In short, team extension means bringing more members into your existing team. It can cover the higher demand for skilled individuals. According to Statista 2022 research, about 19% of developers have spent less than a year coding, which means they need more time to complete tasks. This may also include seeking a third-party opinion on the project objectives.
A typical software development team comprises a product owner, business analyst, engineers, QA specialists, UI/UX designers, etc. However, if you want to increase the team’s output quickly and cut onboarding and training costs, you’ll need more experienced employees who can work with little or no supervision.
In this post, Devox Software shares the secrets to a successful team extension and IT staff augmentation. Our clients get more than quality code: they reach higher levels of customer satisfaction through outstanding product quality. Learn about the role of the team integration process and how it may impact your day-to-day operations.
Types of Cooperation Models
Team extension is just the tip of the iceberg: it opens the way to more complicated corporate relationships.
To explore the company’s potential, don’t limit yourself to software outsourcing as the only solution. There are at least three options for distributing the workload between the in-house teams and an outsourcing vendor.
Extended team
With this model, businesses integrate top specialists into their in-house teams. It allows access to a global talent pool, as additional members can join remotely.
Managed team
It is an intermediate option between the extended and outsourced options. This approach allows the extended software development team to work in-house. Yet, they stay under the supervision of an outsourced project manager. The latter then ensures that project results align with the requirements.
Outsourced team
The most traditional, but least hands-on, option. You may send project specifications to remote employees, who will complete tasks and return a product by the agreed time.
To take the company to the next level, the leaders should upgrade their teams with new specialists. Everyone can choose a different strategy to drive great results. Below is a practical example of how cooperation models fit into different project stages.
Defining Team Extension Model
A software development team extension means recruiting developers with the right culture fit and expertise to contribute to a project.
The idea behind a software team extension is to give tech specialists more opportunities to advance their careers. It also ensures seamless integration between departments.
The team extension model is a part of staff augmentation: it reinforces teams with skilled development staff. An extended software development team is a great choice for small and medium-sized businesses, helping to address resource-intensive tasks.
With team extension, you can:
- Hire top-notch specialists from all over the world
- Pick up a strategy that aligns with your expectations
- Expand your team’s technical capacity
- Save time on recruitment practices, focusing on business goals instead.
Devox Software’s brand promise is to help our clients digitally transform their businesses. We can choose the right IT staff augmentation model to meet your business needs. Our company provides ready-to-go teams for urgent tasks. We can take over management duties at any time.
How You Can Benefit from the Team Extension Model
Here’s the list of main benefits for owners who prefer a team extension model:
- Eliminating the skill and headcount gap
- Interacting with extended team members directly
- Improving the team’s productivity over a short time
- Avoiding hiring and onboarding costs
- Staying in control of the SDLC (software development lifecycle) process
With global digitalization, you can extend your software development team regardless of geographical borders. Skip tedious hiring procedures and invest in a long-term partnership with an outsourcing vendor to work with reliable talent.
When Should You Use the Team Extension Services
The right extended software development team completes the project on time and meets specific requirements. At Devox Software, we share the same passion for improving IT products and offer insight into when a team extension can save your business.
- Prolonged requirements: when you need a core engineering team for a task
- Shortage of expertise: when you lack talented employees, and the team’s productivity goes down
- Demand for a cloud team: when you need to work with cloud migration services
- Enhancement of tech outsourcing: when an extended team can support your business goals.
Team extension deals with the dynamic demand for developers in the business world. Startups and tech companies are actively hiring new developers with specific skills. Depending on your request, you may use this permanently or as a temporary outsourcing solution.
Devox Software can provide the extra force for an existing or upcoming project. We can support a smooth vendor transition and take over the project at any stage. Let us save you from IT recruitment hassles and give you direct access to a vast talent pool! You can participate in a screening process and get only top-notch specialists.
6 Methods to Grow Your Team
It’s always about a choice: expand your local team or outsource the project completely or partially. In the latter case, you give the work to an outsourcing firm, and the assigned vendor executes your project within a specific set of requirements.
Software development team extensions come in different forms. Like any corporate metric, it’s flexible and adaptable to your business model, whether your startup works in the beauty industry or is developing an educational app.
1. In-House Team
It’s hard to establish a middle ground between in-house hiring and outsourcing. An in-house team extension allows co-workers to communicate directly and makes it easier to manage the workflow.
Conversely, an extended software development team will complement a skill set while leaving the company’s organizational structure untouched. In-house hiring helps create a more positive corporate environment and promotes an atmosphere of collaboration.
2. Freelance Developers
Hiring freelancers is a great way to extend your software development team affordably without hurting efficiency. This model aligns with a cost-reducing principle: no need to worry about office space, utilities, or software licenses.
Freelance contractors typically use their own hardware and don’t depend on many external factors, including weather and public transportation. Freelancing is a mutual agreement between an employer and developer to complete a task together without additional obligations.
3. Outstaffing Company
Outstaffing is a peculiar type of team extension. Generally, it means hiring a new specialist to do the work for you while remaining an employee of an outstaffing company.
Outstaffing is an optimal solution if you don’t have much access to a global talent pool. You select a third-party company like Devox Software to screen and select top professionals.
The best thing about outstaffing is that you express your preferences for the extended software development team, and your outstaffing partner gets things done. Once approved, we handle onboarding and set up a communication flow.
4. IT Outsourcing
Outsourcing works well for startup founders who don’t want to dive into all the technical details. It can also benefit small businesses ready to try new ideas but unsure about their product strategy.
An outsourcing team extension model means the client entrusts the whole project to a third-party company. In this case, the company rarely has access to the development team: you just come to an outsourcing agency with an idea and a vision, and they complete the rest.
The main difference between outsourcing and outstaffing is how operations are handled. Outstaffing wins if you want to have a team at your disposal. In this case, your partner hires the developers and covers their wages, bonuses, and equipment. You, the client, manage the team and assign their tasks.
By contrast, outsourcing is best when you need to cover specific IT projects, such as building an app, speeding up the testing stage, etc. This type of software development team extension aims to meet short-term needs without specialists needing to understand the company’s vision deeply.
5. IT Staff Augmentation
While the outsourcing model provides only the final result, IT staff augmentation gives you control over operations. This hiring solution suits businesses of any size that need talent for short-term roles.
IT staff augmentation helps you keep up with the rapidly changing market. You can leverage the model if you need expert help urgently. With the top-notch professionals available at Devox Software, you won’t regret it!
We offer full support throughout the process (yes, you’ll get a personal account manager!), the option to permanently extend your IT department, and flexible project management. You can delegate the job to a part-time or full-time project manager or assign tasks yourself.
6. Dedicated Development Team
The last model resembles outsourcing and outstaffing in some way. The collaboration period is much longer, though: all dedicated team members work exclusively for your company, just like an in-house team.
By hiring a dedicated development team with Devox Software, you can fill gaps in your business goals. You also avoid regular employment matters like paperwork, taxation, and other HR issues.
So you kill two birds with one stone: you extend your existing team and avoid excessive bureaucracy around hiring, onboarding, and more.
Pros and Cons of Team Extension Approaches
An extended software development team is a big advantage for business owners looking to expand their expertise. But how can you navigate the swirling waters of IT recruitment? Take a look at the obvious benefits and challenges of various team extension approaches to find the best match:
If you’re looking to extend your software development team, think about the end goal you’re trying to achieve. If you’re developing a brand-new line of products, you may need to change the software, adapting it quickly to market needs. In this case, the earlier-mentioned team extension models will work great.
For more information on the available services, connect with Devox Software. We’ll define your project goals and help you find the best hiring model to boost productivity.
Contribution of Devox Software
Devox Software is a team of ambitious software development leaders. Our main goal is to scale up your organization by providing value-added solutions and services.
We can support client-led projects or take responsibility and supervise teams independently. Skip the hassle of managing an in-house team and enjoy the benefits while we handle the rest.
Before we get started, choose one of the options that align with your expectations:
- Fixed bid: provide us with clear project requirements and deadlines to complete a fixed-price project
- Time and material: for work that has a flexible timeframe and material count. We’ll adjust timing, ensuring your direct engagement in the process
- Dedicated team: find highly skilled developers and strengthen your corporate reputation. The dedicated team at Devox Software is about erasing borders on the way to true excellence
Devox Software is an international company operating in Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and other countries. We value our customers and aim to deliver the best quality of service in the IT market worldwide.
Talking About Team Integration
Team integration has been widely adopted to strengthen collaboration across organizations. It allows companies to expand their expertise and create a more competitive product.
Through years of experience, we can say a successful team integration depends on understanding the requirements of all stakeholders.
It consists of three core points:
- Leadership: executive leaders look for a reliable partner to improve their development processes.
- Management: product and project managers work on decisions to reach higher velocity and productivity among development teams
- Execution: team leads and developers execute tasks with varying levels of complexity.
For remote teams, integration is challenging when it comes to effective cooperation. American psychological researcher Bruce Tuckman has developed several stages for successful team integration:
- Forming: when team members don’t know much about the project and struggle to make connections
- Storming: active work on task demands, trying to express their individuality in the process
- Norming: an open exchange of views about the team’s problems and working on a common solution. At this stage, workers also collaborate on the project’s objective
- Performing: the final touch to a picture, when the team is fully ready to execute tasks, being more flexible and efficient.
These four stages come in handy when trying to put remote or virtual teams on the same page. Without proper intra-department cooperation, the co-workers won’t be able to deliver a high-quality product in time. So, once you’ve hired new developers, don’t ignore the need for team integration for the project’s sake.
Key Takeaways
Team extension means finding the best candidates to help you reach your business goals. It may be a temporary outsourcing partnership or a search for a dedicated team that’ll work side by side with you for years.
Before choosing a software development team extension model, answer the following: how long will the project take, and what are your objections? Focus on the end product and the features it should have to spark a customer’s interest.
If you just need temporary IT talent to finish the project, you can try a freelance platform or outsourcing agency. If you own a startup and want a long-term collaboration, consider hiring a dedicated team or submitting a request to an outstaffing agency.
Devox Software will be happy to help with recruitment procedures. We’ll provide access to top-notch developers and ensure their seamless work. As a leading software development company, we will augment your team with top talent. Call us to get more details!
