Top Successful Models to Extend Your Tech Team: IT Staff Augmentation Tips

An extended tech team helps businesses of every size and budget to ensure project success and keeps the management control with an in-house team, based on engagement models.

What Is an Extended Team Model?

An extended team model allows you to supplement your team with talents or skills needed for projects and is a way to avoid the need for outsourcing. Hiring an extended team complements or supplements your in-house team and does not substitute it. 

The internal and external teams will have a defined set of tasks and responsibilities to perform. The project management team controls and oversees the key points of collaboration and participates in decision-making.

Reasons for Hiring an Extended Software Development Team?

• Hiring an extended development team is a good option instead of outsourcing because the internal team may have limited capabilities.  Certain skills might also be needed urgently, or you’re limited by a tight budget. Hiring a software development team allows for choosing the skills and qualities you need while enjoying a transparent pricing system.

With a trusted software development company, you have the flexibility to upscale and downscale depending on project requirements. With access to a broad global talent pool, the extended team model provides a more cost-effective solution to hiring a dedicated development team at reasonable rates from APAC countries like India and other regions without compromising on quality.

Key Steps of Assembling an Extended Tech Team?

Initial contact

The first thing to do is to explain the project’s business requirements and technical aspects to the managed IT staffing service provider.

Defining requirements

Make sure to assemble an extended tech team based on the knowledge of your current team’s capabilities and weaknesses software’s feature list, and project expectations. 

Selection of candidates

It’s important to select candidates that technically empower the existing team and prove to be the right mental and emotional fit for the company culture. 

Technical interview

Evaluate your potential software engineer’s ability to solve problems independently, meet deadlines, and have strong communication skills as well as knowledge of the advanced tech stack.

Signing the contract

Ensure that the candidates pass the technical interview with the CTO and development team as well as the organizational interview with the product owner and the CEO before they sign the contract.

How Long Does It Take to Set Up an Extended Dev Team?

For most companies with moderate project requirements and a little help from IT staffing services, it only takes a couple of days to find the right talent. However, gathering an extended Dev team of several candidates to bring in a diverse set of technology expertise can take longer.

Benefits of the Extended Team Model

Outsourced web/app development services cost much less than hiring and maintaining a large in-house team featuring diverse specializations. This price difference can significantly bring down the overall project cost. Since an extended team is temporal, one option is signing a contract only for the development period of the project.

Recruiting an extended team through IT staffing companies is more convenient and time-efficient than investing in tools and resources your internal recruitment team will require to do the job.

The extended team model allows for reimbursement on a task basis or a daily/weekly/monthly basis. You can even negotiate different payment terms that suit you. You also have the liberty to hire exactly as many team members as required for the project.

How to Make This Model Work?

Pre-planning

Before you start searching for a dedicated software development team, pre-planning is necessary to know your software’s concept and a list of its preliminary features to scout the right talents. To find reliable custom software developers and companies, only use platforms where you can obtain complete information on prospective IT vendors.

Screening candidates

The key step of assembling the team should be done with a focus on the software’s feature list, your current team’s skills and capabilities, and the project/business expectations. Hold relevant interviews and meetings between your existing team and prospective candidates to ensure that all aspects align with your expectations.

Team onboarding and integration

Onboarding your extended team will require you to establish a strong communication bridge between your external and internal teams. You will also have to provide them with access to relevant project management tools as well as manage their accounts in your HR system. 

On-demand scaling and support

Once you have set up your dedicated software development team, ensure that you timely measure, and deliver additional talents as required with the project’s progress.  You can start with an extended team of 1 developer and scale to become a team of multiple professionals with diverse skill sets by the time the project is completed.

Who Can Benefit Most from Tech Team Extension?

The team augmentation solution works for any IT business looking to fill one or multiple gaps in its in-house tech expertise. Hiring a software development team not only saves time and money but also allows you to retain control over workflow and access to hiring from a vast talent pool.

Conclusion

The extended team model allows an employer the opportunity to access and hire from a top-notch talent pool while keeping the costs in check. 

The in-house team works in close collaboration with the hired extended team and is responsible for making key project decisions. Transparency in pricing, the flexibility of scaling, and the reliability of remote team members make this model a favorable alternative to outsourcing, where you entirely delegate the control of your project to an external team.

Vlink is a reliable IT staff augmentation company that helps you meet immediate temporary hiring needs with highly skilled, experienced, and vetted professionals. We can help you fill different IT team roles like cloud architects, DevOps engineers, data engineers, business analysts, database administrators, and more. See how our extended team model can help your in-house team in the next project – schedule a consultation today.