What’s A Software Development Team Extension And Why You Should Consider It?

When the project scope becomes too overwhelming for your current technical staff, the natural inclination is to expand your team. However, the traditional recruiting and hiring process may not be the best option if you need to get your product to the market on time. So, what can you do instead?

One alternative is to leverage software team extension services from a reliable tech vendor. This approach allows you to hire a tech expert within a matter of days, keeping your project moving forward. Unlike IT staff augmentation, which fills in gaps in an existing team, team extension involves scaling up quickly by bringing in additional resources with niche expertise.

If you're considering this approach, UVIK is an experienced provider of software team extension and consulting services. They can guide you through every step of the process, help you understand the differences between staffing models, and provide insights on how to integrate new team members successfully. Before we dive in, let's tackle the most important question.

Do you know what the Development Team Extension Model is?

It's a strategy where a tech company hires remote professionals from an external vendor to fill any skill gaps in their in-house team. This approach works by providing niche skills to complement the existing team, thereby enhancing its reliability.

However, this type of remote hiring has more to offer than just filling skill gaps. There are several key considerations to keep in mind when using this model to expand your software development team.

Firstly, the in-house team's management is responsible for the project, whether it's the CTO, the PM, or you. The remote professionals provide complementary skills, and their fees contribute to turning your idea into a product.

Additionally, the company using this model is responsible for the initial development phase. They should have the idea, product feature list, and a comprehensive discovery stage, along with the necessary tech skills before hiring the extended team. While new software engineers may suggest better technologies and processes, the company has the final say.

Project management lies with the client's team, who assigns tasks and monitors progress. It's essential to note that this approach differs from hiring a dedicated team for A to Z product development.

Development Team Extension vs. Dedicated Development Team Comparison

When it comes to expanding your development team, there are two different approaches you can take. One is to invite a few specialists to fill a specific talent gap, while the other involves outsourcing the entire development process to a dedicated tech team that possesses all of the necessary resources and skills

However, the differences between these two models don't end there. Let's take a closer look at what each option entails.

If you only require a few specialists with specific skills to bolster your team for a project, then the development team extension model may be the better choice for you.

On the other hand, the dedicated development team model is more suitable for businesses that want to outsource the entire development process to a tech vendor. This is particularly useful if you don't have an internal tech team, or if you don't want to hire one permanently.

From our experience, it's worth noting that a dedicated development team often costs more due to the end-to-end development and project management involved. This cost difference is often why many companies choose to augment their existing tech department with additional engineers rather than outsourcing everything to an external team.

If you're considering extending your software development team, it's important to weigh the pros and cons carefully before making a decision. At UVIK, we have extensive experience in this area and are happy to share our insights to help you make the right choice for your business.

Extended Team Model Pros and Cons

The extended team model is a commonly chosen staffing option for product development, but it may not suit every business equally well. The uniqueness of this staffing model, the level of involvement of the extended team, and the responsibilities of each party contribute to this. To understand this better, let's examine the benefits and drawbacks of the extended team model.

Advantages of the Extended Team Model:

1. Effortless and speedy recruiting: When it comes to hiring new talent, it can take up to 44 days to close an IT-related position through regular recruitment. However, outstaffing agencies have a vast talent pool and preselect candidates, interview them, and sort them by skills and knowledge required to fill a particular skill gap. Hence, it takes a maximum of three days to find the right fit.
2. Access to niche skills: Professional tech outstaffing companies have specialists in niche technologies because they study industry trends and aim to have well-versed engineers. They source talents from various countries, so you can hire software developers from different parts of the world if necessary.
3. Flexible payment options: When you outsource IT professionals, you can pay them hourly, weekly, monthly, or per-project, giving you more options.
4. Hassle-free management and scalability: Companies offering extensive IT services have access to a large talent pool, so finding the perfect candidate is never an issue. You won't need to put development on hold and pay your existing extended development team for being on the bench just to keep them around.
5. Faster time-to-market: Software team extension is an ideal strategy if you're looking for fast project delivery. You can hire developers with the relevant expertise and spend less time and effort on onboarding. Consequently, product development will take less time than if you went through the regular hiring process.
6. Higher reliability: Full-fledged product development outsourcing has its risks as the clients have little to no control over the development progress and speed. In the extended development team model, development management is fully on the client's side, which gives clients more visibility into the processes to plan further business moves.

However, a few drawbacks come alongside these benefits that you should also be aware of before starting an offshore team extension.

Drawbacks of the Team Extension Model

If you're searching for technology experts for short-term projects and are thinking about team extension, there are some things you should consider. The team extension approach is most effective for long-term projects. The success of the project depends on the quality of communication between the in-house and outstaffed team members. The longer the teams work together and communicate, the stronger their relationships will become, and this will have a beneficial impact on the development process.

Onboarding and training will be required. When you expand a software development team, you are bringing new members into your ecosystem, with specific workflows, values, and rules. Although these individuals will have the necessary skills to start developing immediately, they will require proper onboarding in the company's work environment and practices, as well as getting to know the team, their responsibilities, and so on.

If you have long-term projects and your HR department is skilled in navigating the onboarding process, you should be aware of how to extend a software development team and when to initiate this process to get the most out of it. Here are a few scenarios to consider.

When to Use IT Team Extension?

To select the ideal cooperation model, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of your project and available resources. This includes identifying the project scope and its key characteristics, evaluating your existing IT landscape, assessing the skills and competency of your in-house team, determining your available and required IT resources, recognizing the skills your team lacks for successful project completion, considering your budget, and determining your desired time to market. 

Once these key aspects have been identified, you can then evaluate whether an augmented team is the right solution for your project. UVIK has compiled a list of situations when team extension is the most optimal choice, including when your in-house team lacks specific skills required for project completion, when the cost of hiring talented specialists is unreasonable, when you need to augment your team after development has already started, when you are looking for niche-skilled specialists, when you want to delegate development to outstaffed experts to keep your in-house team focused on core tasks, when you prefer to avoid HR recruitment and hiring issues by selecting the right people among the best-fit candidates, when your timeframe and budget do not permit you to hire specialists independently, and when your project scope is too complex for your in-house team to handle, and you need to hire extra developers immediately to keep up with the development pace. If any of these situations sound like your scenario, it may be beneficial to consider hiring specialists with the expertise needed for your in-house tech department. To extend a software development team in the most efficient and cost-effective manner, consider these strategies.

How to Extend a Software Development Team and Integrate It Into Your Business

If you're considering team augmentation, the first step is to find an outstaffing vendor that can provide you with the professionals you need. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a vendor:

• Check their experience in outstaffing by reading reviews on sites like Clutch, looking at testimonials from previous partners, and asking for recommendations.
• Look for a variety of skills and services offered on their website.
• Look for feedback from their employees and community support on social media.

Once you've chosen your vendor, it's important to ensure a smooth team augmentation process. 

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it right:

1. Identify the roles and skills you need for the project. This will simplify the search process and give you an idea of the approximate rates for your chosen specialist.
2. Select the best-fit candidate(s). The vendor will provide you with a list of candidates to choose from, but it's important to conduct in-person interviews to ensure a good culture fit.
3. Onboard your new team members. Introduce them to your team and your company's history, values, and key insights.
4. Choose communication and management tools. Introduce your team to the tools you'll be using for communication and reporting, and make sure they understand how to use them.
5. Define the project scope, developers' tasks, and workflows for the whole team.
6. Start development. Your team is now set up and ready to begin the product development process.
7. Provide support and a knowledge base to help your outstaffing team adjust to your workflows and schedules. This will make the process smoother and more efficient.

UVIK Experience

UVIK team has mastered team extension and outstaffing services with over 13 years of experience. We understand every aspect of these processes and offer IT staff augmentation services suitable for businesses of all sizes. Our team of developers has genuine expertise in software engineering and is proficient in the latest technologies, having earned certifications from leading technology providers. We make for a dependable tech partner for your business.

You can employ accomplished Python, React.JS, React Native, and Django developers, as well as AI/ML and blockchain specialists, DevOps engineers, and several other talented engineers to enhance your team's productivity and expedite the development process of mobile and desktop software products. The best part is, you need not worry about employee expenses such as vacations, insurance, and sick leaves, as we take care of those ourselves.

Ready to Boost Your Team’s Productivity? Contact UVIK!

Team extension services are an excellent solution for companies seeking to merge the dependability of their existing in-house staff with the specialized skills of outstaffed developers. By providing team augmentation services, technology vendors eliminate the need for lengthy and expensive recruitment processes. This allows businesses to quickly and easily onboard specialized talent at any point in the development cycle.

At UVIK, we understand the importance of having access to a range of experienced professionals and flexible payment options. Our team members can be chosen based on your specific requirements and work on your terms. To learn more about our services, schedule a call with our project manager, and let us help you enhance your development workflow by providing you with the talents you need.