You’ll need to figure out how to deal with your new remote team once you’ve opted to engage a software development partner to help you grow your software development skills. As numerous businesses have shown, adding remote workers to your existing staff can be a good decision. However, you’ve probably heard stories about instances when things didn’t go so smoothly. Lets pitch-in and discuss this topic more in this blog.
In the early days of outsourcing, the so-called “Black Box” concept was prevalent. An outsourced team was allocated a set of specifications for a single piece of software and was expected to develop it from start to finish with little communication. When the specification was entered into the Black Box, all that could be done was to hope. Development houses frequently kept local and outsourced teams separate, with neither knowing what the other was up to. As expected, this technique was a dismal disaster.
What is the one thing that firms with remote software development partners have in common? Software development services for foreign clients have demonstrated that the success of a project is frequently determined by how well the local and remote teams cooperate.
Communication Empowers Collaboration
If you desire local and remote team members to operate well together, you must first recognise that they are all members of the same team. These days, it’s not uncommon for a company’s on-shore team to incorporate one or more remote employees. Key members of the group may not always be present in the workplace for various reasons. Nonetheless, most organisations recognise that contemporary technology has made remote employment a reality.
It is the same as adding remote members from a Software Development partner to your development team. Again, communication is the ultimate key to the success of a hybrid local-remote team. All on the team must know the project’s objectives, how their efforts contribute to its success and the inevitable changes that will occur throughout the project’s duration (and how they should react to them).
Although formal team meetings are done regularly, when all team members are placed near one another, natural office intercommunications and “watercooler banter” frequently suffice. To boost your team’s capacity and capability, you must recognise that your remote workers (developers) do not have access to the informal communication channels you do on-site. In a hybrid team, trust and rapport-building are essential.
It’s easy to underestimate the significance of your project’s success to those working on the opposite side of the planet. However, your remote and local teams are only separated by one factor: time zone. Therefore, the more efficient it is, the more real-time communication it has.
A more structured communication plan is frequently required to keep the entire team on the same page. Many development teams now employ the Agile technique, most notably SCRUM (or a variation). Holding daily stand-up meetings allows you to accomplish two things at once: Staying up with SCRUM model standards while having your entire team on the same page. These risks can be efficiently addressed by forcing all team members to attend these sessions, regardless of location. Furthermore, it’s much easier to keep up with fantastic video, audio, and screen-sharing applications.
These risks can be efficiently addressed by forcing all team members to attend these sessions regardless of location. In addition, it’s considerably easier to keep up with all fantastic video, audio, and screen-sharing applications.
Furthermore, if your software development partner is in a time zone with significant overlap with your local team members, some tools can widen your choice of alternatives even further. For example, many firms profit from retaining their complete team in real-time communication throughout the business day by using products like Zoom, Skype for Business, GoToMeeting, and others. As a result, everything that comes up in passing during the day can usually be discussed and resolved by the team as it comes up, with no delays to the project’s timeline.
Process-Based Collaboration
Nothing irritates me more than working with a team where some members follow a specific method or standard while others may seem to be on a completely different road. On a local group, this would never be tolerated.
When collaborating with a partner to supplement your team with remote developers, it is vital to guarantee that they operate similarly to your local team. Every group member would follow the same procedures and use the same tools in an ideal world. As a result, all team members will be able to see where their colleagues are in their particular work domain. In addition, everyone will be working from the same priority list and timetable, and team members will be less likely to walk on each other’s toes.
All team members should be aware of their roles concerning critical stakeholders. For example, while your local team members may know who the Product Owner is, distant team members must also be.
Team Integration Leads to Collaboration
You’re in charge of a software development team. You know that exceptional outcomes are based on having a tightly integrated team working toward the same goals and adjusting to the inevitable changes and challenges.
Team augmentation has long been employed by Software Development Partners (SDPs) to generate success in their development initiatives at various high-profile firms throughout the world.
Team augmentation can be flexible and cost-effective while preserving team cohesiveness, crucial to the equation’s solution. Choose your integration tools wisely because they are vital! When there are so many alternatives for team collaboration technologies accessible these days, it’s crucial to take your time. Thinking about and planning for effective collaborative tactics as part of your transition to a geographically distributed development team structure will help you reach the balanced, integrated team you need to satisfy your company’s objectives.
Selecting a Development Partner
When developing software solutions for their clients, many corporations are being asked to collaborate with software development firms (internal and external). However, even while this technique has appeal, keep in mind that not all service providers are made equal, and clients aren’t always prepared for the adjustments that come with bringing in an externally managed workforce.
Over the previous three decades, several successful long-term partnerships have developed. Still, there have also been several relationships that have failed to live up to their potential. This part will look at some of the most typical blunders that can be fatal for firms considering this type of arrangement.
To begin with (and this is most likely the most prevalent scenario), some of these organisations employ few (if any) developers. The business strategy is straightforward: you hire a remote staff with the necessary skills and experience. They search and hire a team that meets those qualities in their local contractor market. They add a margin to the contract prices the supplier pays and then resell the unit to you. Even if they have an office or a specific working space for this team, contractors frequently function as your remote team without assistance. While developers are under the contract to work with you for a set length of time, hiring them as long-term employees is not an option.
For the purposes of this article, this model shall be referred to as Contract Reseller.
On the other hand, long-standing development firms hire full-time personnel ahead of demand, allowing greater control over employee recruitment, training, and development. This is a much riskier and more complex business model for providers to operate because they must constantly recruit, train, and retain permanent workers in the hope that they can be sold to clients. However, this is a benefit because these providers are intimately connected with their personnel and make sure that all of them uphold the company’s standards high through training and experience. We’ll call them SDPs for short.
Contract resellers may be a realistic option for gaining short-term access to one or two developers with specific skill sets. However, the nature of contractors makes long-term integration with your local staff difficult. Contractors are always looking for their next contract in the real world; therefore, if you decide to prolong your team for another three months, the same developers may or may not be available. Contract employees are, by definition, temporary. Prices may differ in any case. Because each developer has a unique background and Contract Resellers rarely have corporate standards in place or enforced, each developer’s criteria for their work are likely to differ. It’s a strange decision for the model.
There is no better option for long-term, high-trust partnerships than working with a Software Development Partner. Because of the more stable workforce and workers trained and assessed against well-known corporate standards and accreditations, developers in these firms are more likely to be on a selected career path with the provider.
Whether you design your own bespoke software or modify an existing COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) system, you must first identify who you can rely on to complete the job. The developer must be carefully chosen.
Is it clear from the previous work that they’ve been able to deliver solutions similar to yours? Do they have the resources and know-how to deliver your goods on time? What are the similarities and the significant differences between your and their quality systems? How do they maintain and improve a product after it has been provided and support it?
While professional software development partners will have complete trust in the technology you select to employ in your software development, only you understand the complexities of your business, requirements, and customer expectations. Remember this when choosing software development partners! You should anticipate being substantially involved at the start of custom software development. There is evidence that 90% of the risk in custom development arises during this phase when the software’s particular capabilities are established. It goes without saying that before commissioning, extensive user testing is vital to the success of any system.