Choosing a Dedicated Software Development Team: A Guide for Non-Tech Leaders

Staying competitive in today’s saturated market is tough. Customers expect digital products to be high-performance, user-friendly, and constantly improving, whether you’re a bank, an e-commerce store, or a service company. Yet, not every business has the technical capabilities to create such a product in-house, and that’s where hiring a dedicated software development team can help.

Research shows that businesses that launch the most effective digital products work with external software developers. However, many companies are still wary of external collaboration due to quality concerns, lack of control over the software development process, and security implications. 

In this article, we’ll explain how the dedicated teams  model can mitigate these risks and share the checklist for choosing the right partner that Neontri’s experts have worked out throughout the years.

Key takeaways:

• In software development, a dedicated team can augment your in-house talent by taking charge of your entire project and delivering a high-quality product in a professional yet cost-efficient manner.
• Companies can mitigate risks by choosing a reputable development partner in a region with strong development talent.
• Hiring a dedicated development team located in Eastern European countries like Poland gives businesses access to a large pool of IT technical talent with an excellent cultural fit while companies stay in control of projects and the development process.

Key benefits of a software development dedicated team

Dedicated software development teams are employed by an external company but focus exclusively on your project throughout its duration, just like your in-house talent. Team composition is tailored to the project needs, and you can easily scale the number of tech experts up and down as these needs are changing. Often, a dedicated team comes complete with a project manager or team lead, business analyst, and other professionals required to deliver a software project. 

The dedicated teams model is different from outsourcing or staff augmentation. 

• In outsourcing, you delegate a project or specific tasks to a third-party company that may not focus exclusively on your needs, doesn’t fully integrate into your workflow, and may not use the same development methodologies. 
• With staff augmentation, a third-party provider adds only specific skills or personnel to your existing team. 
• With the dedicated teams model, your vendor assumes complete responsibility for your project and its desired outcome.

But a dedicated team isn’t just about focus and responsibility; there are other benefits, too.

Cost efficiency

Offshore dedicated teams—those located in a different country than the client—can bring you significant cost savings due to salary differences. In the US, software developer salaries average $116,833, with a strong upward trend. Meanwhile, remote software developers in Poland earn an average salary of around $45,000 but offer experience and qualifications on par with their American peers. As a US business hiring a remote team of five developers, this means you can save around $350,000/year by sourcing in Poland, without compromising quality.

Immediate access to top IT talent

It takes, on average, 30 working days to hire an IT specialist in the US and worldwide. For talent with in-demand or specialized expertise, the hiring process can take much longer. With dedicated development team services, you get immediate access to a global talent pool. Specialists who are highly sought after and challenging to hire in your home country might be readily available elsewhere. And since remote workers have often worked on multiple client projects, they bring relevant expertise and a deep understanding of their field.

Greater focus and productivity

A dedicated software developers team can even be more productive than your in-house team. The vendor business model rewards results, so team members are motivated to do their best on every project. Moreover, dedicated developers bring you a fresh perspective and years of experience on multiple projects, meaning they can often suggest more innovative and practical ways to achieve your business goals. They can teach your internal team the most advanced DevOps practices to improve productivity and leave results that outlast your collaboration.

Flexibility

At some point during long-term and complex projects, you’ll need fewer or more specialists to keep up with development. With an in-house development team, this means either firing employees or engaging in a lengthy hiring process with no guarantee of success. But a dedicated team can scale up or down in a matter of days. A vendor can deploy more software engineers from their talent pool when you need extra hands or re-assign specialists you no longer need to other projects.

The benefits of dedicated development teams are clear: this collaboration model is perfect for developing complex and innovative software products in a cost-effective way. However, not all teams and vendors deliver the same standard of work. To find a team that can become a reliable long-term partner, you’ll need to do some research and consider your options carefully.

How to find a dedicated software development team 

Choosing a dedicated team for your project is a high-stakes decision. Only the right team can ensure you meet your deadlines, quality standards, and cost expectations. And switching teams in the middle of a long-term project is costly.

Yet, evaluating a project team’s technical expertise and background can be challenging, especially if you’re a non-technical executive. Our criteria and detailed checklists are here to help.

Key criteria for selecting a dedicated software development team

Google “dedicated software development team,” and you’ll find hundreds of companies claiming they’re ready to become your software development partner. With so many vendors boasting excellence, how do you choose the ones worth considering? Here are the main points to look for.

Technical expertise and experience

It makes sense to start with technical expertise. Your chosen vendor will get to make critical technical decisions on a project, so they must be up to the task. Here are the questions to ask when browsing a website or talking to a vendor. We’ve added Neontri as a sample profile of an experienced partner. 

Look too for multiple projects with the same client as proof of client satisfaction. At Neontri, we’re proud to have all our customers come back to us with new projects, and we’ve worked with multinational clients such as Visa and Ingenico for over 10 years.

Communication and collaboration

The next important aspect to evaluate is communication. You should be comfortable collaborating with the vendor and your dedicated team. Ask or find out:

• Are they proficient in your language or English?
• Do they know how to manage a time difference?
• Can they clearly explain technical concepts to non-technical persons?
• Do their project managers and business analysts have a software engineering background? (If they don’t, it might not be immediately problematic, but it’s likely to complicate communication in the long run.)
• How fast do they respond to your inquiries?
• What collaboration tools do they use (Slack, Microsoft Teams)?
• Do their communication style and culture match yours?
• Do they raise objections and suggest alternative solutions and improvements?

The last point is vital for a productive collaboration. A good dedicated software development team will offer a better solution when they see it rather than accept all your ideas without question. When a team prefers not to rock the boat, your product quality can suffer.

Scalability and flexibility

In the development process, you’ll probably need to adjust team size up or down. A good vendor will be able to do it quickly and easily accommodate other changes to your project scope and direction. Ask the following to get a feel of your vendor’s agility and flexibility:

• How large is their talent pool?
• How long is their onboarding process?
• What is their employee retention rate?

At Neontri, we have a 350K pool of skilled professionals, and we can typically deploy a specialist to your project within 72 hours. With a 98% employee retention rate, these people are likely to stay with you for years, augmenting your in-house team and assisting with every new project.

Flexibility in software development projects is commonly associated with Scrum and Agile methodologies. At Neontri, we use a proprietary framework that incorporates these principles to speed up the development process and flex with changes. We take care to understand your project and business objectives early on, and we can even bring a demo of your future app to our first meeting.

Quality assurance and customer support

Quality assurance is vital for ensuring your software product will perform and make your users happy. A reputable dedicated software development team will implement a careful quality assurance process that covers manual and automated tests. Even better, they’ll follow the principles of test-driven development, as we do at Neontri.

A reliable vendor will keep providing you with red-carpet support no matter what happens, and they’ll look to proactively address issues. Make sure you ask what kind of support they offer.

With data on all these points in mind, you’re ready to start choosing the right software development partner for you.

Steps to partnering with a dedicated development team

Finding a best-match development team for your project can take time, but it’s more manageable with a clear understanding of the steps you need to take.

Let’s break down what happens at each step.

Step#1: Define your project requirements

What kind of project do you need to be completed? What outcomes do you expect? Answer these questions to understand what sort of dedicated team you’ll need in terms of size and competencies. Plan how you’ll communicate and how you’ll distribute responsibility between your in-house team and dedicated development team.

Step#2: Explore the market

Choose the country or region where you’d like to source your dedicated team — scroll down for an overview of the most popular locations. Consider local hourly rates, time zone differences, English proficiency, and cultural fit. After that, look for companies with a relevant technology stack and industry expertise. Use the questions we covered above to help you.

Step#3: Assess the vendor’s credentials

Take a closer look at your shortlisted candidates’ credentials. Read customer reviews on reputable third-party websites. Don’t shy away from reaching out to past customers to hear first-hand experiences. This way, you’ll get a more realistic view of what it’s like to work with a company.

Step#4: Evaluate communication and collaboration

After doing your research, choose the vendors to contact. Ask all the questions you still have, taking note of response times and communication style. Make sure a vendor’s pricing, security measures, testing process, and overall approach to development are clear before you make your final choice.

Step#5: Negotiate contract terms

Finally, it’s time to discuss all the aspects of your collaboration with your chosen dedicated team provider. Negotiate project milestones, communication format and frequency, payment schedule, and other details. After you’ve agreed to the terms, you can sign the contract and start working on the software development project.

Best locations to build a dedicated software team

If you’re in the US and Western Europe, there are three main regions that offer more affordable hourly rates coupled with a large pool of highly qualified talent: Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Asia

Asia boasts a combined tech talent pool of 12 million developers. With 3.8 million tech experts in China alone and average salaries of $35,000/year, it’s an attractive destination for many businesses. However, English proficiency is limited in these countries, and significant cultural differences can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings. Western companies have also cited a lack of creativity and gaps in local privacy and security laws as major problems when working with teams from this region.

Latin America

Latin America has the advantages of shared US time zones and strong English proficiency, but it also has a considerably smaller talent pool, estimated at 1 million people across Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. While low salaries like $1,700/month in Mexico are attractive, even local companies suffer talent shortages, meaning it can take longer to find the professionals you need. Team performance in some countries can also be hindered by subpar infrastructure and political instability.

Central and Eastern Europe

Software developer salaries in Central and Eastern Europe, and particularly EU member countries, might be a little higher than in both Asia and Latin America. However, this is offset by a stable and business-friendly legal environment with robust security and IP laws. A combined talent pool of 2 million people has high levels of English proficiency and good cultural compatibility with Western nations.

In the CEE region, Poland has the largest number of IT professionals, exceeding 400,000. As an EU and NATO member state, it has political stability, strong contract enforcement, and data protection laws. Poland ranks #13 out of 113 nations for English proficiency and has an 81.1 rating for ease of doing business. The country is a growing outsourcing hub for companies from the US and Western Europe, and a Polish software engineer’s average salary remains affordable at $3,000/month.

Challenges in partnering with a dedicated software development team 

Using a nearshore or offshore dedicated team for software development has multiple benefits, but it also comes with challenges, such as:

• Communication issues. Language and cultural differences can complicate effective project communication.
• Time zone gaps. Large time zone differences make it more challenging to schedule meetings.
• Security concerns. Including an external party in the development process increases the risk of security breaches.
• Legal and regulatory issues. With part of your team located in a jurisdiction with different labor and IP protection laws, as well as contract enforcement practices, you face higher legal and reputational risks.
• Lack of accountability. Holding a remote team accountable can be more challenging compared to working with an in-house on-site team.

All these challenges, however, can be mitigated when you partner with a reputable software development company. They’ll help you overcome any bumps in the road and ensure smooth collaboration and excellent results.

Build your dedicated team with Neontri

Neontri has 10+ years of experience in custom software development and IT outsourcing services. With a vast network of talented professionals across different technologies and domains, we provide our clients with access to a dedicated team of highly skilled developers who are carefully vetted and trained to deliver exceptional results. 

Our recruitment process allows us to identify and present qualified candidates within just 72 hours, significantly reducing time-to-hire. Our efficiency is further demonstrated by outstanding placement metrics: 67% of our presented candidates receive job offers, with an exceptional 82% acceptance rate. This high success rate underscores our ability to not only find the right technical talent but also ensure an optimal cultural and professional fit for both parties, making Neontri a trusted partner in building high-performing technology teams.

Final thoughts

Hiring a dedicated software development team is a fast and cost-efficient way to access top talent who are motivated to do their best on your project. However, for a successful project outcome, you should pay close attention to a vendor’s technical expertise, communication style, cultural fit, and team scalability. A company’s location is also important, as it governs aspects such as legal protection and communication challenges. 

Compared to other popular outsourcing locations, Eastern Europe — particularly Poland — offers an attractive combination of affordable rates and talent availability. The region also boasts high English proficiency, strong tech education, and stringent data protection laws. Contact us today to learn more about hiring a dedicated development team in Poland!

FAQ 

What are common pitfalls when choosing a dedicated software development team? 

Choosing a dedicated development team comes with pitfalls. Opting for the lowest cost can lead to substandard delivery. A poor cultural fit may complicate communication and cause conflicts. Skipping background checks risks weak technical skills and poor outcomes. Lastly, setting vague expectations makes it harder to assess project results.

You can avoid these by setting clear expectations and goals from the start, paying close attention to a company’s culture and communication style, and vetting success cases and experience by reaching out to customers.

What are the best practices for choosing the right software dedicated development team? 

To choose the right software development team, make sure you:

• Clearly define your requirements in terms of technology stack, project scope, and deadlines
• Outline all possible risks and create a plan for mitigating them
• Vet the team’s past work by checking customer reviews and asking for direct references
• Evaluate the team’s communication skills and cultural fit to ensure you’ll be comfortable working with each other
• Verify legal and security protocols followed by the dedicated team
• Start with a small pilot project (or a fragment of a larger one) and proceed only if you’re happy with the result

By following these steps, you’ll avoid common pitfalls and lay the foundation for a long-term partnership that will benefit both sides.

How do I ensure a dedicated team understands my business goals? 

To communicate your business goals effectively to a dedicated team, start with a detailed brief that outlines your objectives, industry, audience, and the problem your product will solve. In initial meetings, explain your business model and success metrics. Encourage feedback by inviting the team to ask questions for clarity. Finally, assign a product owner from your team to act as the main communication link and to keep business goals front and center throughout the development process.

Following these best practices will ensure the team stays aligned with your business objectives.