A key decision for business owners is whether to hire a dedicated development team for projects. On one hand, a dedicated team is always available to work only on your projects. On the other, those that have limited need for development work may incur unneeded costs.

At first glance, this makes outsourcing the better option. Small businesses with limited development needs benefit from lower costs. Those that do need ongoing work can hire in-house teams.

This doesn’t tell the whole story. In many situations, a dedicated development team can play a role in helping a business grow.

Explaining Dedicated Development Teams

Businesses hire dedicated development teams to focus on the business’ needs. Usually, the team receives fixed rate payment over an extended period. This creates an engaging model that provides businesses with constant access to development expertise. As time goes on, the dedicated development team improves its knowledge of the business’ need. In doing so, the team becomes a core component in the business’ growth.

The Key Benefits

The dedicated development team model offers several advantages to businesses:

•    The flexibility to work on any project without the need for sourcing a development team.

•    Access to expertise gained from working on a variety of projects.

•    Reducing the cost infrastructure related to development.

•    Ongoing support during project development and after launch.

•    Fast turnaround times as the development team becomes more familiar with the business.

•    Fixed costs that cover all project types.

•    The ability to focus on core services while development projects are managed externally.

•    Increased project engagement due to better communication.

•    Lower risk as the dedicated team understands the business’ needs.

Dedicated vs Outsourced Development

The difference between dedicated and outsourced development is the relationship between business and developer. When a business outsources a project it must research developers and negotiate costs. These short-term relationships tend to lead to higher hourly rates. Further, the business must confront higher risk and possible delays.

By contrast, a dedicated development team allows work to get underway immediately. Businesses already know how much they will pay and what they get from the team. The trust the business has in the development team also means fewer worries throughout the project lifecycle.

Dedicated vs In-House Development

A key decision for business owners is whether to hire a dedicated development team for projects.

On the face of it, an in-house team offers many of the same advantages as a dedicated external team. Businesses can begin work immediately and understand the cost of maintaining the team. Ideally, the in-house team would offer a high level of expertise and the same level of project support too.
Dig a little deeper and you see that there are differences. An in-house team requires infrastructure. The business must invest in the workstations, software, and hardware each project needs. Further, the in-house team does not benefit from variation in projects. External dedicated development teams bring much more experience to their work.

All of this means that even an in-house team has limits on what it can provide.

Changing Consumer Needs

The increasing move towards the Agile development model poses a problem for businesses. Agile requires more collaboration between business and developer. It also offers immediacy with software updates. The model has been instrumental in the rise of subscription services, such as Netflix and Microsoft Office 365.

Consumer demands are changing to reflect this desire for the subscription model. To meet this demand, businesses need to provide ongoing support for their software. However, maintaining and updating software requires familiarity on the part of developers.

Freelancers and cheap outsourced developers do not have this familiarity. Updates get delayed as developers build familiarity with the existing software. These delays can lead to unhappy consumers and stunted business growth.

These changing consumer needs push businesses towards a dedicated development model. Familiarity and trust between business and developer are playing a larger role in the new software environment. Without either, the business may not meet the demands of its customers with its software.

The Choice for Business Growth

So we come to the central question. How can dedicated development help a business grow? It depends on the needs of the business and the software it hopes to create. On one hand, a business can get away with using a freelancer or outsourced solution on a small project. Assuming the project doesn’t require regular updates, the business will save money with an outsourced solution.

However, this doesn’t work for companies that rely on their software as their main service. In their cases, freelancers and outsourced teams results in delays and development issues they can ill afford. Consumers will lose patience if software is not updated on schedule or if the software doesn’t work as it should.

It is in such scenarios where dedicated development teams shines. They provide the trust, expertise, and familiarity missing in the outsourced model. Further, dedicated development team ensures businesses don’t have in invest in infrastructure. A wider experience pool means more options. Plus, businesses reduce their risk when releasing software.

Working with a dedicated development team positions the business for growth. The model ensures all involved are working from the same page. Better yet, this growth requires less investment into infrastructure. Finally, businesses avoid the uncertainty of working with new companies every development cycle.