Team Extension: All You Have to Know

One of the reasons companies worldwide choose to manage their technology projects remotely is the adaptability of software development outsourcing. Team extension is one of the most common strategies because the global growth market is expected to reach $82 billion by 2025.

Companies that must quickly close the talent gap, meet pressing deadlines, and launch a top-notch product in a highly competitive market should consider trying software team extension.

In this article, we propose figuring out more about development team extension, its upsides and downsides, the potential difficulties, processes, and how to smooth out your in-house improvement process with distant software engineers with the most extreme proficiency.

Team Extension: What Is It and How It Works?

Software team extension includes drawing in outer engineers who commit their time and abilities to your organization entirely. An extended development team completes a particular project within the allotted time frame. In the meantime, many people work as though they are your permanent employees. They become a part of the larger team, work toward the same objectives, and adapt to the company’s culture.

IT team extension refers to augmenting an existing development team with external professionals, often from a specialized outsourcing company or a freelance pool. Integrating these external resources into the internal team to address specific project needs, bridge skill gaps, or accelerate development timelines.

Team extension also involves hiring a third party, which will help you find experienced developers quickly and successfully. 

Here is how team extension usually works: 

• Identifying Project Requirements

Outsourcing IT team extension assesses the project requirements, skill gaps, and resource needs. Your vendor determines the specific areas where additional expertise or manpower is required.

• Candidates Selection

When you work with the development team extension partner, the company identifies and selects suitable candidates based on your requirements. Careful sourcing of candidates is the main focus of your vendor. Factors like expertise, experience, reputation, and cost are considered during selection.

• Onboarding and Integration 

An extended team is onboarded onto the project. This includes establishing communication channels, granting access to necessary tools and systems, and familiarizing them with the project objectives, scope, and team dynamics. They are integrated into the existing team structure and workflows. If you choose a cooperation with a third party – onboarding and good communication establishment will be sorted by them.

• Project Completion and Transition

The extended team involvement may end once the project is completed or the specific requirements are fulfilled. The extended team work along with your current employees remotely long-term.

Overall, the primary goal of team extension is to enhance the capabilities and capacity of the internal development team by leveraging remote external expertise. It allows organizations to scale their workforce based on project needs. These specialized access skills may not be available internally, accelerating development timelines while maintaining control over the project’s strategic direction.

Benefits of Team Extension Model 

• Niche Skills

Many businesses want to stand out from the crowd and meet the needs of today’s customers when it comes to digital products and software solutions. This is typically accomplished by putting the most recent technologies into use. Whether the project or industry your company is in, the team extension model can help you find dependable remote software developers wherever you need.

• Motivated Specialists

An extended team works with you remotely but full-time, giving full inclusion, commitment, and work quality. Engineers mix in with your group, team up to settle all issues, share the accepted procedures they know, and add similarly to other advancement experts from your inside group. This is a mutually beneficial collaboration.

• More Flexibility

The extended development team only sometimes reports working on-premise due to the convenience of digital technologies. Instead, your developers can continue to work from anywhere in the world. 

• Cost-Effective

Hiring local software developers in Western European or North American countries is constantly pricey. With the help of the extended team model, you can significantly cut costs associated with operations and compensation. For example, team extension Europe offers comparable skills at a lower price by turning to Eastern European developers.

Team Extension Drawbacks 

In addition to the advantages of development team extension, consider possible team scaling challenges when deciding on this model for your project.

• It Takes More Time

Onboarding of extended team members will take some time, even though adding remote developers to your team is quicker than hiring in-house employees.

What to do?

When you hire a professional vendor, the onboarding process will flow smoothly and quickly. Qubit Labs covers all onboarding issues, builds productive communication with your remote team, and makes sure to save your time. 

• Communication Issues

Communication can become more complex when outsourcing IT team extension in different geographical locations or work across different time zones. Language barriers, cultural differences, and the lack of face-to-face interaction can hinder effective communication, leading to misunderstandings, delays, and reduced productivity.

What to do?

Look at the countries where your potential vendor prefers hiring specialists. Due to the wide range of countries where we engage, Qubit Labs will choose a location with cultural proximity, a significant level of English, and outstanding expertise. 

• Extra Expenses

You must pay for the salaries of the extended team in exchange for their stability, skills, and scalability. Despite being an outsourcing model, IT team extension does not guarantee low operational costs.

What to do?

Any unpredictable expenses are a headache for every company. That’s why you should find a vendor that focuses on transparency. At Qubit Labs, you know about the company fee and salaries of each participant of your extended team. With us, it is easy to estimate the budget. 

• Consistency Issues 

Maintaining consistent quality standards across the extended team and ensuring adherence to project requirements can be challenging. Variations in work practices, technical proficiency, and domain knowledge among team members may impact the quality of deliverables.

What to do?

When cooperating with Qubit Labs, we ensure to hire IT professionals who will work with your current team successfully. Our team builds strong and smooth communication so you receive the best quality of work. 

Organizations can mitigate these disadvantages by establishing clear communication channels, conducting team-building activities, providing cultural orientation, defining expectations upfront, and investing in effective project management practices with their extended team to mitigate these disadvantages.  Careful planning, ongoing communication, and close collaboration are essential to addressing these challenges and maximizing the benefits of development team extension.

To simplify and avoid all these steps, you can hire an experienced vendor to do it all for you. Hiring a company will help you to avoid common mistakes during IT team extension and transform weaknesses into possibilities.

5 Reasons Why Opt for Team Extension Europe?

Opting for IT team extension in Europe can provide several advantages for organizations. It’s important to note that these advantages may vary based on the specific country within Europe and the individual circumstances of the project. Evaluating project requirements, budget, language preferences, and team compatibility will help determine if team extension Europe aligns with the organization’s goals and needs.

Here are some reasons why choosing an outsourcing IT team extension in Europe can be beneficial:

• Skilled Tech Workforce

European countries strongly emphasize education and technical training, resulting in a pool of talented professionals with diverse skill sets. Opting for IT team extension in Europe allows organizations to tap into this talent pool and access specialized skills and expertise. For example, Qubit Labs hires remote developers in the top tech hubs in Eastern Europe, but with affordable rates like Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova. 

• Cultural Proximity 

European countries often share cultural similarities and work ethics, making establishing effective communication and collaboration between internal and extended team easier. Cultural proximity can enhance teamwork, streamline processes, and reduce potential misunderstandings, leading to smoother project execution.

• Time Zone Compatibility

European time zones are often compatible with other regions, including North America and the Middle East. This compatibility allows for easier coordination and real-time collaboration between the internal and extended teams, minimizing communication delays and enabling efficient project progress.

• Data Protection

Europe has stringent data protection and privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Opting for team extension in Europe ensures that data handling and privacy practices comply with these regulations, providing organizations with added confidence in protecting sensitive information.

• Technology Expertise 

European countries have a strong focus on technology and innovation. Opting for IT team extension in Europe can provide access to professionals with a broad range of technology expertise, keeping organizations at the forefront of technological advancements and enabling them to leverage the latest tools and frameworks.

How to Hire a Team Extension Partner?

Hiring a development team extension partner is a significant decision that requires thorough evaluation and due diligence. By following these steps, you can increase the chances of finding a reliable partner who can complement your internal team and contribute to the success of your projects.

• Experience of Your Vendor: longest your partner working in the industry, more successful cases, and pieces of knowledge it can share. 

• Hiring Locations: ask about their preferable destinations, and make sure they are suitable according to your budget, time-zone, number of developers, and cultural proximity. 

• Cases and Reviews: reputation is a must for every professional vendor. Look at their case studies to compare them with your company. 

• Values and Focus: regarding working together, your company and vendor must look in one direction for successful work. 

• Service Fee: do not hesitate to ask about the company’s fee in advance. It will help to avoid any budget misunderstandings. 

• Level of Transparency: make sure you know about investment in your third party. Look how easy or hard it is to predict and set up the budget. 

• Flexibility: What would the vendor do if you change your project significantly? That’s a question to ask in advance. 

Need Team Extension Partner? Contact Us!

Team Extension vs. Dedicated Development Team

Team extension and dedicated development team are two comparative models that exist in outsourcing. However, not all business owners know the primary distinctions between them or how to select the best option for their company.

A dedicated development team works independently and is located on the premises of your outsourcing partner, whereas an extended team is part of your in-house team working remotely.

The team extension model objective is to either supplement the existing team with unique technical qualifications remotely or fill in skills gaps. At the same time, a dedicated team is built from the ground up with all of the experts needed to work on your project from the beginning to the launch of the product.

Overall the main difference between team extension and dedicated development teams lies in their purpose, duration, and level of integration. IT team extension involves long-term augmenting an existing team with external professionals to address specific project needs or skill gaps. On the other hand, a dedicated development team is a long-term and strategic approach. It involves setting up a separate, independent team exclusively assigned to work on a particular project or for the organization as a whole.

Why Qubit Labs as Your Team Extension Partner?

Qubit Labs is not your average team extension provider. We are a powerhouse of talent committed to helping businesses like yours. With a proven track record of delivering exceptional results, we have established ourselves as a trusted partner for numerous companies, from startups to enterprises.

One of the core strengths of Qubit Labs lies in its ability to assemble high-performing teams tailored to your specific needs. Whether you require software developers, designers, quality assurance specialists, or other tech professionals, Qubit Labs has a vast talent pool. Moreover, we oversee sourcing, selecting, hiring, onboarding, payrolls and retention. In other words, we are with you on each stage of IT team extension.

Qubit Labs understands that effective communication is the cornerstone of successful partnerships. We bridge the geographical and cultural gaps by implementing robust communication channels, ensuring seamless interaction between your current employees and the extended team. This fosters a sense of unity, trust, and camaraderie, enabling everyone to work together as a cohesive unit towards a shared vision.

Conclusion

Getting an extended software development team for your company can be highly beneficial in addressing skill gaps, accelerating project timelines, and enhancing your overall development capabilities. By leveraging external professionals, you can tap into specialized expertise, access a wider talent pool, and achieve greater flexibility in scaling your workforce.

You can benefit from our experience, established processes, and extensive network of skilled professionals by partnering with Qubit Labs. We help streamline your team extension process, minimize the challenges associated with sourcing, onboarding, and managing external resources, and ultimately contribute to the success of your projects. Schedule a call today and extend your team successfully!