distinct tech expertise is needed
• Hybrid teams, composed of a mixture of generalist expertise and employees with specialist competences

The team you compile can be full of all types of developers; front-end developers, back-end, full-stack, both desktop and mobile, data and information. As well as all manner of engineers including manual test and automation test engineers, data engineers and support engineers to name a few, plus the likes of software architects, product designers and business analysts, depending on what your project requires. Driving development capacity forward may call for a generalist model, while a team of specialists could be utilized to implement the newest innovations when disruptive changes occur.

The best way to structure a software team managing multiple projects

The intricacies and particulars of a project influence how to go about your team organization. Sometimes one manager is plenty to take care of many smaller projects, but at the larger end of the scale, a project manager dedicated to guaranteeing that everything goes according to schedule will often be necessary to keep things on time, on value and within budget.

Forming an outsourced software development team; our top suggestions

When we don’t establish certain aims, ways of running our businesses and our lines of communication, software development can fail when in the hands of outsourced vendors. Keep the following best practices in mind when compiling your outsource development team:

• Carry out a comprehensive vetting process. Deciding which outsource software development company is right for you should be a thorough process. If sufficient time isn’t taken to judge what is provided by service providers - and the main differences between them - you could end up forming a lasting relationship with a vendor that doesn’t meet the needs of your organization.
• Be clear about your goals and create a pathway to success. A company can aim to achieve any number of objectives at any given time; be it quicker time-to-market, improved scalability, or extra resources to complete something specific. Whatever it is, they have to know the main reasons why they are bringing outsourced developers on board. The path to success will only be traveled if those reasons are clearly defined, otherwise it will be impossible to precisely assess progression and guarantee that goals are accomplished.
• Manage ownership and distribution of responsibility. How much responsibility an outsourced development team has, whether it’s full control, or if it’s mostly managed in-house, will depend on the chosen engagement model, but regardless of which is chosen, everyone involved has to be able to communicate, decide on key points and accept product results.
• Determine objectives and control risks. Before development begins, plan effectively with the vendor so all of their important objectives are determined. Evaluating the outsourced group’s security controls, searching for possible risks, and budgeting for potential contingency plans should be part of the planning process to stop potential problems at source, rather than them coming to the surface during the development.
• Establish lines of communication. Different companies and teams have different preferences when it comes to communication; some are fully involved but others are more laissez-faire. When working together, though, you must be on the same page, so a detailed plan of important meetings, reports and demos should be compiled and agreed upon.

To find out more about putting together the best outsourced software development team for your business, whether you’re a large corporation or a startup, contact us today and we will ensure successful results for your projects.