As consumers, whenever we need a product or service, our immediate instinct is to go online to find what we need and, of course, read the reviews to see if it lives up to our expectations. After all, anything worth knowing is online.
When we sit on the other side of the table as business owners, we need to ensure our consumer-facing digital assets bring value and enhance our customers’ experiences with our brand.
This is the digital challenge faced by organizations worldwide: evaluating and improving their digital assets is no longer a choice but a necessity. From web presence to standalone software and apps to developing value-adding automated solutions, once you’ve decided to embrace new technology, the first question is—how?
Depending on the size and capabilities of your enterprise, you may be in a position to develop in-house. However, that’s not always the case and many organizations worldwide choose to engage dedicated development teams instead.
As insiders to the industry, we thought we’d take our time to review some of the advantages of setting up your own dedicated team with a technology engineering vendor and the challenges you may face along the way.
Advantages of Dedicated Development Teams
Like any business decision, involving a dedicated development team into your activities requires careful consideration. These are some of the benefits you can expect when working with a dedicated team:
• Expertise
Knowing precisely how to approach a software development solution is half the battle. Dedicated development teams are experienced not only in creating tailored solutions but also in troubleshooting. This means that your digital needs can be met with skill, and fewer issues will be encountered along the way.
In addition, a dedicated team will be able to advise you clearly on the viability of your project, the ways to bring it to fruition, and timeframes, saving you from the trial-and-error hassle.
• Adaptability
Perhaps your business already has digital assets and is seeking an update. While your in-house team may be able to maintain the current system, it will be a challenge to update it to meet the latest standards and trends.
This is because the world of technology is rapidly advancing, and it’s likely your current systems have built up some issues and technical debt along the way. Dedicated specialists know how to take on the issues and solve them through code refactoring and redesign, or even proposing a workable alternative altogether.
• Cost-effectiveness
Hiring in-house specialists can be a cost-intensive process. Consider the finances needed for hiring, onboarding, salaries, benefits, and insurance. Additionally, to meet your project’s needs, you may not be talking about just hiring one person but a few. Conversely, a dedicated team located on your tech partner’s premises allows you to focus your finances solely on what matters—the results.
• Flexibility
Dedicated teams provide assistance when and as you need it. Very often, they will be able to address even the most challenging of issues with their cross-disciplinary expertise and access to rare talents in the field. Additionally, as soon as their services are no longer required, you will be able to disengage in these services providing it’s in line with your initial contractual terms.
• Collaboration
Although we said it’s a choice between in-house and outsourcing, it doesn’t have to be. If appropriate, dedicated development teams can integrate themselves into your current staffing and internal processes seamlessly to deliver results by cooperating and working with your existing team. In addition, they may also be able to deliver tailored training to your staff in order to perform essential maintenance tasks on the software or product at the end of the contract.
Challenges of Working with Dedicated Teams
Although engaging a dedicated development team may seem like a perfect, problem-free solution, it does come with its own unique set of challenges that need to be overcome for success.
• Finding the right provider
With thousands of providers out there, selecting the right dedicated development team can be a challenge. So, how do you narrow down the selection? Begin by understanding the basics of what you need—a website, a mobile application, or a custom piece of enterprise software? Search for providers who tick the right box and whittle down the selection through verified public reviews or references from past clients.
Once you have a couple to choose between, get talking. Who knows most about what you need and your business? Who provided the most competitive quote? Which provider did you believe was the best fit as a partner for your business? All this is vital when deciding on the right team to undertake your project.
• Communication
Having a remote team can be challenging, especially if you’ve never worked with one before. It’s an adjustment to have to write an email, send a message or schedule a call when you’re used to walking into the next room for a quick chat. In addition, perhaps you’ve had the experience that your past providers weren’t communicative, leading to mishandling of tasks and missed deadlines.
While all this is a real risk of hiring a dedicated development team, taking preventive measures in advance raises your chances of success. For this, put in place a communication strategy with a reporting schedule and have a range of contacts on the partner’s side just in case something doesn’t go to plan. This way, you’ll be able to keep in touch when you need to.
On the other hand, ensuring you are available when your team needs your feedback is equally important. Be sure to include feedback turnaround times in your project plan, so your team knows when to expect changes and when to push forward.
• Time zone issues
In the twenty-first century, we have wider access to the worldwide market; this means you are free to choose the perfect development team that meets your needs from almost anywhere in the world. The challenge is, there is no single universal time zone, so that might mean you work while your remote team sleeps and vice versa, or you may only have a few hours of time overlap per day.
For project success, some adjustments need to be made on both sides to allow constructive communication at the time suitable for everyone. You may also want to take account of and plan for gaps in messaging time and replies. Knowing about them in advance helps you work them into your project plan and avoid delays.
In-house vs. Outsource— Round-Up
Deciding whether to outsource or keep in-house is never a simple decision, and your choice will depend on a number of vital factors, such as cost efficiency, skills, available time, and the scope of the project. In order to make the right decision for your business, examine the factors above in line with your business objectives. This should give you a deeper understanding of your next steps and provide you with the basis for choosing the best-matching dedicated development provider.
Top comments (0)