15
Mar

dedicated development teamThis article is based on our own experience and many years of successful cooperation with our clients. You definitely should read it if you are thinking about a quick extension of your in-house development team and would like to start working as soon as possible, if you have already tried to work with outsourcing teams or freelancers, and they are not exactly a good fit for you, or if you don’t have resources to open your own software development department in Eastern Europe.

The decision to open a remote development center should always be well informed and carefully considered. It is worth recalling that if you need developers for a short-time or for a small project, it is better to find an outsourcing team. For an outstaffing model, we recommend that you consider the establishment of a remote development center for at least a 6-month period – during this time, you will be able to assess whether or not this model is beneficial for you.

After you make a decision about the establishment of an offshore development center and decide on an outstaffing service provider, you will still have some questions about the next steps, how they will actually proceed. To make it easier and clearer for you, we’ve decided to describe the main steps you should follow, and add some further comments. Usually, the steps are the same, with certain variable nuances, depending on the location you choose. Here we will describe the situation with dedicated development teams in Ukraine.

There are several main points:

  • Requirement gathering
  • Profile sharing
  • Interview sessions and code review
  • Signing a contract
  • Making initial payment & setting up a work-place
  • Get started

Requirement gathering

Includes the information the outstaffing provider would use to find candidates for you. It includes general information about your company and technology stack for developers. It will make it easier to understand your needs and outline the expectations for the further cooperation.

Profiles sharing

In fact, the remote development center is your own development center, so you will be fully involved in the process of selecting the appropriate specialists. You can review their CVs, and know exactly what skill-set these developers have. Based on this information, you will have the ability to consider their candidacy for the further cooperation.

Take special note. Usually, the main reason of turning to Ukraine, speaking frankly, is to save the budget, and we always do our best to offer the most appropriate options for our customers. Please make sure that your requirements for potential candidates are real, and reflect your actual needs. As practice shows, it is reasonable to find two professionals, each specialized in his own domain. For example, hire one coder for front-end development and another for back-end development, so you will get high-quality professionals instead of losing valuable time searching for an expensive “unicorn”.

developers team

If your outstaffing provider is not sending you any resumes, this could simply mean that he cannot find a suitable specialist for you. There could be different reasons, for instance, that the candidate is good but he doesn’t speak English sufficiently well for the job, or doesn’t have enterprise experience in the required technologies, or is not satisfied with the proposed financial compensation. In this case, clarify with your provider what challenges they are facing, and see if it is possible to adjust the candidate requirements.

Interview sessions and code review

As for the interview, you can involve your own technical specialists, or do it by yourself if you have the relevant technical expertise (most people who are interested in opening a development center have strong technical backgrounds). Thus, you can form an opinion about the selected candidate, and will have a clear idea if he suits your team.

Take special note. Some companies can offer you a specialist on the next day after your call, but be careful, as he might be “sitting on a bench”. This means that the company is paying him a salary, but he is not actually working on a project, just waiting for a new one. Or an assigned specialist will work on your project and another project at the same time – here you might face problems with deadlines. As a rule, there is a high demand for good professionals – perhaps a “bench sitter” doesn’t possess sufficient experience for the job. If you are working with a company that does not have side developers, then you will need to be patient. In Ukraine, by law, if a person changes jobs, he needs to give 2 weeks’ notice to his employer. How quickly decisions are made and budgets are allocated in your company is also important.

developers team deal

A lot of developers in Ukraine are good, and that’s why most of them already have a job. Good professionals are sought after, and companies cherish them. Therefore, if a good specialist enters the job market, your decision-making speed is crucial. Literally, it’s a matter of minutes until a recruiter from another company sends your candidate an offer. It happens so that the specialists choose the companies, not vice versa.

To evaluate the code quality, we suggest either a test assignment or review of an existing segment of code. Each method has both strengths and weaknesses.

Test task

Advantage – enables you to evaluate the development speed and quality, and the candidate’s ability to meet the requirements, and to make independent decisions for the task implementation.

Disadvantage – time-consuming for the potential candidate, which could lead to him choosing another company, or to his deciding not to consider your offer. It is also possible that the test will be performed by another specialist.

Code review

Advantage – you can verify that the code was written by the candidate himself, and you can hear his explanation, why one method as opposed to another was chosen, etc.

Disadvantage – not all candidates have relevant code to show. It may be due to NDA agreements, lack of pet projects, or because the candidate hasn’t used the required technology before.

Signing a contract

This refers to signing a contract and NDA between you and your outstaffing provider. Most usually, your provider has a contract template that can be customized and changed according to your situation and needs.

Consideration of legal contract by lawyers can take a lot of time, and be a factor which prevents you from starting work as soon as possible, so it makes sense to ask your outsourcing provider for a copy of their template-contract beforehand. In this case you will not waste time, and start actual work much faster.

Make initial payment

To get started, it is necessary to organize workstations for new employees in your Dedicated Development Team. This responsibility falls to your outstaffing partner, so they will agree with you on the hardware and software which you would like to use for the Offshore Development Center. Just after you pay the initial fee, your provider begins to purchase the equipment and starts working on the arrangement of the workplace.

Please note that by using the outstaffing services, you will know exactly what you are paying for and what salary each of your specialists will receive.

Get started!

Active work begins right after everything is agreed, contracts are signed and the selected experts are approved by you. As practice shows, especially the first time, communication between you and your provider is very important. It is important to understand how your expectations match the reality, make adjustments in the work process, and clarify any questions without hesitation. Thus, you will set up and bring your Dedicated development team to perfection, and you will receive strong support which will allow you to grow and strengthen your business.

Note that if you have an opportunity to visit your new software development department at least once a year, it will have a positive impact and will make your cooperation stronger and clearer for both sides – you and your remote development center.

Please do not hesitate to contact us. At Avicoma, we are helping customers to go through all the steps and successfully open and manage their dedicated development teams.

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