In-House vs. Dedicated Teams: Which Approach is Right for Your Project?

The success of your business depends largely on your team selection. Your team can make or break a project, which is why companies often leave this part of management to their HR. The question is should you hire in-house teams that work full-time for your organization, in a physical location, or dedicated teams that specialize in development services? The latter refers to outsourcing where you hire people specializing in specific projects.
When it comes to choosing between in-house and dedicated teams for your project, it's important to consider the specific needs and goals of your business. In-house teams are comprised of employees who work directly for your company, providing a higher level of control and integration. On the other hand, dedicated teams, such as those offered by app discovery services, are outsourced teams that focus solely on your project until completion. This approach offers specialized skills that may not be available in-house, along with reduced costs and the ability to focus on core tasks. To determine which approach is right for your project, consider factors such as project requirements, budget, and desired level of control and flexibility.
Let’s say you have a requirement for IT specialists who can handle tech-related operations for your business. In that case, you should outsource your IT services to dedicated IT service providers who work remotely but can offer premium services because of their knowledge, experience, and specialization in this field. In this post, we will take a look at the differences between in-house and dedicated teams, and help you choose the best.

What is a Dedicated Development Team?

Dedicated development services are where you outsource all operations related to a specific project to a third party that works remotely. The difference between in-house and dedicated teams is that the latter are part of your organization. They work full-time for your company. Dedicated teams are independent contractors who might take on different freelancing jobs, depending on their area of specialization. These teams handle your projects from start to finish. Once you have outsourced the project, say a mobile application development task, to a third-party development team, they will take care of everything—from UI/UX development to software testing.
Hiring a dedicated development team makes sense when you are working on projects that require specialized skills or a group of talented people who can handle your workload flawlessly. And now that remote working has become a common practice, it gives you an opportunity to get a dedicated development team from any part of the world. Communication tools, like Slack and Zoom, have made the process easier, as you can keep in touch with the development team and get regular updates about progress.

What is an In-House Development Team?

In-house development teams refer to the group of employees that work full-time for your business. They are your employees and are supposed to be physically present in your office to carry on their routine tasks. Businesses usually hire in-house teams to get better flexibility and control over the project’s progress. Since these teams work for your company, they can be managed easily. Collaboration is also pretty smooth, as they don’t need to be introduced to your work culture or norms. Your in-house teams won’t require any training before they can start work on development projects.
Coming to the downside, this setting might not work for every business. You will be responsible for selecting individual employees, their onboarding, training, and more. Not every business is equipped to manage these processes, so they outsource the projects to third parties.

Key Differences Between In-House and Dedicated Teams

The main difference between the two lies in the hiring process. For an in-house team, the hiring is simple and like regular recruitment. You interview a bunch of qualified candidates who apply for your job opening, conduct a background screening, and hire the most deserving candidates. You are also responsible for onboarding and employees’ ongoing training.
For dedicated teams, you work with a recruitment agency that either already has the list of people that best fit the project requirements or may look for a suitable team that can handle the interviewing and onboarding processes for you. Let’s see which team is best for your project.

In-House Team

While easy collaboration and quick onboarding are a few benefits of hiring in-house employees, the extensive ongoing training and employee benefits can prove costlier than outsourcing. That said, it makes sense to rely on an in-house team if the project demands. Here’s when it’s recommended.

Building Your Company’s Culture

People in your in-house teams are your employees. They work for your company and are well-familiar with your company’s culture and working standards. These employees will be dedicated to producing your desired results, as they are part of your organization and will align their goals with your company’s objectives.

Smooth Communication

The biggest challenge with dedicated teams is the lack of proper communication, either because of language differences or different time zones. Hiring employees on-site means you will probably work with a group that comes from the same country as you and will speak the same language. Most importantly, the regular in-person interactions with the team make it much easier for both, the developers and clients, to collaborate. This will strengthen the bond between your employees, helping them understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Dedicated Teams

Many businesses see dedicated development teams as a cost-efficient way to accomplish their projects. But it comes with its share of challenges. Differences in time zones, difficulty communicating with them, and teaching them your company’s culture can be super overwhelming. Here’s when you should consider working with dedicated teams.

Specialization

The biggest perk of working with a dedicated team is that they specialize in a specific project. Your in-house team might have the basic knowledge of developing a new software application, but if you need someone who excels in this field, you may have to choose a dedicated development team.
Suppose you are working on a fintech project and need employees for that. An ideal team for your project would consist of banking experts, IT help desk specialists and cybersecurity professionals. A dedicated team has all professionals responsible for handling different parts of your project.

For Long-term Projects

For a project that’s expected to last for a year and requires professionals who can dedicate their full time to it, dedicated development teams make a great choice. You can leave the entire project to the developers and rest easy knowing that they will keep you posted about its progress. An in-house team might take more time, resulting in unnecessary delays. They can also resign in the middle of the project. You don’t have to worry about these problems with dedicated teams.