5 Ways External Software Development Teams Can Transform Your Business
Building and maintaining an internal software development team can be tough. Software moves fast, and hiring enough people to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of skills and specialties can be daunting. If you are new to the world of software development, it is especially difficult to know where your resources are best spent.
Should you hire specialists who can handle only a single part of your application, but will do so with an incredible amount of knowledge and experience? Or generalists who are comfortable working in all parts of the application, but may not have the depth of knowledge required for certain issues?
Outsourcing software development or hiring external software development teams can be a great way to get the best of both worlds, and to fill gaps in your existing team without breaking the bank.
How does leveraging specialized skills from a partner help business?
Many software development teams these days are opting to hire full-stack engineers who can take responsibility for production of an entire application from front to back. These engineers are excellent at getting projects up and running quickly and debugging the majority of issues that come down the pike.
What is the Structure of a Software Development Team?
Project Manager: The Project Manager is tasked with comprehending the client’s project needs and ensuring that the team operates in accordance with those requirements. They function as a bridge between clients and team members, distributing tasks to facilitate effective teamwork.
Business Analyst: Business Analyst analysis the market demands and trends in order to create a product roadmap. All the technical specification is provided by the analyst after checking the business requirements and goals.
UI UX Designer: The UI UX designer’s role is to enhance the product’s interface and user experience by utilizing attractive colors, fonts, shapes, and other design elements.
Developers: This team is larger than others and is responsible for developing software products through coding. It includes front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers.
QA Engineers: QA Engineers are responsible for testing the product’s overall functionality and performance to ensure it meets all requirements.
5 Benefits of Working with and an External Software Development Team
1. Access to specialized knowledge
Outsourcing allows you access to knowledge that your team simply may not possess. Building a native iOS app, for example, requires someone with knowledge of Swift. Rather than hiring a Swift engineer, who may not be needed again once the project is completed, consider outsourcing the work to an external partner.
2. Free your in-house teams up to work on mission-critical issues
Your in-house teams have intimate knowledge of your product, brand, and services. Their time and effort should be spent on projects that best support those things. In-house engineers are also frequently tapped to onboard new hires and share knowledge within the organization. Outsourcing the less-crucial aspects of development frees your in-house employees up to spend time on the software projects that matter most.
3. Flexibility and scalability
Scaling (or de-scaling) an outsourced engineering team is much easier than scaling an in-house team. Workloads change frequently, and there may be very little turnaround time between projects. Establishing a partnership with an external vendor means you’ll have a global talent pool at your fingertips, who can be quickly onboarded and begin contributing to a new project right away.
4. Less time spent on hiring
The hiring process is an incredibly costly part of running a dedicated software development team. Locating and attracting new talent, setting up interviews, following up, onboarding, and then training up new hires all takes time and resources. Existing engineers often need to be looped in and take time away from their daily tasks to run interviews or review applications. Product managers and design teams are often involved. When you outsource engineering to an established, reputable partner, the hiring process is handled for you by the partner.
5. Cost effective
Offshore outsourcing gives you access to a global talent pool, meaning you’ll often be able to hire developers for less. This isn’t just because software engineer salaries are lower in some parts of the world outside the US (although this is also true.) It’s also because you will be spending less resources on things like hiring, benefits, support, etc.
What Are the Downsides to Outsourcing Your Software Development Team?
While outsourcing is a great solution for many development situations, it’s not necessarily the best way to go by default. There are a few downsides to outsourcing that may make it less than desirable for your situation:
- Communication is harder
- Data security becomes an issue
- Developers are not as familiar with your product
- Culture fit may not be perfect
- Managerial overhead may increase
- Quality may not be what you are expecting
This is why we encourage any software team considering outsourcing engineering to consider a long-term partnership with a partner who can get to know your product and provide engineers who will be a good fit for your needs and organization.
For specific situations, however, you may need a specialist.
In Conclusion
External software development teams can be a great way to bolster your existing in-house efforts. They are highly flexible, easily scalable, allow you access to a diverse global talent pool, and reduce both infrastructure and labor costs. Outsourced engineering teams also allow your in-house teams to focus on core, mission-critical issues that are vital to the company’s brand and culture.