Many different outsourcing models are tailored to suit different business models according to their scale, budget, and activities. One of the most efficient methods of outsourcing is the dedicated team model.
We’re here to discuss everything about the dedicated team model so you can make the most of this popular outsourcing model.
What is The Dedicated Team Model?
A dedicated team is a long-term partnership model where a dedicated team vendor offers you a team that will cooperate with you full-time. The team resembles in-house employees and will act accordingly.
While they work like regular employees, a dedicated team saves you the trouble of dealing with additional administrative, HR, and tax-related activities.
Members of A Dedicated Team
Though the team structure entirely depends on your business, the team generally consists of
- Front-end and back-end, full-stack engineers, mobile developers
- UX/UI designers
- DevOps engineers
- Quality assurance specialists
- Business analysts
- Product managers
- Project managers
When Should You Leverage The Dedicated Team Model?
1. Your Startup Is At An Early Stage
A dedicated team model is a great choice if your startup is at an early stage and you expect to grow more. Early startups always have a limited budget, and traditional hiring can be more than enough to break the bank.
With the dedicated team model, you get a full team by your side within a shorter time without additional expenses and hassle.
2. Your Project Requirements Are Not Clear
Sometimes, your product may not have a clear product goal, or you still haven’t found the right product-market fit. While research and testing can lay the foundations of your project, it can take months to reach a final decision.
You can speed up the discovery process with a dedicated team while cutting additional expenses.
3. It’s A Long Term Project
The dedicated team model works best with long-term projects; it’s a perfect solution if you have a long-term project. Startups who want to grow fast can benefit from a professional team with pre-existing expertise assisting them after the pre-seed stage.
When you have a dedicated team with you from an early stage of the project, you can scale your product much faster with additional expertise each team member can bring in.
4. Your Project Requires Higher Flexibility
Project ideas and development plans can change frequently, and team members must adapt to the ever-changing scenario. A dedicated team can offer you the flexibility to adapt to different situations during the software development life cycle.
5. You Wish To Have More Personal Control Over The Project
No product manager wants to stay in the dark about the development progress of their project or product. With a dedicated team, you can establish complete transparency between you and the team and have more governance and control over the project.
5 Benefits of Dedicated Teams
1. The Project Can Be Completed Within Lower Costs
The dedicated team model is cost-efficient and can help you onboard full-time professional employees without spending extra. This, for starters, saves you a ton of money in terms of hiring a full-time employee the traditional way.
Plus, with a dedicated team, you’re cutting down additional development time, saving more on development resources, and achieving a faster time-to-market.
2. The Management Is Straightforward
One of the biggest problems in outsourcing is the lack of transparency regarding team management. The dedicated team model solves this issue by streamlining the management process and giving you complete control over the project.
Planning and implementing changes based on user feedback becomes more efficient when you have more control over the project.
3. The Project Scaling And Adaptability Is Highly Flexible
A dedicated team always follows a highly flexible work model, which allows the development team to adapt to the ever-changing market and its demands. The project scaling also becomes much easier.
4. The Partnership Is Long-Term
If you get a team you can synchronize with perfectly, there’s no need to oversee additional projects. You can continue a long-term partnership with the same team to work on your project for longer.
5. The Collaboration is Close-Fitting
When working with freelancers, close-fitting collaboration isn’t the first thing that comes to anyone’s mind. But with a dedicated team, it’s easier to maintain close collaboration since they act as full-time employees and collaborate directly with you, the product owner, and other internal teams.
When Should You Avoid The Dedicated Team Model?
1. The Projects Are Very Short
You don’t need to hire a dedicated team when the goals are clearly defined and the project is short. A fixed price model is the most effective solution for short projects, while the Time and material model is perfect for medium-scoped projects.
2. You Are Short On Both Time And Money
When you’re short on time, hiring a dedicated team and completing the project as fast as possible may seem like a great idea. But in some cases, you don’t need a full-time developer, so spending money on a full-time team isn’t a viable method.
3. Your Project Scope Has Already Been Defined
When you’ve already defined the project scope, the plan of execution becomes very strict. In that case, hiring a dedicated team isn’t the best choice.
Challenges of Having Dedicated Teams
1. Communication Problems May Arise
Dedicated teams are usually consisting of diverse professionals from around the world. Each part of the world has unique cultural and linguistic differences that can create communication barriers between team members.
It’s not just communication, too. Different time zones can create communication issues because of different work hours, which delays change implementation.
2. Company Culture May Not Match With The Team
Different countries have different office cultures, and hiring a professional individual from a different country can result in a possible company culture mismatch.
Back when remote work wasn’t a thing, this wasn’t an issue. But now, this has become a pivot of international business relations.
3. Not The Best Method For Short Term Projects
While a dedicated team can boost even a short-term project, not all the benefits of the dedicated team model start unfolding immediately.
Gaining ground takes time; you don’t have additional time to spare when you’re working on a short project. This is why dedicated teams are not a viable choice for short-term projects.
4. The Onboarding Process Is Quite Tough
When working with more sophisticated projects, you need professionals with top-of-the-line skillsets to take your project to the next level. For such a high-profile onboarding, you must be directly involved with the entire process.
5. Fixing A Budget Can Be Tough
There’s no fixed prediction for a budget when you’re onboarding a dedicated team. The unpredictable nature of a dedicated team budget makes it unsuitable for startup businesses with a shorter budget.
To Wrap It All Up
The dedicated team model is one of the most utilized methods in the current industry by businesses of different scales, and you can do it too. Don’t know of a resourceful and trusty agency to partner with? Impala Intech is here to assist you 24/7.
FAQs
While it might have a higher upfront cost, the efficiency, flexibility, and reduced risks often make it cost-effective in the long run.
Many dedicated teams offer round-the-clock support or have members in different time zones to cover such requirements.
In some cases, transitioning between models is possible, but effectively planning and communicating such changes is important.
You can conclude the engagement by ensuring all pending tasks are completed and proper handover and documentation are in place.
This model works well for distributed projects, allowing collaboration across different locations.
