Altabel Group's Blog

Do Dedicated dev teams suit Start-Ups?

Outsourcing of the part of work was thought to be the preserve of large multinationals. But not any longer. In fact even fledgling Start-Ups can benefit from outsourcing aspects of their business to a third party and it may be even more appealing due to the specifics of the stage and size that the start-up is currently in.

How to decide?

Few businesses are not reluctant to let any work leave the office in the beginning, being like control freaks. But what is soon realized is that behaving that way is actually taking time and competitive advantage away from business. The reasons for outsourcing for IT companies are multiple: to avoid random hire when inquiries are urgent, to show up a high quality level when the skills required are too specific or non-core, to provide a fuller range of services to loyal and long-term customers, to be lean and cut off some expenditures that crowd the company’s balance sheet, to stay internally focused on core functions like business and strategy development and communication with customers.

Where to draw the line?

Definitely, the key areas of control should be retained in-house to protect brand image or intellectual property and to keep up-to-strategy and quickly adoptive communication with customers, but as for software development outsourcing, with careful planning and management and good communication not only non-core aspects but virtually any development aspect can be sourced out.

Where to look for talents?

At the end of the day, that’s people who really matter. Nowadays using LinkedIn or other portals specific to your industry can indeed help you find proper people. Have you recently paid attention how many companies are now emphasize their company profiles in social networks, not web-sites? Probably the best talents are hanging around somewhere here too. Also tap into your network for word of mouth, or when contacting a potential outsourcing vendor ask for references, from your geo-region as well.

What to pay attention to while selecting team members?

To assess technical expertise ask for previous work examples, usually described in CV, run an interview with candidates and test-drive them with some quick test tasks. Also it makes sense to have a short trial period, of a reasonable time and paid one still with a possibility of quick cutting off of team member(s) if you’re not happy with them. As for communication skills, it encompasses broader than just level of English; enthusiasm and desire to express and explain the point are of important matter as well.

How to start working with a Dedicated Dev Team?

Start out small and build up gradually according to a pre-agreed schedule. This is mutually beneficial: you will have some time to feel the team’s work speed and abilities and pivot with team size and composition accordingly; at the same time you will also see how your internal project manager manages to distribute tasks to a remote team, if in the full volume necessary and on time. Also organizing a video conf-call with the team members is an efficient team-building step, and it is good to have such one in the beginning as a kick-off meeting as well throughout the cooperation.

Is strong management by the customer a must-have?

In order to keep your project lean and effective, be in regular communication and manage progress closely so you set specific goals and expectations along with realistic deadlines and get regular updates from the team. Decide on a point person to manage the work if you don’t cope with this yourself. Also you should absolutely provide feedback, whatsoever positive or negative, to your team, including but not limited to their work results and updates to the project/product strategy.

If an inquiry doesn’t look like to fit a standard dedicated development team (DDT) concept?

Not so long ago DDT model was considered a long-term, continuous, stiff cooperation approach. Still we are no longer in the era of neither large system projects prevalence nor large companies domination. Today’s reality dictates new standards for cooperation approaches. And outsourcing is adapting to newly arising demand specifics as well.

For instance, your request for DDT set up may be for a mixed team in terms of techs; or for combination of a dedicated core team and floating resources on a project need basis; or for permanent key team and highly specialized expert on a timely basis to resolve highly specific issues; or one-project-purpose DDT when dealing under fixed-price approach for the project is inconvenient. Also DDT can be formed quickly, even within 1-2 weeks, and can be or start as small as 1-3 team members. All these cooperation possibilities may be highly interesting for Start-ups.

And what’s your point about the potential of dedicated teams outsourcing for Start-up companies?

Kind regards,
Helen Boyarchuk – Business Development Manager (LI page)
Helen.Boyarchuk@altabel.com | Skype ID: helen_boyarchuk
Altabel Group – Professional Software Development