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Dedicated Project Team Structure

01.08.2022

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Dedicated Project Team Structure

Today's models of collaboration provide us with a flexible work environment, where you can be part of a team and work anywhere at the same time. Getting access to talent just got easier. It is not surprising that the demand for a special project team structure is constantly increasing. The global IT industry shows outsourcing growth of %14 last year.

Who are today's worldwide leaders in using a dedicated development team structure?
According to Statista, the USA, Great Britain, Japan, United Kingdom, China, and Germany, are the world leaders in outsourcing.

Their main sources of income are administration, web hosting, and application development. The IT outsourcing sector is the biggest contributor to revenue in the IT Services market, and is projected to reach US $587.3 billion by 2027.

At Peiko, we not only know the pros and cons of a dedicated project team structure, but also practice this approach to software for your large, long-term, and custom projects. Based on our experience, we have created this article to give you an in-depth look at DTM.

Examining the dedicated team's structure in detail can help you discover critical information and provide answers to important questions, including:

When do you really need a dedicated development team?

When is a time and material model better than a dedicated team?

How not to make a mistake when choosing a dedicated team provider?

What Does a Dedicated Project Team Structure Mean

By choosing a dedicated team software approach, you delegate the project execution to remote developers. Typically, a dedicated outsourcing team also includes quality assurance specialists, business analysts, and project managers etc.
But what is so special about this type of team organization? You have the expertise and skills to meet project needs smoothly, seamlessly, and with quality. In this way, you significantly reduce production time, save your resources and have no obligation to continue working with the team after the project is finished.

Sounds incredible, doesn't it? But before you make a decision, it's best to pause and learn more about the pros and cons of a custom project team structure.

What are the advantages of the dedicated team model?

Although there can be many arguments in favor of choosing DTM, we want to draw your attention to the main ones. See if they matter to you.

True Dedication to your Project

Well, the word “dedicated” is not accidentally included in the name of the software approach. By hiring a remote team with the most relevant experience, you're asking them to do what they do best. Because specialists fill a specific knowledge gap, they are motivated to perform work with an understanding of the industry and requirements. In turn, you make the decision.

Economy of Resources

Choosing a dedicated team model has numerous advantages, including:
1. You don't need to rent physical office space which can cost thousands of dollars per month, depending on the location and size of the office.
2. Providing parking facilities can involve additional expenses such as lease agreements, maintenance, and security.
3. It is flexible and there is a better work-life balance, which contributes to employee satisfaction and reduces the risk of burnout.
4. With outsourcing and outstaffing, you don't have to provide traditional benefits like sick leave, vacation, compensation, insurance, and equipment provision which can translate to cost savings.
5. The salary of Ukrainian developers can vary depending on factors such as experience, skill level, and the complexity of the projects they work on. On average, the salary of a Ukrainian developer can range from $1,500 to $8,500 per month.
Imagine being able to cut your costs by up to 70% - it's possible with a dedicated team.

Close and Transparent Cooperation

By its nature, the structure of a dedicated development team involves well-structured and effective communication between its members. Since they are working on the same project under the coordination of the project manager, there should be no problems with the transition. Instead, you know the outcome of each sprint and enjoy a transparent workflow.

Reduced Time to Market

Customers’ expectations for new technologies, product options, and attractive features within these products are never static. That's why, by preferring development done by a dedicated team, you are much more flexible in fixing the details of the functionality as you go. After all, your product does not lose real value for the target audience.

Faster delivery of products

As you save time in production, it's natural that you also deliver faster. Nothing matters more than getting to the market on time. From this perspective, a dedicated team structure increases your chances of meeting delivery deadlines because everyone is in the right place to complete the tasks in each sprint by the date agreed with the customer.

What Are the Cons of Dedicated Developers' Team Structure?

Every decision has advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the right approach to development is no exception. Take a look at the challenges you might face on your way to project release:

This is not a one-size-fits-all solution for all projects

Large, long-term, and complex software development projects benefit from a dedicated team. It is how to keep all the processes in order according to the schedule and the client's requirements. It is important to keep in mind that selecting the team should be done with careful consideration of specific criteria. Failure to do so can lead to potential problems, and it is crucial to acknowledge this fact. However, this approach also may seem inefficient for short-term projects, such as building a simple website or application based on a template. This will be an expensive and unacceptable choice.

You Should be Ready to Build a Bridge

Having a dedicated team doesn't mean you have to hire a full roster of specialists to complete your project. Instead, you can look for expertise that is missing from your existing in-house team. And here comes a new challenge — to establish effective cooperation between the two teams and turn them into a close whole.

It Takes for the PM’s Talent to Make It Work

Although a dedicated project team structure is commonly associated with productivity, focused effort, and high-quality output, these desired outcomes are only achieved with professional leadership. Therefore, the main part of the load falls on the PM's shoulders. They must anticipate risks, consider problem areas and perform all operations wisely.

You Should Solve the Cultural Diversity Problem

For over two decades, the Journal of International Business Studies has published more than 1,100 studies on cross-cultural communication subject, revealing that 95% of them have focused on the negative impacts of team members' differences in age, gender, race, and language proficiency can cause challenges in their interactions. However, team member differences can also bring many benefits to a team's performance. For example, less homogeneous teams can be more creative, consider more options, process information more carefully, avoid groupthinking, and make better decisions.
When team members come from countries with different institutions, they have access to a broader range of contexts, knowledge, and experiences. This diversity allows for more views and perspectives, promoting creativity, decision-making, and problem-solving which is a positive thing.

This raises doubts about the effectiveness of virtual communication

In 2022, 67% of employees prefer remote work due to flexible schedules and a lack of attachment to one location. At the same time, 30% of respondents claim that the adaptation or coaching of a new team member significantly loses effectiveness if conducted online.

Let's review one more time the pros and cons of the Dedicated Developers' Team Structure in the following table:

Dedicated project team: structure, pros and cons | Peiko №5

Why Do You Need a Dedicated Development Team?

Get the Top Talents for Your Project
Hiring an in-house team is usually explained by the principle “there’s always somebody to solve this or that problem if needed.” It doesn't really work that way because your engineers, QA's, M&E's and BA's have limited experience. That's why it's better to hire remote experts with relevant industry experience and product development to suit your needs.

Skip the Training Stage
By trusting an outsourcing provider, you don't have to worry about creating a dedicated project team structure, as well as staff training and technology investments. Usually, this tight-knit team has previously closed similar projects together, and now they come to you. As for setting up and controlling the workflow, that will be the PM's responsibility.

Prioritize Your Time and Tasks
On the one hand, you get maximum transparency of all processes taking place in the team, including the status of tasks after each sprint and intermediate results. On the other hand, with a PM and project documentation to guide developers, you can free yourself from managing the team and spend time on R&D, brand identity, marketing, and more.

Eliminate all Redundancies
Reducing operating costs and overhead costs such as HR, finance and legal advice is a major area you can control. The special structure of the team allows you to direct the time and resources of the staff as efficiently as possible, which brings just benefits to the business.

Flexibility in Making Changes
Agility is a characteristic of an effective PM and a team that accomplishes set goals in a timely and quality manner. In other words, even a clear development plan may require changes along the way. The dedicated team software approach stems from the Agile methodology, allowing developers to iterate as many times as needed to create a project.

Dedicated project team: structure, pros and cons | Peiko №2

How does a Dedicated Team Differ from a Time and Materials model?

If you’re comparing the dedicated team vs time and material models, you should probably be searching for the best investment of capital. Peiko understands your concern and offers to see the difference in the table below:

Time & Material Model

The size of the project
Small projects that start with an initial understanding of a concept

Expected duration of the project
Short-term, but there can be a long-term duration, meaning hourly payment

Difficulty of implementation
Below average

Payment specifics
You pay for the time and effort spent on development

Workflow control
Considerable, but incomplete

Targeting
Narrow and numerous target audience; usually for internal team use

Dedicated Team Model

The size of the project
Large projects that require multiple iterations

Expected duration of the project
Usually long-term. That is, monthly payment, like a salary with an exact full-time guarantee

Difficulty of implementation
Above average

Payment specifics
You pay a monthly rate for each member until the project is completed

Workflow control
Full and transparent

Targeting
An individual solution for wide use with the aim of conquering new markets

How to Correctly Choose a Dedicated Team Provider?

When it becomes abundantly clear that you need a dedicated developers team structure, the next question on your mind is probably where to turn for help.
Choosing a reliable IT outsourcing provider is no less responsible, so better read this step-by-step guide:

Do proper research. Clutch, GoodFirms, Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn will provide you with both an official review of the company and customer reviews of their services. You can also visit the company's social media to get an impression of its marketing and brand history. Pick your favorites and move on.

Check out the official website. Now compare the image in your head with the positioning that is being shared by the website. Are their services clearly described? Is the blog full of expert articles? What cases are they proud of? Peiko has a solid portfolio to share with you right on the site. As an example, take a look at this https://www.orionprotocol.io

Get REAL testimonials from past customers. Choose the case that is closest to the specifics of your project and contact its owner to hear a real reaction to the work done by the provider. Haven’t they embellished the story?

Discuss project requirements and payment rate. Flood the company with all the pre-prepared questions to learn the approach to work. Let them know about your priorities and budget to check the fit.

See the finished documentation. Take the time to review the project documentation to reduce potential misunderstandings and get things right before you start to cooperate.

Choose a Win-Win Scenario for Your Project

Today's crazy competition forces business owners to prioritize from the very beginning. Choosing a custom development team structure allows everyone to participate in the project according to their strengths. While the team is engaged in building, testing, and improving the solution, you shift your time and effort to the more strategic and creative tasks.

Sounds like a good plan? Contact Peiko and we will be happy to help you create a customized software solution with our dedicated development team. Our advantages include a transparent user interface, a full quality control cycle, server stability, and timely completion of your project.
Just drop us a line with your business request and we will definitely arrange a consultation with you!
Do you have any questions? Check out the frequently asked questions below to dive deeper into this topic.

FAQ

How can you be sure a dedicated development team model is right for the project? Your project is long-term and requires specific industry expertise to cope with the task at high speed and quality. In addition, you need the flexibility to make changes and have a complete picture of how the project is being implemented.

Who needs a dedicated team? In this particular format, a group of skilled developers directs their attention solely toward the client's project, ensuring that no team member is transferred to other projects. The flexibility and comprehensiveness of this model make it an ideal fit for VC-backed startups at the outset of their journey, as well as established ventures with products seeking to expand into new markets. Opting for a dedicated partnership is a wise choice, as it offers the best value for money and allows you to select the most qualified professionals for your team.

What is the difference between staff augmentation and DTM? Staff augmentation connects the skillful engineers with the client for a short and long period of time. The dedicated team model involves long-term collaboration with a team of developers, QA, BA, and other necessary specialists. This is overseen by the PM to run the project from scratch to its release.

What is the process of hiring a dedicated team? Choose a reliable supplier and entrust them with the task of hiring the right team of experts.

How can I check the experience of a dedicated team? You will usually assess this during your interview with your potential provider. Ask them about their previous experience building remote teams, timelines and costs, overall business approach, and examples of success they can rely on.

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