Software is the lifeblood of today’s digital-first businesses, and every business needs to prioritize software development tasks, ensuring good quality without going overboard on expenses. That is why they choose to hire remote developers.
Around 74% of tech leaders actively hire remote developers, attesting to their growth potential. Their engagement model aligns with the context of today’s business- characterized by the need for constant innovation, finding new ways of creating value for customers, and maintaining a competitive edge. Staying at the forefront of technical innovation is a prerequisite for businesses to meet these aspirations, and remote software development is what makes them accessible to all businesses.
Remote development entails businesses entering a contract with an IT services company, which employs the developers. These professionals report to you for the duration of this contract and complete the project at hand. This project-based augmentation of your development resources is suited to today’s evolving business needs.
But how do you find the right expert for your project? How do you ensure this contractual engagement meets its purpose? This blog will give you these answers and an in-depth understanding of a remote team, so you are well-informed when hiring dedicated developers for your business.
Why Should You Hire Dedicated Remote Developers?
Remote developers work from their respective locations on your software development needs. They report to you for the duration of the contract. The term “dedicated” is often used in the context of remote developers. This is because they focus on one project they were hired for and ensure its completion while you focus on other core areas of your business.
Now, let us look at the benefits of hiring remote developers.
Access to a global talent pool
When you hire remote engineers, your business can tap into the potential of skilled professionals around the world. You are not limited by geographical location and need not settle with local talent if it doesn’t match your project needs. Hiring remote developers also enhances the possibility of finding the precise skills for your project.
Cost-effectiveness
The cost of hiring a dedicated team for remote projects is much less than building an in-house team. You do not need to spend on office space or equipment for them. Additionally, you do not have to pay for their ongoing training. This cost is borne by the outsourcing company which invests in their continuous training to ensure they are always ready to meet evolving business requirements.
Besides, the remote development team can be hired only when there is a project need. This eliminates the need to pay constant salaries as in the case of an in-house team.
Flexibility
Most businesses consider remote developers for hire when they need to scale up rapidly. It is very common among businesses to land up with a project that their existing capabilities cannot meet. However, they do not have the time to expand their in-house team to cater to the project and may risk losing the opportunity with resource augmentation becoming an obstacle.
This is where dedicated teams eliminate the rigidity of in-house expansion as they can be hired just when a project need shows up, enabling businesses to optimize and scale up on a project-by-project basis.
Faster time-to-market
Working with a remote software development team accelerates your development cycle and enables you to get your products to the market faster. This is because they solely focus on the project they were hired for and utilize prior experience to navigate the development process smoothly. They ensure your business does not lose time figuring out the complexities and pitfalls of development. Faster time to market helps maintain a competitive edge and leverage first-mover advantages.
Technical Knowledge
Without accurate technical knowledge, your development resources can quickly go out of hand. Your development team should know about all technologies in a developers’ toolkit inside out to come up with the most feasible approach to a particular problem.
Expert developers have this knowledge, which is honed by their years of experience and training by the software development company. Additionally, their exposure to diverse projects, niche requirements, and various industries sharpens their technical knowledge and ensures they can adapt to evolving business requirements.
How To Hire Dedicated Remote Developers For Your Business
An understanding of the important factors to consider when you hire remote developers is important to help you optimize the process. These have been discussed below.
Identify project needs
Identify what your project needs are as this will help you identify which skills you need to outsource. This step will optimize your hiring time and resources by eliminating possible confusion in deciphering requirements. When you’re sure about your project needs, you can get the right expertise tailored to your needs and execute your project plan smoothly. Besides, your project needs will determine the cost of hiring remote developers.
Assess technical knowledge
Rapid technological evolution necessitates constant learning to keep up with it. Not doing so can quickly escalate your development costs. Screen potential experts for their knowledge of technology and see if they can meet your requirements. Businesses often consider remote developers for hire because of their up-to-date technology knowledge and skills honed to perfection with constant practice.
Check work portfolio
Outsourcing software development is a crucial function for your business, given it unlocks your growth potential. As such, when you outsource it to a remote team, you should understand their past projects and solutions. Analyse their exposure to various industries, knowledge and application of various technologies. This will give you an idea of their problem-solving approaches and flexibility to adapt to your requirements.
Collaborative approach
Remote software development needs proactive communication and collaboration for the best results. The outsourced team functions as an extension of your team and ensures to take your feedback on the project. You should also check how they will collaborate with you and your team for inputs, receive feedback for the work they do, and ensure business requirements are translated into their work.
Key Skills To Look For When Hiring Remote Developers
Hiring remote engineers for software development gives you access to global talent, but this process also means selecting the right professional for your project from a vast pool of resources. Therefore, an idea of the key skills to look for in your remote software development partner will simplify the search for you.
Programming skills
The outsourced development team is responsible for bringing your vision to life. As such, it is important to identify the specific programming skills your project requires. Does it involve specialization in a particular programming language? Do you need a front-end developer or a back-end developer? Is there any aspect that they will need to prioritize? Answer these questions from the outset to get the right fit on board.
Knowledge of remote tools
Remote software development rests on clear and effective collaboration. You should analyse the team’s know-how of the various remote project management tools available to ensure you don’t have to spend a lot of time training them. Besides, this will help you stay in the loop throughout the project duration and make it easier to communicate important updates.
Cultural fit
The dedicated team ideally works as an extension of your team. Therefore, it is important to ensure that they can seamlessly collaborate with your team, fit into their culture and values and cohesively work towards a shared goal.
Flexibility
Dedicated development teams should have a flexible attitude towards work. They should be able to adapt to your feedback and ensure alignment of their work with business needs. The ideal outsourced development team can easily adapt to your feedback and ensure the project stays on track.
Problem-solving
Your dedicated development team should be able to solve problems easily, be it with code, bug fixing, quality testing, scaling, and so on. Their ability to analyse the problem from all angles and explore the different approaches to solving it is invaluable for your development lifecycle and ensures you proceed with the most feasible of all solutions.
Busting Common Myths Associated with Hiring Dedicated Developers
Some common apprehensions are always associated with hiring remote developers. However, they are far from the truth and limit you from unlocking their growth potential for your business. Mentioned below are some common misconceptions and the reality behind them-
Losing project control
With the right dedicated team, you never lose control of your project. They will make sure to keep you updated through the communication channel agreed upon. Besides, they will set up the remote project management tool for you, so you are always in the know-how of the project and can communicate your feedback.
Lower productivity
Remote teams have higher productivity levels because they need not spend time commuting to the office and can focus solely on the project they were hired for. In fact, software development professionals prefer working remotely to achieve a work-life balance. This increases their job satisfaction level and enhances their productivity.
Time zone barrier
Offshore developers work in a different time zone, but this does not mean that the time zone difference is a barrier to collaboration. The right offshore development partner will align their work hours to meet yours and ensure round-the-clock development. Their round-the-clock availability, with prior scheduled meetings, time for discussion, and days off, ensures there are no delays in executing the plan.
Data security
With the right dedicated development partner, data security is never a concern because they have complete knowledge of the various security protocols and will adhere to them. This ensures that sensitive information related to your project is always secure.
Development timeline
Seasoned dedicated teams are known for reducing the time-to-market. They know about the technologies used in the development process inside out and the potential pitfalls to avoid in any development stage. With their years of experience with diverse projects, they are skilled in executing and completing the project on time.
Cost
The cost of hiring a remote development team is always less than building an in-house team with the same expertise. A remote development team is engaged on a contract basis depending on the project requirement at hand, eliminating overhead and recurring salary expenses.
Conclusion
Hiring dedicated developers has become the need of the hour for most businesses. This is because cost-efficiency, flexibility to scale up, and preparedness to innovate are among their top priorities and remote development ensures these very benefits. However, certain pre-requisites need to be fulfilled to make the most of this engagement model. We hope, with this guide, we were able to give you an idea of the same and help understand their engagement model better. We encourage you to keep these necessary factors in mind when hiring developers and fully analyse your needs to get the right expert on board.
