Software development outsourcing: Top benefits of dedicated teams

According to Statista, the European IT outsourcing market was worth a whopping 103,9 billion dollars in 2021. And it will continue to grow in years to come.

Its popularity isn’t just due to the low costs. There are different types of outsourcing for different kinds of mobile app development.

One of them is the dedicated team model. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through the top benefits of this outsourcing model. 

But first, let’s define it.

What is a dedicated team model?

A dedicated team model is a team of experts who work full-time remotely for one client and one project. That means they’re completely dedicated to completing the project successfully.

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The outsourcing partner provides not only the team but also equipment and other necessary resources for the project.

However, the client has to know all the requirements for the project, such as:

• Number of people in the team
• Which skills should they have
• Other important information about the project (scope, deadlines, etc.)

A flexible pricing model

Since dedicated teams deal with longer and more complicated projects, the most common pricing model is time and material. 

This model is great because you don’t have the same expenses you’d have with an in-house team.

However, the fees depend on:

• The project scope
• Duration 
• The number of experts in your team. 

You’ll be in the loop regularly, through daily meetings where you’ll see and evaluate what the team did. So you’ll know exactly what you’re paying for. 

Try comparing the efforts you get from potential vendors, not just the cost. 

Effort = duration x no. of people engaged and is expressed in Engineering Months/Weeks/Days. 

Let’s say. 5 experts work for 6 months, that’s 30 engineering months of effort. That is the figure you should be comparing, not just the cost. 

The cost then should more-less directly relate to the efforts, so if someone charges 30 USD/hr or 90 USD/hr makes the difference. 

That means there’s no fear of overhead costs.

Find out more about how to evaluate software vendors.

Now that we covered the basics, let’s move on to the benefits.

You save time and money

Let’s start with the most important benefit. 

Outsourcing is budget-friendly, especially if you work with dev teams from Europe. 

source: BusinessOfApps

The same goes for the dedicated team model. This is even better because you have a focused team that will cost less than your average in-house employee.

Just for comparison, the cost of hiring an in-house developer in the USA is $71,508.

This doesn’t include additional costs, so the full cost is much higher.

These additional costs include:

• Health insurance
• Benefits
• Perks
• Office supplies and equipment
• Taxes
• Recruitment costs

When working with dedicated teams, you don’t need to worry about all that.

You can direct the resources you spare to other aspects of your business, like finance, administration, or even other app development projects. 

Dedicated teams are more reliable and easier to manage than freelancers, too. 

Just look at this comparison:

source: ALLSTARTSIT

You’ll also save time because the team doesn’t have to go through the training process. 

What’s more, the dedicated team can start immediately (from 1 to 5 days) instead of waiting for weeks for the project to start. After all, they are established professionals and they’re masters of their trade.

On the other hand, when hiring in-house employees – their recruiting and hiring process is almost 2 months long.

Imagine your employee quits. The whole hiring process starts all over. 

But, in the dedicated team model, you don’t have to go through it.  Your outsourcing partner will hire a new addition. As shown in the table above, the hiring process for dedicated teams is just 1 to 10 days long. 

All of this means that when hiring dedicated teams the risk of failure is low but the project quality will be exceptional.

You gain access to niche professionals 

One of the most important benefits of hiring a dedicated team is that you can get an entire team of experts suited for your project needs. 

For example, your company has only web developers. But you plan to build a fintech mobile app. So you need mobile app developers ASAP.  They’re very sought after, but there’s not enough of them on the regular market.

But when you outsource, you gain access to a bigger talent pool. 

When you adjust your outsourced team members and their tasks to the specifics of your app, the whole process will run smoothly and the result will be a quality product. 

They have established professionals and they’re masters of their trade.

That will be an additional guarantee of their expertise.  

With a highly-skilled team, your mobile app can be of the best quality.

But, what kind of professionals can you have in your dedicated team?

Let’s take a look at the structure of a dedicated team.

The structure of a dedicated team

The number and expertise of the team will depend on your project requirements, budget and other parameters. 

However, it would be best if the structure of a dedicated team always stays the same.

Here’s what experts you should make part of your app project:

• Business analysts
• Project managers
• UX/UI designers
• Mobile developers
• QA engineers
• Fullstack engineers
• DevOps engineers

The first four experts are the core of your project, especially during the discovery phase or when building a MVP.  

Let’s say you want to build a fintech MVP. Your outsourcing vendor would provide you with a business analyst, project manager, UX designer and 2-3 fintech mobile developers for approximately 3 months. 

source: Business Model Analyst

QAs and DevOps engineers can be added to the team if your project is robust, with lots of requirements that you can’t manage by yourself.

This leads us to another benefit of hiring dedicated teams for your project.

You get quick development cycles and better collaboration 

One of the key elements of mobile app success is that dedicated teams follow Agile methodology. In this model, there’s ongoing communication between the development team and the client or product owner.

If there’s a need for changes, they’re submitted immediately, not at the end of the project.

Also when there’s constant communication on both sides, there’s less chance for a misunderstanding that can lead to a delay in the project.

The biggest benefit is that you (the client) are included in the project all the way. 

This makes the development process faster, more efficient, and ultimately more profitable.

So it’s no wonder 71% of U.S. companies use Agile.

The combination of Agile and dedicated teams is a recipe for success. 

But what about your core team? They also gain a lot of benefits.
More about that in the next section.

You get a focused team

Focus is a great advantage of dedicated teams instead of outsourcing it to a regular software vendor. 

For example, if you outsource your mobile app project to a standard outsourcing company with a fixed price model, their developers will work on multiple projects at the same time.

The danger with multitasking is that people do a lot of context switching. This can lead to:

• knowledge gaps
• communication difficulties
• missed deadlines
• bad mobile app quality

Research also backs this up. A Qatalog and Cornell University’s Idea Lab showed that 45% of people say context-switching makes them less productive.

Contrary, a dedicated team is working for you and you only. 

What do you get if your team is focused only on you

• They have a deeper understanding of your needs
• They have a sense of responsibility 
• They’re more motivated to succeed 
• They can deliver a high-quality product on time
• They’re more likely to find innovative solutions 

Focus is not only good for dedicated teams, but for your entire business.

Just think about it – the most successful brands are focused on one thing:

Tinder – focused on dating.
Sofascore – focused on sport results.
Revolut – focused on money.

Can you imagine that a developer in Revolut could resolve tinder problems? 

Probably not. Someone focused only on fintech wouldn’t understand the intricacies of a dating app and vice versa. 

But focus doesn’t mean inflexibility. This brings us to the last important benefit.

The team is flexible

As you develop your mobile app, requirements and priorities can change. 
Sometimes that means an addition to the team is the next step.

Let’s say you need a React Native developer because you’ve decided you want to build both an Android and iOS app.

No sweat. Depending on your requirements, your outsourcing partner can find the expert and add them to the existing team. 

Sometimes it’s not about the developer. This model also makes it easier to do changes to your project’s scope or deadline.

Since the team is in constant contact with you, these changes won’t get them running around in panic. The changes will go in line with the project’s progress.

Also, as mentioned earlier, dedicated teams are composed of different experts, which you can use as needed, and that makes running the project more flexible.

The easier it is to adapt your team to project changes, the development will run smoothly and be more successful.

Now let’s look at situations when a dedicated team will come in handy for your project.

When to hire a dedicated team?

Now that we listed the most important benefits, let’s see in which cases you should consider using a dedicated team.

When your business is growing

The growth of a company is a very exciting and important milestone. But with growth come more responsibilities. One of them is hiring new employees. 

This is a nerve-wracking, expensive and long process. However, you spare not only time but also money by outsourcing some of your projects to a dedicated team. 

When your budget is low

With a low budget, it’s hard to maintain a large in-house team. So the best solution is to outsource. They have the skill sets you need but you won’t spend as much money as you would on an in-house team. 

When you have a long term project

Another situation that calls for a dedicated team of IT experts is when you have a long-term project. These kinds of projects mostly need lots of maintenance and updating and someone who will keep track of everything for a longer period of time. 

With a dedicated team, the quality of your project stays consistent. 

When quality is a priority

Speaking about quality, a team completely dedicated to your project will naturally deliver quality results.

If your project is too complicated to be handed to a freelancer, or it requires specific skill sets you’ll only get from someone outside of your team, hire a dedicated team.

Only a top-notch mobile app can survive in the market.

Conclusion

It’s a great feeling to have someone who is completely focused on your project.
The best people for that job are experts in a so-called dedicated team.

The benefits are numerous, including:

• You save time and money
• You gain access to niche professionals
• You get quick development cycles and better collaboration
• You get a focused team
• The team is flexible

So, if you are looking for a team that can bring out the best in your mobile app, let’s talk!