Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide

Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide

If you find yourself seeking the ideal path to transform your app concept into reality, consider this – have you explored the transformative power of a Dedicated Application Development Team?

This guide is tailored for businesses standing at the intersection of ambition and uncertainty, providing insights and strategies to seamlessly transition your app development journey from aspiration to achievement. Join us as we unravel the advantages and considerations surrounding the adoption of a dedicated team, empowering your business to not only keep pace with technological trends but to lead the way in innovation. Welcome to your ultimate guide on hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team – your key to unlocking unparalleled app development excellence.

How to hire a dedicated application development team?

Hiring and onboarding a dedicated application development team can be a streamlined process as long as you follow a few clear steps.

First, clearly define your goals, requirements, and budget for the team.  What application are you having them work on?  What are the key milestones you want to achieve?

Second, find a partner (like TurnKey!) that can help you source and recruit the right candidates that fit your criteria.  This piece is critical because not having the right people in the right seats, if you will, can doom any project or initiative.

Third, conduct comprehensive interviews with final candidates and put them through technical screening as well.  And then once onboarded, make sure to set specific metrics (often called KPIs or Key Performance Indicators) based on your project goals and hold the team accountable for hitting them. 

By following these steps, you can hire a team of high performing developers that will make your application development run smoothly.

Table of Contents

What Is a Dedicated Application Development Model?

When it comes to improving your startup’s software development, having a dedicated development team can be a game-changer. Not only does it allow for greater specialization in terms of skills and industry knowledge, but it also fosters a sense of loyalty and ownership in application development.

Unlike outsourcing, in which the team may not have as much personal investment or understanding of the long-term goals, a remote development team is fully focused on your company and its product. This focus allows for smoother communication and quicker software problem-solving, ultimately leading to improved productivity and efficiency. In short, investing in dedicated software development teams can greatly benefit your company’s overall success.

Dedicated team setup process | TurnKey

Top Reasons to Hire a Dedicated Software Development Team

There are a range of reasons for hiring a dedicated application development team.  Here are the ones you’ll hear CTOs and engineering leaders cite most:

I need to maintain my product velocity but stay on budget

By hiring a skilled development team offshore, you can save significant costs due to reduced labor rates while also enjoying high productivity at the same time.  Regions like Eastern Europe or Latin America have some of the top development talent in the world at rates that are considerably less than in the United States or Western Europe.

I need flexibility for a changing market landscape

Offshoring gives you the ability to flex or contract your dedicated development team as needed, allowing you to achieve the perfect balance of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. By strategically building and managing your dedicated software development teams, you have more control over your resources as business needs change and evolve over time.

I need to launch a new product

When launching a new product, it can be helpful to have the expertise of an application development team on your side. These teams can not only assist with all aspects of setting up the application, but they can also provide valuable insights into what features will be most successful. 

And with their support, you can launch your product more quickly and efficiently. But it’s not just about speed—an application development team can also contribute to the overall quality and success of your product, making them a valuable resource in any launch process.

I need more bandwidth and horsepower

Having a tailored remote team can be extremely beneficial for your in-house team when they need to concentrate on other tasks. Not only are they able to focus on their work and give their undivided attention, but they also provide your team with the flexibility and capacity they need to accomplish your overall product goals.

I need more expertise and experience

By expanding your hiring search to include team members from around the world, you can access experienced professionals in specialized fields who may not be available locally. These team members can provide valuable expertise and insight, helping to improve your in-house team’s efficiency and success.

I need full control over the team

No longer do you have to worry about losing control as you expand your team outside of the office. The dedicated development team model allows you to confidently manage, mentor, and assimilate your remote engineers just as effectively as your in-house software developers.

Ready to skip all this hassle and get an amazing dedicated team now?

What You Should Prepare Before Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team

Before diving into hiring offshore software developers, it’s critical to have a well-defined idea for your product, clear expectations for what needs to be built, and your ideal requirements for your dedicated team.

Moreover, when choosing a dedicated application development team, it’s important to define their roles in comparison to your in-house employees. Delineating a clear separation of roles and responsibilities between all parties will ensure that there is little overlap or redundancy in your development efforts.

How to Hire a Dedicated Team for Application Development?

Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide | TurnKey

Step 1. Define your goals, requirements, and budget

When deciding to hire a dedicated software development team, it’s crucial to first establish your ultimate goals and objectives for both the short term and the long term.  This way, you can clearly communicate your requirements and ensure that the dedicated team’s roles align with what you want to accomplish. This will also ease the development process and prevent surprises or misunderstandings.  And having clear objectives also helps you set an accurate budget–all of which provides an estimated cost for your development work that you can share with key internal stakeholders for approval.

Step 1a. Find an offshore partner (like TurnKey!) to custom recruit your ideal dedicated development team

Don’t waste time on the tedious task of searching for and recruiting individual team members—let the pros do the work for you! Partners like TurnKey will recruit and assemble a top-notch dedicated software development team. Trust us to find the perfect match for your product goals and rest easy knowing that all the legal and administrative headaches are being done for you.

Step 1b. If you skip finding a hiring partner and choose to hire on your own, start researching and contacting talent

Bold move, this one. Finding the right development team for a project can be a daunting task given the long lead times for recruiting and difficulty finding talent. But while it may take some initial research, investing the time at this stage will pay off in the long run because a tailored team ready to take on specific roles and goals is often the difference between success and failure.

One option to find talent is to use freelance platforms, where developers can bid on projects and showcase their skills and past work. Looking through listings and reading reviews can help to narrow down the search for potential candidates. Another resource is LinkedIn, where companies and individuals promote their professional experience and qualifications. Asking for referrals from trusted colleagues or acquaintances can also provide leads to dedicated teams with relevant expertise.

Step 2. Conduct interviews and technical screenings for the top candidates, curate your top contenders, and extend offers

By speaking with candidates and asking insightful questions – along with a comprehensive technical or coding test – companies can gauge a developer’s dedication, experience, and skillset. Moreover, it’s important to clearly communicate what role the candidate will play on the team during the interview process. This is an essential step because it ensures that there won’t be any misconceptions later on down the road.

Step 3. Prepare the hiring documents and onboard the team

Before beginning any new project, it’s important to ensure that all necessary legal documents have been prepared and signed (or you can just let TurnKey handle this hassle for you!).   This includes things like a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect confidential information and Intellectual Property assignment.

Once the documents are signed, it’s also critical that the first few days of onboarding are a positive experience for the newly hired developer. This includes getting them their equipment and logins (email, Slack, etc.) in advance of their start date and providing them with a packet of information about the project or product they will be working on.

Step 4. Set the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on your project goals and make sure the team is measured against them

Setting clear and specific KPIs for each dedicated team member –and for the team overall – is crucial in ensuring everyone understands their individual goals and the impact they have on the project or product’s success. This can also help to delineate roles within a dedicated team, as everyone will have their own set of measurable targets to reach and be held accountable for.  However, it is important to not just focus on numbers, but also consider the role that each team member plays and how their contributions fit into the larger picture. 

Regular check-ins with the team can also ensure alignment with KPIs and provide opportunities for feedback and adjustments if necessary. By closely monitoring progress through KPIs and keeping dedicated team roles clear, startups and high growth companies are more likely to successfully reach their product development objectives.

Types of Dedicated Application Teams

When it comes to dedicated application teams, there are a few options to consider.

  • An in-house development team. The first is an in-house development team, comprised of full-time employees tailored solely to developing and maintaining the company's applications. While this option provides a team that really understands the company's specific needs and goals, it often requires a much larger investment in terms of salaries.
  • A local development agency. Another option is to work with a local development agency (commonly known as “outsourcing”), which can provide expertise and specialized skills without the need for long-term employment commitments. However, this type of team is not integrated into the company's workflow and the client has little control over what the team is working on and when.
  • Assemble a team of freelance developers. A third option is to assemble a team of freelance developers. Freelancers offer both cost savings and access to a diverse range of skill sets. However, managing communication and coordination between multiple freelancers can be challenging, and you don’t have their undivided attention, which makes hitting development deadlines more difficult.
  • Offshore hiring and employer of record partners. Finally, offshore hiring and employer of record partners (which handle all the recruiting of talent for you but then also manage the legal and administrative hassle of employment in a foreign country) offer lower costs and a seamless integration into your existing team. In this model, you have total control of the team yet still have the flexibility to scale up or down as needed when your company’s needs change or evolve.

Here at TurnKey we even took this model one click further.  The focus of any dedicated team should be YOU.  We build teams that are fully dedicated to YOUR roadmap working within YOUR culture and playing by YOUR rules.

Types of Dedicated Application Teams | TurnKey

TurnKey is the most trusted name in dedicated teams. We’ll bend over backwards to make you successful!

Dedicated Application Development Team Advantages

There are a host of key benefits to using an offshore dedicated application development team, including:

  • Cost-efficiency. Thanks to affordable wages when compared to America and Western Europe, using offshore developers (particularly those from the tech strongholds of Eastern Europe or Latin America) is a winning proposition for most startups and high growth companies. Hiring dedicated teams from these regions allows companies to meet their product development goals without going over budget. And because dedicated teams are fully integrated into your company's culture and work processes, and these regions are full of niche, hard-to-find talent, the benefits extend far beyond financial considerations.
  • Flexibility and scalability. When it comes to startups and high growth companies, being able to pivot quickly and adjust to changing demands is critical for success. That's why the dedicated team model can be so advantageous. It allows for easy scaling up or down of the team, depending on product development needs. Instead of having to navigate the legal and financial challenges of hiring and firing in-house employees, companies can simply work with their offshore partner to quickly on-board or off-board talent. Having the flexibility to adapt your workforce in this way can mean the difference between survival and failure in the fast-paced world of software.
  • Total control. Unlike with a team of freelancers or outsourcing to an agency, engineering leaders have full control over a dedicated development team. You control how they work, when they work, and what they work on. Thus, a dedicated software development team is like an extension of your existing internal team in terms of level of control.
  • Accelerated product velocity. Having a dedicated team focused on your application's development usually results in faster delivery times. Because dedicated teams know the ins and outs of your specific product or feature set, they work quickly and efficiently on new features or updates and they can prioritize tasks that will have the greatest impact. In addition, dedicated teams are able to communicate and collaborate more effectively, leading to quicker resolution of any issues that arise during development.
  • Diverse technical expertise. Since you can recruit for any technical background when building an offshore dedicated team, you can quickly adapt and improve upon your existing technologies while staying up-to-date with emerging innovations in the field. This is especially true if you are creating a cutting-edge product and struggle to find and hire such specialized talent locally; moving offshore gives you access to a much broader pool of specialists.

Disadvantages of Dedicated Team Software Development

The main downside of hiring a dedicated application development team is that it is not as efficient for short-term projects. Dedicated teams typically require more effort to assemble, which makes them more suitable for long-term projects given the investment in time and money.

Another key challenge is that it’s often hard to choose the right partner to help build your offshore team. It is critical that you find a firm (like TurnKey!) that really understands and appreciates the nuances of what you are looking for and shares your same values.

When you shouldn't hire a dedicated application team? | TurnKey

When It Is Time to Hire a Dedicated Application Development Team?

A dedicated software development team can be a valuable investment for startups and high growth companies, particularly during key stages of growth. When creating an MVP or refining and scaling a successful product, having dedicated in-house developers ensures that the product stays on track.

Along with building and maintaining a product, dedicated teams can also play a crucial role in transitioning to new tech stacks as a company scales at a rapid pace. Ultimately, hiring dedicated developers allows for a level of flexibility and customization that outsourcing projects don’t provide.

And as mentioned earlier, looking offshore for your dedicated development team is a great way to maintain your product development velocity while also saving money. Not only can these teams offer expertise and professionalism in a timely manner, they also come at a lower cost compared to onshore or local talent. 

In particular, offshoring to Latin American or Eastern European countries can provide access to highly skilled software developers who are able to plug in any missing gaps in your collective team’s skill set or knowledge.

Want to build an amazing Dedicated Team that is built entirely around you?

Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide | TurnKey

What are the Roles in a Dedicated Development Team?

While application development team roles vary based on your specific needs, there are a few positions that tend to be in high demand, including:

  • Project manager. These managers ensure that tasks are assigned and completed on time, monitor progress, and address any roadblocks that arise during the development process. Project managers are also responsible for ensuring that development priorities align with company goals.
  • Front-end developers. These folks work closely with application development teams to bring their ideas to life in the form of a dynamic user interface. The other name of front-end development is client-side development, meaning that it defines how users interact with your product.
  • Back-end developers. This type of developer focuses on the business logic and underlying infrastructure. These wizards need to have experience working with technologies such as Node.js, MongoDB, and SQL databases in order to create efficient and scalable application functionality. Having developers fluent in Swift for iOS development and Kotlin for Android ensures that your app can reach a wider audience.
  • UX/UI designers. UX/UI designers are integral members of application development teams, utilizing their design skills to create an engaging and seamless user journey. These professionals understand the psychology behind what makes people tap, click, and swipe, and use this knowledge to enhance the overall user experience with the application.
  • QA engineers. These bug-killing experts constantly scan for any potential glitches or errors. Without their efforts, the application development team would not be able to confidently release their product to the public knowing that it functions as intended.
  • DevOps engineers. DevOps engineers are responsible for determining the necessary tools and setting processes to ensure a smooth software development workflow. This includes automating code flows and integrating various resources, such as source code management systems, an application development environment, and build servers. DevOps engineers constantly monitor and improve upon these processes to optimize efficiency.
  • Business analysts. These staffers gather and analyze information to identify problems and areas for improvement within internal processes, then present clear solutions to decision-makers. This not only increases efficiency and productivity but also helps align a project with the overall startup's goals and strategies.
  • Solution architects. These folks are critical players in identifying and implementing successful technology solutions for businesses. Acting as a bridge between business and technology, they assess the problem and design a technical solution that meets the specific needs of the startup.
  • Data scientists. A data scientist's job is to turn raw information into useful insights for their organization. They collect and analyze data from various sources, using statistics, computer programming, and industry expertise to find patterns and trends, and then interpret and present this information to ensure management could make informed business decisions.
Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide | TurnKey

How to Find a Reliable Dedicated Team for Your Next Application Development Need?

When it comes to finding dedicated developers, there are many different options out there. But before making a hiring decision, it’s important to ensure that the partner or freelancers you choose checks all the necessary boxes.

First and foremost, they’ve got to prove they’re technically proficient. Look for a strong portfolio of successful projects and satisfied clients.

Second, it’s also crucial to evaluate their communication style and approach to project management, as this can greatly impact the success of the partnership.

Finally, it’s worth considering their experience and expertise in specific technologies or industries that may be relevant to your startup’s goals.

Most startups and high growth companies choose a partner (like TurnKey!) when they are building an offshore dedicated team since they don’t want to have to deal with the hassle of recruiting talent and then managing the legal, payroll and administrative hassles associated with employing developers abroad.

But if you are looking to go it alone, there are a number of places to find talent, such as:

  • Freelance platforms. These provide profiles of potential candidates with the specific skills and experience required for your project or product.
  • Social media. Platforms like LinkedIn can be a valuable resource for searching and contacting potential candidates.
  • Events and conferences. Attending events and conferences related to application development may provide the opportunity to meet talented teams or individual developers who could contribute to your project.
  • Search engines. Standard Google searches can often lead to a long trail of potential options, though it may be difficult to weed out the high quality candidates from the low ones.

Overall, choosing a dedicated development partner – or choosing to hire developers on your own –  is an important decision for any business, and taking the time to do thorough research can help ensure a successful outcome.

Hiring a Dedicated Application Development Team: Your Ultimate Guide | TurnKey

How Can Turnkey Help You Hire a Dedicated Application Development Team?

If you are in need of a high performing dedicated application development team for your startup or high growth company, you’ve come to the right place!

We hand-select team members for your company’s needs based on their skills and experience, ensuring that they are the perfect fit for your goals and requirements. Your teams will be fully dedicated to your product and will work within your established company culture and guidelines.

And when it comes to onboarding, we coordinate with you every step of the way to ensure smooth integration with your existing processes and an astounding talent retention rate. From start to finish, we make sure that your application development needs are met with excellence and efficiency.

Let TurnKey build your ideal dedicated application development team.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a dedicated application software development team offshore can be a fantastic option for startups and growing companies with specific and ongoing product development needs. 

Unlike outsourcing, which provides only temporary or short term solutions, a dedicated offshore development team is fully committed to your product and company. This means they have a complete understanding of your goals and objectives and are able to provide long-term support as needed.

In addition, having dedicated software development team members allows for more efficient communication and collaboration. Rather than bouncing between multiple outside clients, dedicated teams are 100% dedicated to you. Overall, investing in a dedicated offshore software development team can streamline operations and lead to the successful development and ongoing maintenance of your product.

FAQ

What is a dedicated application development team?

A dedicated application development team is recruited specifically to be fully dedicated to a specific product or feature set.  This team is intentionally created with software developers selected for their expertise in solving the specific challenges that are faced. As a dedicated team, they can focus all of their energy and resources on building the application, ensuring success from start to finish. Additionally, this dedicated approach allows for greater flexibility in terms of budget and timeline, ensuring that costs are controlled and deadlines are met.

What two qualities should a successful software development team possess?

Not only should dedicated developers have the technical skills and knowledge necessary to create functional programs, but they should also possess excellent communication skills. The best development teams work collaboratively, easily addressing any issues that may arise during the project. They can also clearly communicate their progress and concerns with project managers and other stakeholders. Ultimately, strong technical abilities and excellent communication skills are essential for a successful application development team.

When should you use a dedicated software development team?

Choosing a dedicated team model should be based on the specific requirements and needs of the project.  That said, because it takes time to assemble a dedicated team, most companies use them primarily for long-term or ongoing projects or product development work. A dedicated team can be most advantageous when the project requires intense focus and dedication, as the team will have their undivided attention on the project at hand. Another potential reason to use a dedicated team is when the project or product development initiative requires specialized skills or knowledge, as the dedicated team can bring together experts in different areas.

What is the best way to hire dedicated software developers?

When it comes to application development, finding the right team with the necessary skills can be a challenge. At TurnKey, we make it easy for you to hire a dedicated application development team that aligns with your company’s specific needs and requirements. Our custom recruitment process allows us to hand-pick top talent for your team, ensuring they have the necessary skills and fit in with your company culture. Plus, as the team is dedicated solely to you and your project, developers are completely focused on meeting all of your goals and objectives. Hiring a dedicated application development team has never been easier thanks to TurnKey's personalized approach.

November 15, 2022

TurnKey Staffing provides information for general guidance only and does not offer legal, tax, or accounting advice. We encourage you to consult with professional advisors before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or legal rights.

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