All You Should Know about the Dedicated Team Model in QA

Quality assurance requires extensive time resources and skill levels that are not necessarily found in an in-house software development team. Outsourcing this function is a way to speed up the process, and can be carried out with different pricing models, depending on the scope and scale of the project. The most common approaches are Fixed Price and Dedicated Team Model.

Both are extensions of your in-house teams, but you could look at the differences by making an analogy with a suit. The fixed price model is the off-the-shelf product, with an explicit price tag but no customization options, while the dedicated team is more like a high-end suit you get from a suit-maker, correctly fitted to you and including numerous alterations and upgrades.

When to Choose the Dedicated Team Model (DTM)?

Not all projects need a dedicated team to handle the QA. To continue the suit analogy, sometimes off-the-shelf is good enough. Small and simple projects that have clear requirements, a low budget and no need for enhanced expertise are better off with a fixed price. Here is the list of characteristics that are usually found in projects requiring a dedicated team. Check what applies to your project, if it:

• Needs to be flexible and incorporate changes as work unfolds.
• Requires full-time dedication on non-trivial tasks at hand.
• Requires in-depth know-how in a range of areas while you’re not looking to expand your in-house team.
• Has a sufficient budget to cover a few months’ worth of work, including the time needed to get the team up to speed. The project is long-term.
• Is scalable, but you expect growth without scaling your QA budget accordingly.

What are the Main Advantages of DTM?

As the name implies, you will get to have a hand-picked team of specialists available to help you with each phase of the testing process. Compared with a fixed price, this model ensures there are no delays caused by team members jumping from one project to another or by the inability to find an expert with the necessary skill set.

Dedicated teams usually operate remotely, but they can easily integrate with your in-house specialists and create synergies. It can even be a learning experience for your own team and an opportunity to upgrade their skills by encountering new ideas and approaches. In the DTM, you can pull together different specialists as needed such as manual and automated testers, UX/UI designers, and even Big Data experts.

You will be retaining full control over the project by keeping in contact with their project manager and verifying changes. You will get a motivated team that is not only proactive, but, depending on the outsourcing company’s policy, also available for you to staff it personally. Sometimes you and the outsourcing company’s representative can create the team together and also conduct interviews. It’s the middle ground solution between expanding your own business and outsourcing the testing completely.

Costs reductions are another important plus. A lot of overseas companies offer the DTM at very competitive prices, and the quality of their work is at world-class standards. Your cost structure can vary from one month to the other, in accordance to the specifications, but you have explicit control over monthly costs as each team member is assigned a certain number of hours and a specific fee based on their expertise level. This means significant cost cuts since you don’t have to test different employees until you find the right match for your team. It is just a matter of selecting the right person for the job from an existing pool of specialists. Some companies even offer you the opportunity to take their QA team for a “test drive” and see if you are satisfied with the results.

Are There Any Risks in DTM?

Probably the biggest problem in hiring a dedicated team for QA is finding the right one. You should ask for reviews, case studies and previous experience in dealing with problems like your own. Don’t be afraid to communicate and demand reports and KPIs of their past projects.

To ensure maximum productivity, take into consideration any cultural barriers like language, working style, and even the time zone. Don’t just hope that both parts understand their obligations but take everything down in a written agreement.

Putting together the right team and getting it to speed can take between one week and one month, so be sure to include the costs in the budget structure accordingly. A dedicated team means they will be on the payroll whether productive or not. It is up to you to give them clear instructions and minimize downtime.

Onboarding Processes

Before onboarding a dedicated team, make sure that you have defined the project scope, and it satisfies the previously mentioned characteristics. Once you have completed this phase, you can draft a document and send inquiries to different QA companies.

Based on their answers, create a shortlist of potential partners and get in contact with their representatives, requesting more details about their offer, like the experience and CVs of the proposed specialists, the possible project risks estimated by each provider, and more.

Once you have decided to go with a specific company, draft a final contract with assigned tasks, clear deliverables and timeframes. It’s a good idea even to include penalties for missed deadlines, overlooked bugs, etc.

Once the project unfolds, continue to keep a close eye on deliverables, manage tasks and ask for clarification when results are below satisfactory. The DTM requires a hands-on approach from the client, similar to managing an internal team.

A Win-win Approach

The DTM is recommended to companies seeking to create innovative products that require an iterative approach to QA, from an MVP to a mainstream product with regular updates. Using an external QA team allows in-house developers to focus on their core competencies and improve the product while keeping costs under control and having a fully transparent communication process.