How To

As a global trend, outsourced software development holds a market size of $92.5 billion, and a significant chunk of it is occupied by offshore software development. Market analysts say that as many as 94% of the IT companies, including startups and long-established enterprises, outsource one or another part of their business to offshore dedicated development teams.

Why?

To cut operational costs, or at least that's the reason for 59% of these companies. But that's not it. Outsourcing or offshore development offers splendid benefits like improved process efficiency and access to a larger talent pool. 

The point being, if you're not investing in building a project-based software development team, you're missing big. 

And for others planning to do so, the real question is how to build your own offshore development team for software outsourcing effectively. Well, the key to offshoring success lies in bringing together a team of skillful and on-demand individual developers that support your unique business model. The process of designing, developing, and testing is well suited for offshore outsourcing initiatives when you hire a dedicated development team. And we can help you achieve this feat.

Here, we share best practices to build an offshore dedicated development team from experts who run successful software outsourcing businesses. We cover all aspects of managing a remote development team and accelerate deliverability and business growth together. 

But first, why do you need to hire a remote dedicated development team? 

Agile methodology is extensively used in the IT ecosystem, and you might find several interpretations of it on the internet. For some, agility is about hiring an in-house team of developers to get projects done on time and within budget. For others, it's about getting hiring on-demand individual developers remotely and making it work. Truth being- several business owners, contemplate whether they will receive the same level of dedication and zeal if they hire offshore software developers to the US and Europe. 

Although the benefits of hiring an offshore dedicated development team are apparent, they're not quite popular and well-heard in the outsourcing department. So, let's have a look at what makes hiring an offshore project-based software development team worth your time.

 1. Cost Efficiency : 

Businesses are constantly trying approaches and solutions that can reduce running operational costs. And that is what you achieve when you build your own offshore development team. Lower labor costs, access to specialized technology, and round-the-clock assistance are added perks.

2. Access to a large talent pool :

The offshore development model opens a new market brimming with new talent and workforce potential. Outsourcing connects you with talented professionals with best-in-class skills and expertise operating from different corners of the world and optimizing your tech stack capabilities. 

3. Strategic partnership :

The offshore dedicated development team you hire will comprise professionals accustomed to the problem statement. It means they will be able to take suggestions, comments and readjust their priorities to suit your business needs. As long as you provide your on-demand individual developers with details, they can innovate it like you want them to. This imbibes a culture of partnership and effective collaboration between their experience and your expertise. Brainstorming sessions foster excellent communication and lead to record-breaking ideas. Moreover, even with this strategic partnership, you get to maintain a unique fingerprint of your company, even when the product is developed from scratch by external offshore developers. 

4. Reliable infrastructure :

Setting up a scalable IT department with machines and innovative tools to design, develop, test, and deploy complex applications and software products is a magnanimous investment, which most start-ups and mid-sized companies cannot support. So, when you hire a dedicated development team, you don't have to worry about the infrastructure costs of a fully operational center. It means you ensure that your software solutions, irrespective of their complexity, are developed by the most skilled professionals employing cutting-edge tools and without any elaborate investment. 

5. Continuous innovation :

The advantage of hiring a talented and skilled offshore dedicated development team is that it leads to a culture of constant innovation. The team you hire excels with the technology and ensures that they deliver the best-in-class and unmatched software solution or product. 

6. Focus on core business :

The primary objective of hiring an offshore project-based software development team is to achieve agility and business transformation. You maintain a smaller and agile workforce that focuses on core business capabilities and competencies by outsourcing their tech requirement. It makes an offshore dedicated development team an extension of your on-premises staff. So, hiring offshore software developers to the US and Europe for one-time or seasonal tasks increases process efficiency for new rollouts, tech migrations, and other agile business operations.

7. Opportunity for new Incentives and projects :

To stay competent and at pace with the evolving IT industry, you need to look for new opportunities that strengthen your stand in the market. And maintain an edge over the competition. By leveraging the outsourcing prospect to build your own offshore development team, you connect with different professionals rendering custom web and mobile development, testing & QA, professional designing, big data analytics, remote hosting services, data backup & migration, and product engineering services. It means you can now look for projects and opportunities that you couldn't before because of the limited professional excellence. All such efforts work in your favour and help with business expansion goals. 

8. No need for full-time employees :

Getting new employees on board isn't just a payroll addition; it also means you will have to expend your IT resources, infrastructure, medical insurance costs, training & onboarding, and other legal expenses. Thanks to the remote nature of offshore dedicated development teams, you can eliminate these costs without compromising on the quality of solutions rendered or products produced. You don't have to handpick employees, a tedious yet significant process. All you must do is describe the work you want them to do and the type of project and immediately provide them with a team of experts.

What is the ideal team size and different types of remote dedicated development teams?

A typical project-based software development team consists of 5-7 people, consisting of Software Engineers, QA Engineers, Project Manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Team Lead, Chief Architect, Business Analyst, and UI/UX designer. The size of the team depends on the project details and the scope, challenges, and solutions to be designed and developed. Of course, there can be extra team members to help you hustle the development project. That said, there are three different types of remote dedicated development teams:

Project-based offshore development team :

Enterprises outsource development projects to the offshore dedicated development team. On the contrary, the outsourced team carries out the project requirements from scratch, from design to development, testing, and deployment. Once this is a seasonal requirement, the on-demand individual developers can go back to developing other tasks. 

Complete remote dedicated development team :

When you outsource the complete development requirements of your business to offshore dedicated development teams, it includes designing, developing, testing, deployment, maintenance, and support processes. Since this is not based on seasonal projects or tasks instead of on an ongoing one, it ensures a long-term fruitful relationship between the enterprise and the vendor. 

Individual offshore developers  :

In this case, you hire on-demand individual developers to handle your software development projects. These individual developers can be located anywhere and might work individually or along with a team, depending on their experience and expertise. Depending on how well individual offshore developers fulfill your business goals, it can be either a seasonal or an ongoing task.

Questions must ask to make a successful technology outsourcing partnership:

Outsourcing your development needs to an offshore dedicated development team, undoubtedly, can increase business growth and profit margins. An outsourced team frees up your IT team to focus on innovation and internal initiatives while other routines or daily needs are being met and managed by a third party. 

However, this only works if you hire dedicated development team that can meet your demands and aligns their approach with your organization. And if you don't have a reliable project-based software development team, you'll end up spending more time than you save and create double work for your IT department.

So, how do you hire or build your own offshore development team? Here are some questions you can start with:

What previous work experience on the equivalent projects ? 

Every software development project is different. And it is quite possible that your outsourced partner might have no experience designing and developing a software product or solution you're looking for. Therefore, request your offshore dedicated development teams to help you list their past and current clients and if they have implemented a similar solution for them. 

Ask them for a comprehensive explanation of how they started, ran, and executed the project and how they ensure the solution's regular maintenance. Analyze whether their experience and expertise are going to help your project and its successful execution. The goal is to find a partner who understands the challenges associated with your genre and assists you with your desired solutions. 

What are their process and project management methodology? 

A project-based software development team must be prepared to take on future challenges. Ask them about their development process methodology (it must include project planning, requirement gathering, software designing, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance) and how they can help you accomplish your business goals. Figure out how your day-to-day functions will be handled, and you will communicate about the same. Ask the vendor if you can connect with the account manager and other employees working on the project in the future. 

How much does the hourly charge, and is there any hidden cost? 

Before the project's onset, be sure to ask the price you're paying and if there are any hidden prices. Also, ask if helpdesk support services will be charged differently. Ask the vendor if the prices will change over time as it scales up and down. Inquire about the expected price breaks or waived penalties. Request for an overall pricing picture, weigh the final pricing structure against the total cost of ownership. 

How do you build your own offshore development team formation and judge their expertise? 

 Ask them about the team structure and what positions do they acquire. An ideal offshore development dedicated team must consist of Software Engineers, QA Engineers, Project Manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Team Lead, Chief Architect, Business Analyst, and UI/UX designer. Inquire them about their team formation procedure and the expertise of all these team members involved in this project. Ask about their competencies, talents, expertise, and abilities to possess detailed information. 

What will happen after the project is completed? 

 If you are connecting with a vendor for seasonal requirements, then you need to ask about maintenance and support of the rendered software solution. However, on an ongoing project, ask them about migration plans, software updates, and other maintenance tasks. 

Final Thoughts

Selecting an offshore dedicated development team can be a tedious task, however, an imperative one. It is why you need to place your trust in a project-based software development team that helps you increase organizational efficiency and drive productivity. At Triazine, we've helped several startups, mid-sized and established enterprises to build your own offshore development team and launch impeccable software solutions in the market. Our in-house experts understand the task, gather required information, and help you surpass your competitors.