Hiring a Remote Software Development Team: The Guide for 2022

The benefits of remote development cannot be overestimated. More and more businesses are establishing a partnership with a development team abroad because this approach allows you to expand your hiring capabilities, the team’s hard skills and receive IT services at a reasonable cost.

The tech outsourcing market globally according to Research and Markets was valued at $342.9 billion two years ago, and forecasts report that it will be equal to $410.2 billion within the next five years.

But how do you hire truly competent developers and successfully complete a project with a remote approach? This article will cover the aforementioned question.

What Makes Remote Teams Advantageous?

Let's start with reasons why you should consider working remotely with the development team:

Decreased expenses

Due to the fact that with remote collaboration, there is no need to buy equipment, rent an office, and pay taxes, the list of expenses to cover is significantly reduced.

Unlimited opportunities

Insufficient expertise is a common challenge for many projects. However, it can be easily overcome with a remote cooperation option. You have the ability to hire specialists with the necessary tech skills from all over the world, which expands the possibilities within the software development and selection of the best of the best.

High adaptiveness

A remote software development team can easily fit your dynamic needs. You can quickly and easily scale your team, regardless of the space in your rented office, and make the process of employment less time-consuming.

Stages to Hire Remote Technicians

Let's now find out how to choose the right software development company. A successful choice can only be made if you have invested a fair amount of time and effort in the preparation process:

Define your needs comprehensively

The primary step to take is to clearly and concisely state the requirements for your project. For which platform are you developing the solution, and what features will be there? What functions must it perform? Accordingly, what tech stack should be used?

A number of the above questions will help you properly formulate the knowledge and expertise required for the project. For example, the application for the Android operating system requires competence in programming languages such as Kotlin/Java, while for iOS - Swift and Objective-C are necessary. And in the case of a project involving a cross-platform solution, experience with the Flutter framework, (which helps create a product for different platforms using the initial script), is required. Therefore, we highly recommend disclosing the following points:

• Overall project description, its concept, and main idea
• Essential functionality to implement
• Operating System you would like to architect a solution for

Choosing the right hiring option

Prior to choosing a specific model of employment, make sure you are acquainted with each one. Every project requires an individual approach, as well as different options to partner with the software development team. Let's look at the main hiring options for a better reference point and choose a more relevant option for your project:

Freelancers

Cooperation with such specialists will be most beneficial for the small scope of work or minor modifications of an existing project. The cost-efficiency of this option is provided by not spending money on office rent, hardware, and software purchasing. Also, working with freelancers is a great option to expand the current team and fill the lack of expertise.

However, it is worth mentioning that partnerships with freelancers do not always result in a successful outcome - many unscrupulous individuals offer their services on the condition of an advance payment, and after receiving it, they disappear and stop communicating with the client. Even in case of cooperation with an honest specialist, there is a risk of choosing an inexperienced employee, which will considerably worsen the final product quality. In order to avoid such situations, it is not superfluous to thoroughly scour reviews from verified sources on the specialist.

Assembling an in-house team

Providing an office and all the necessary equipment for your employees working together in one physical space is the main characteristic of this option. If your project is very large-scale and requires a long-term relationship with the team, as well as the ability to accessibility, then this option is highly successful. Large corporations often use the capabilities of this option because their digital products require stable maintenance, support and regular updates. These services are easiest to provide to experts who know the application "from the inside."

Of course, providing all the necessary conditions implies a solid amount of investment - this model is considered the most expensive of the three described.

Outsourcing company

This option is a combination of flawless performance and maximized cost-effectiveness. Such benefits are possible because there is no need to buy the necessary equipment and provide the necessary facilities, as in the case of the first option described above. The term outsourcing in the technology industry means the transfer of all your duties and headaches related to the project execution to the team of developers who have already been hired and have proven expertise in the software architecture domain. This allows you not to waste time on the hiring process and, at the start, to discuss your requirements and proceed directly to the project implementation.

Select a region of a team

Cooperating with a team remotely enables you to extend your search and find the best candidates all around the world. That is why it is essential to understand the following fact - in the case of working with a remote team, the high price (to illustrate, the USA) does not mean the best quality. On the other hand, you also shouldn't choose the region where developers offer their tech services at the lowest price (e.g., India) on the market.

It is recommended to first look at the regions with adequate and reasonable costs. For example, outsourcing companies from Estonia offer their services at $50 per hour. The market for software development in this region is very developed, which allows you to develop a high-quality digital product at an acceptable price.

The following paragraphs reveal the aspects you should pay attention to before making a final choice of the country and specialists there:

• Knowledge of the English language
• Time difference
• Hourly rate
• Level of tech-savviness

How to Successfully Check the Expertise of the Software Development Team

There are a number of aspects worth checking during the hiring process for a productive collaboration. Let's take a look at what steps are worth following in order to hire truly worthwhile experts:

Come up with your needs

Think about what you expect from a successful collaboration with the team and what knowledge and character traits are required to make your project a success.

Conduct a meeting

Test the soft skills of your potential employee during a video call. A live chat will help to understand if the developer is really competent. This step will also help to understand the character traits of the specialist, as well as predict his behavior pattern.

Check hard skills

Conducting a technical interview means verifying software development expertise and competence in working with different digital tools. It will also be useful to look through the candidate's portfolio in order to see if they are really tech savvy. If your competence is lacking, you can bring in a specialized person to help.

Provide an offer

After selecting the right candidate for all the parameters, you need to make a request for the project. The job offer should include your appreciation and commitment to hiring a specific expert. It is also worth offering favorable terms that suit all parties to the deal. After that, the tech specialist confirms or rejects your invitation to the project.

Outsourcing companies, in contrast, do not make you wait for feedback. The agreement is concluded quickly and without delays, after which the project begins in the shortest possible time.

Conclusion

Due to the current market conditions, most businesses of diverse scales and industries choose outsourcing companies because cooperation is simplified and the product is developed quickly, respecting established deadlines. Therefore, as part of the global availability of any team, this option is considered the most profitable and successful.

Author’s bio

Vitaly Kuprenko is a writer for Cleveroad. It’s a web and mobile app development company with headquarters in Ukraine. He enjoys writing about technology and digital marketing.