Today, a detailed specification is not enough to produce a competitive product.
The preparation process itself may take up to three months. The development stage takes even more than that. The time frames for projects are tight, and there is hardly an extra minute to spare. Searching for employees and monitoring the development takes a lot from the schedule.
Besides, the development process requires close contact of the coders with managers, marketers, business analysts, as well as constant feedback from users. With an eye on this, classic outsourcing models turn ineffective. This fact forces both customers and developers to look for a new form of cooperation.
What Is DTM?
The dedicated team model (DTM) is a project management pattern. It is quite popular in outsourcing and software development. Along with fixed price (FP) and time & material (T&M), a dedicated team is a form of relationship between a service provider and its customer.
Besides the deep involvement typical for this model, it offers transparency of the process, control over the progress, and quick scale-up.
We call the team dedicated when the customer gets several team members at once, not one person.
When employing a dedicated development team, startups get a well-coordinated autonomous being. Such groups would stay on the project even if something goes awry. Hiring a dedicated development team with extensive experience will give better results than engaging people separately. It allows you to grow and gain a competitive advantage.
Who Needs This Service?
An outsourced dedicated software development team may be needed by the product owner (PO), technical director in conditions when flexibility in setting tasks and quick results are essential.
- PO needs to form or expand a development group within a limited time.
- One person handles many projects at once.
- There is an urge to reduce technical debt and no chance to put development on pause.
- The existing group of coders does not cope, and its dismissal will create even greater difficulties.
- The number of employees grows; yet, the number of releases does not.
- The volume of development tasks takes more than 13 000 m/hr.
Companies and startups with similar issues can benefit if they hire a dedicated development team.Â
Main Advantages of DTM
Better Communication
DTM creates conditions for communications at the level of managers on the part of the customer and developer. This allows them to work out issues requiring deep technical expertise at a higher rate of information exchange. Besides, this model helps avoid the loss of valuable information while transferring it from the customer to the developers.
Working on a certain project, the dedicated team gathers data and expertise that increases its overall qualification. One of the most valuable benefits of DTM is the resulting growth in highly skilled developers.
This model better suits the companies that do not provide a guaranteed workload for several people for a certain time. Using other models, companies may face troubles and loss of income.
- There are force majeure situations when contracts expire before the appointed time or the load gets reduced sharply.
- There is a risk of complex communication in the group.
Companies that have successfully implemented DTM
- allocate resources between projects without tearing project groups apart;
- distribute resources on the project, taking into account the scope of the task, priority in terms of time, and the exact number of people in the development team.
Financial Stability and Transparency
Projects working with DTs get stable figures in the budgetary report every month.
In the T&M model, the payment amount can vary depending on how much a specialist has developed in a month. Some customers do not want to pay for research, breaks, and time off. So, they set a tracker that counts only the time the programmer spends on the task. The result is a torn-apart invoice from one month to another. Such invoices mean that there is no stability in the payment amount and expenses.
DTs exclude the chance for miscommunication between developers and customers in terms of money. Other models imply that there are official payment rates included in the quotation, while the client knows nothing about the actual value of each developer. Hypothetically, this way, outsourcing companies can earn more. At the same time, more clients prefer establishing commitments and sharing risks.
Thus, dedicated team development within the project could be a perfect choice to cut extra expenses. It helps avoid overpayments in the product creation process.
Easy Scale-up
Ease of scaling-up concerns both the coding specialists and the project in general. From the very beginning, the customer decides how many people they need for software development. Customers can add members and reduce or increase the team. If the startup expands, it is easier to scale it up using a DTM model as it helps shorten the time for hiring new specialists.
Besides, any company can have a dedicated development team for hire at any time if the projected growth is unpredictable or too fast.
Suitability for Complex Long-Term Projects
This model is the best choice for projects that cannot be thought through to the end. For example, agile projects often change impromptu, which results in teams’ growth. The dedicated team model is flexible. It can adapt to any changes in the development process or work on software without a precise technical task.
If the project lasts for more than one year, the DTs gather enough experience to do the job faster than the groups of programmers that come and go.
Control Over the Development Process
The customer participates in hiring IT specialists and manages the development process at all stages. Yet, they do not have to look through tons of resumes and offers. There will be no sketchy data from several subcontractors.
The developers and PMs provide regular reports on the completed tasks along the way. If necessary, the customer can entrust all the work on the project to an outsourcing company that provides a dedicated team.
High Reliability
The flexibility of the model secures higher dependability, transparency, and 100% payback of the hired team. Experience shows that DTs are proactive and offer more efficient and innovative solutions.
The team members need to show a high level of personal reliability and excellent teamwork before entering the project. Thus, these programmers test their ability to work as a group before working for the client. Such a test guarantees no miscommunication and lowers stress levels for the group members.
The DT focuses on one task at a time. The coders never shift their attention to side work or extra tasks. The customer’s project receives full attention and dedication.
Do Not Hesitate to Try DTM
If in doubt whether to hire a dedicated development team, remember that you are investing in the future.
The success of a software development project is linked to the capacity of the technical team. Depending on the project’s scale, goals, features, and financial capabilities, the company chooses the most convenient model of interaction with the IT contractor.
As said above, DTM is great for large, long-term projects where conditions change frequently. This model is flexible enough. It adapts to the changing scope of work, new tasks, or shifts in costs and resources.