Imagine for a moment that you are working on a new app – let’s say a marketplace selling, buying, and exchanging educational services. During the course of work, however, you come up with a new function, for example, geo-fenced local search for teachers and students. You know this functionality will improve the value of your product, but you have neither the proper skills, nor the human resources to develop it.
What do you do? Initiate lengthy and costly recruitment processes for additional in-house specialists? Let an external software house do the job?
That is when Team as a Service comes in handy.
What is Team as a Service (TaaS)?
Most organizations that lack a workforce for certain projects contract freelancers or entire software development agencies, or need to bear the cost of employing new in-house team members.
Team as a Service (TaaS) is a flexible business model that allows companies to temporarily assemble specialized, dedicated teams of professionals in order to complete certain tasks. Instead of incurring high employment costs, you can outsource the services of a team that can handle all aspects of software creation: UX/UI design, development, testing, project management, cybersecurity, etc.
How does Team as a Service work?
You simply contract a group of specialists to help you and your team develop a certain product or function. It is as simple as that. Instead of hiring an in-house employee, an external freelancer, or a software company, you onboard a Team-as-a-Service provider that supports you in your project.
You are free to choose between full-time, half-time, an hourly rate, or a fixed fee. You can collaborate onshore or offshore. You can request any service, including software development, project management, quality assessment, risk management, administration, and marketing.
Regardless of whether you need unique skills or extra hands, TaaS will sort it out for you.
How is TaaS different from outsourcing or in-house hiring?
Both outsourcing and TaaS are strategies to seek professional help from external sources. There are a couple of major differences between them, though, depending on one’s needs and goals.
The traditional method of outsourcing involves contracting out specific, individual talents, companies, or tasks. The entire process or function is delegated to a third-party partner, and often implies a long-term commitment. The relationship between your company and the service provider is usually longer, but stable and durable.
TaaS is a project-specific strategy that brings together teams of experts for short-term goals, allowing for greater flexibility and control over the project. These professionals are used to cooperating with one another, so they not only bring knowledge and skills to the table but also team spirit and effective collaboration practices.
When it comes to comparing hiring an in-house expert versus ordering TaaS services, there are numerous advantages with the latter, too. Cost-efficiency, access to diverse skills, reduced administration workload, flexibility, and expertise on demand are at the top of the list. In the TaaS model, you do not need to scout for, interview, select and train talent, or deal with employee turnover or burdensome hiring procedures. All of which are not free and incur a hidden cost that many often forget about.
How can TaaS benefit my business?
When it comes to filling gaps in your organization, either in terms of the size of the team or the skill set, TaaS can offer several advantages.
Flexibility and scalability
The TaaS model gives businesses the ability to rapidly form and disband specialized teams in response to the constantly shifting requirements of projects. It allows businesses to scale their workforce up or down as projects advance.
This adaptability is extremely valuable in a fast-changing IT environment and works exceptionally well for short-term or less predictable projects. Companies can efficiently allocate resources, gain access to a wider variety of diverse skill sets, resist market fluctuations and stay competitive in general.
It also offers additional safety in times of global recession, when it is much easier to put a third-party team on hold, since letting go of in-house personnel, again, has a burden of hiring costs that you would have to face in the future, when you decide to scale up again.
Access to diverse skills
In the TaaS model, you gain access to a large pool of experts with a variety of skills. You are able to put together a team that possesses a high level of specialization and is specifically tailored to meet the demands of your project.
Moreover, the TaaS model is perfectly suited for remote work. It enables you to tap into a global talent pool, potentially allowing you to access experts from all over the world, which can be especially useful for specialized skills.
Control
When compared to more conventional models of outsourcing, Team as a Service enables businesses to maintain a higher level of control over the project. A group of external professionals collaborates closely with your team. They follow the same schedule and share a common goal. In a way, they are incorporated into your project, giving you full command of their work. You supervise the external team as though they were employees of your company. This, in turn, allows for agile course corrections of the project and efficient communication, ultimately enhancing the probability of successful software development.
Transparency
In the TaaS model, you can get a thorough overview of contracted talents because you work directly with the TaaS team on a daily basis.
At the beginning of your collaboration, clear tasks and goals need to be defined. Regular communication is maintained throughout the project. The best TaaS companies will offer you tools that improve communication, illustrate project progress, track time, keep records, and perform reporting.
Finally, you receive transparent billing, which may include a task-by-task or hour-by-hour cost breakdown, which in turn will help you understand the invoice.
Adaptability and focus
Using the Team-as-a-Service model, your organization can rapidly adapt its workforce to the shifting requirements of a project. As a result of the adaptability offered by TaaS, it is possible to increase or decrease the size of teams in response to changes in demand, which ensures that resources are utilized most effectively. This is especially helpful for projects with a short-term time frame, workloads that fluctuate, or unexpected demands for specific skill sets.
Additionally, the external team is focused on your project and your project only. By outsourcing specific tasks or projects to TaaS providers, your core team can concentrate on the strategic aspects of your business while leaving specialized tasks to experts.
Simplified and cost-friendly hiring
TaaS enables you to access specialized knowledge without making the substantial financial commitments required to hire full-time workers. In this model, you pay for services only when you actually use them. Upon completion of a project, TaaS engagements can be terminated easily.
Finding and hiring qualified individuals to fill full-time positions can be a time- and budget-consuming process. Using TaaS, you are able to launch your project more quickly by gaining access to teams of professionals who have already been pre-qualified and are prepared to get to work.
Moreover, there is a reduced administrative burden. Managing HR-related tasks such as payroll, benefits, taxes, and other administrative responsibilities can be challenging. TaaS companies take on these administrative responsibilities, allowing you to concentrate on your business goals.
What should I consider when choosing a TaaS company?
This is a crucial choice that could greatly affect the outcome of your project. When making your decision, keep the following things in mind.
Is there a language barrier?
Although some companies provide services in local languages, the generally accepted standard is English. Today’s collaboration knows no geographical barriers. Obviously, the level of foreign language knowledge may be different for certain team members, but this should not affect a seamless and effective workflow.
Thankfully, coding language is universal, and a considerable part of software development terminology is English.
Do they have the required tech and industry expertise?
The TaaS company you intend to work with ought to have a solid track record in the fields of technology and industry that are relevant to your project.
Team certifications, experience with the specific technologies you need (such as geolocation, chatbots, cloud solutions, etc.), and a deep understanding of your industry’s challenges, regulations, and trends should all be taken into consideration.
Do they have the necessary skills to manage remote teams effectively?
Professional TaaS companies provide good conditions for comfortable and effective remote work. They implement tools, technologies, and practices that support it.
Firstly, clear work policies should be defined, like communication channels or working hours (fixed hours, flex). A TaaS company should also be ready to deliver services from a hardware and software point of view: VPNs, video conferencing, cloud solutions, or project management and communication apps. After all, good and regular communication is crucial for a smooth development process. Obviously, high-speed internet is a must, but we assume this is an accepted standard.
Security measures are of the utmost significance. A TaaS provider should be able to list on demand cybersecurity software they work on, such as data encryption, multi-level authentication, employee training, etc.
Other factors of remote work readiness include performance monitoring, effective onboarding practices, and legal compliance.
How do they handle issues such as employee turnover or team member conflicts?
As a startup founder or leader, you cannot afford to have frequent changes in external team members. Onboarding, training and “melting” into the project or in-house team or company culture simply take too much time and effort and can ruin your software development schedule (if not success).
A TaaS provider needs to be able to demonstrate that it has well-designed employee retention programs, soft and tech skill development pathways, consistent feedback culture, and coaching strategies. Even additional perks and benefits like English lessons, health insurance, and informal company meetings matter for fostering team loyalty.
Complex projects, especially those run under time pressure, may lead to conflicts between team members. HR departments should be able to detect and address them from the start. By identifying specific personal traits, team members should be supported in getting to know and understanding each other better.
What kind of services can I expect from a TaaS provider?
A TaaS model can briefly be described as staff augmentation, and your company can be augmented by the external team in any field your partner has mastered, such as:
- conceptual work
- product design
- softtware development
- project management
- cybersecurity
- testing
- …and more.
Keep in mind, however, that your company’s needs might be best served by a combination of in-house employees and TaaS teams. It is the nature of your project that should determine those proportions.
How to choose the best TaaS company
To guarantee successful collaboration, the process involves a number of steps.
Step 1. Define your project goals
It probably comes as no surprise that each software-related process should start with defining goals, and so it is with choosing a TaaS partner. Specifying objectives fosters clarity of expectations and reduces the risk of misunderstanding.
Well-defined goals will help you decide what kind of TaaS partner you need and what sort of services are required. Clearly defined objectives will also assist you in identifying specific skills, expertise, and qualifications for your project, as well as in establishing a budget and timeline.
Step 2. Search for Team-as-a-Service providers
Ask for recommendations from coworkers, peers, or LinkedIn professionals, and conduct an online search to find TaaS companies that specialize in your industry. Keywords in Google or Bing will be of great help, but keep in mind that regular software development agencies often provide staff augmentation services too.
Step 3. Compare testimonials and case studies
In today’s world, people are suspicious of marketing claims, so there is no better evidence of a successful collaboration than a satisfied client. Testimonials serve as social proof that solutions created by or in cooperation with an external team really work.
Case studies are an effective tool for determining whether the TaaS companies you are considering are experts in the desired field. They will assist you in learning about the tools and workflow of your potential TaaS provider and verifying its performance parameters.
Step 4. Interview the selected provider
Ask your chosen business partner about their approach to software development within the TaaS model. Inquire into their experience in your industry or technology. The size and seniority of their staff, software and communication tools they use, Agile methodologies applied – it all matters in day-to-day collaboration. After all, their team will become a part of your team.
Step 5. Hire and onboard the TaaS team
Lastly, trust your instincts. Hire a TaaS company that not only has the necessary technology and industry knowledge, but also shares your project vision. Once you define your goals and agree upon a time frame and budget, you can start onboarding the TaaS team.
Why should RST be your trusted Team-as-a-Service company?
Here at RST, we’ve spent the last 25 years helping international companies build their MVPs, scale them and, in some cases, even become Europe’s 2nd largest logistics platforms, as it happened with Trans.eu, who hires more than 100 people from our company’s talent pool.
With our staff augmentation services, you can expand your team and fill talent gaps with the most skilled developers, project managers, testers, etc. Share your goals with us, choose your technology and collaboration model. Let’s start developing together, but first let’s get in touch. The market will not wait for your app forever.
