In-house team augmentation for a software development services provider
3X
faster project development
5
co-developed projects in 2,5 years
100%
project expertise gap closure
Challenge
Lack of in-house coding experts for streamlining the ongoing software development process.
Solution
Incorporation of 5 Modsen developer engineers with the relevant tech stack and domain expertise into the internal team.
Tech stack
React, React Native, Node JS, PHP, WordPress.
Business vertical
Logistics
Initial project team size
6 specialists
Cooperation period
Ongoing since April 2021
Modsen augmentation team
9 developer engineers
Client
2.5 months ago, a renowned US software outsourcing company that provides a wide range of IT services to businesses worldwide, reached out to Modsen with a view to hiring a team of skilled, quickly adaptable, and dedicated staff augmentation experts who could boost the ongoing custom software development process our client was working on.
Project Scope
Our partner’s challenge consisted in the shortage of available in-house experts to keep up with the custom web app development pipeline, complex in architecture and logic. The client turned to us in search of quality offshore staff augmentation services and put forward the following requirements for the future team:
- Senior-level specialists with the necessary tech stack expertise.
- Adjustment to the work within the client’s time zone.
- Full-scale involvement, and an initiative to find solutions to help speed up the development process and optimize resources for other projects.
- Creation of algorithms for strict consideration of all data available and configuration of accurate patient treatment plans.
- Long-term cooperation with an ambition to the subsequent involvement of the team in other projects.
- Conditions to guarantee top-notch monitoring of the team’s performance on the project.
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Cooperation process
Requirements clarification
Technical staff augmentation is a process where thoughtful comprehensive preparation is the key to a smooth issue-free partnership beneficial for all the parties involved. To ensure the success of our long-term cooperation, Modsen CTO arranged 2 online meetups with the client to delve into the scope of work and identify the number and characteristics of the tech resources needed.
Selection of specialists
As soon as the requirements for the outstaffed team were uncovered, Modsen CTO got down to selecting reliable, knowledgeable, and experienced engineers, who would be a perfect match for the client’s challenge. When compiling a list of suitable specialists, we focused not only on relevant expertise within the given tech stack but also on English language proficiency, and the ability of a person to work according to the client’s time zone as it differed considerably from the Central European one.
In-house testing
High onboarding velocity was stated as one of the primary client requests since the speed of the software product development could have a tremendous impact on the lives of millions of cancer patients worldwide. The team of 6 specialists chosen to assist our partner in building an AI-driven online platform for accurate patient diagnosing and treatment joined their in-house team within 7 days from the moment the team augmentation request was received at Modsen.
Seeing ourselves as a “staff greenhouse”, we put great emphasis on upholding and advancing our system of continuous employee training, upskilling, and testing. The non-stop cycle of studying, testing, and practical on-project skill polishing starts as early as a candidate accesses Modsen team at the pre-employment assessment stage and goes on throughout the years of work at our company.
Despite the fact that each Modsen tech specialist is an expert in one’s own domain whose competencies are being constantly tested and improved, our partners may request to arrange additional brief domain-focused tasks for potential project team members to complete. Our American client decided to omit the extra-testing option as the deadlines were tight and the portfolios our tech specialists possessed left no questions about their suitability for the project.
Onboarding
The 100% of clients who turn to Modsen in search of impeccable quality IT staff augmentation services mention streamlined onboarding as one of their top priorities. This case wasn’t an exception, so we had to ensure that our team of 9 senior-level developer experts would delve into the ongoing web development project within 1.5-2 weeks tops. Coherent in-house processes at Modsen allowed us to join our partner’s in-house team within 10 days from the moment the first online meetup with the client was held.
Project execution
Collaborative approach
When dispatching high-end tech specialists on projects, we make sure that their communication and teamwork skills are also on point as the quality of collaboration and transparency between the teams directly impacts the quality of the software under development. The communication between the in-house and outstaffed Modsen team was arranged on the basis of Slack and encompassed daily meetups and weekly retrospective calls.
Domain expertise
The range of software solutions implemented by Modsen team in cooperation with the client was a broad one but the case under discussion required the team’s experience in the realm of Logistics and leveraging cutting-edge web development techniques. When selecting the specialists, we focus only on senior-level experts in the Logistics domain enjoying 3+ years of relevant hands-on experience and ready for high workloads.
Flexibility
Raising agile and adaptive team augmentation specialists is the key to delivering unmatched software development results. The team of 9 Modsen engineers dispatched on the project showed impressive adaptability results, seamlessly integrating into the team and switching to their code and documentation writing style.
Scalability
One of the many IT staff augmentation benefits is the option to scale the team up or down according to the current project requirements. Our team worked with a crew of 9 for 6 months, and approaching the launch phase, the client decided to cut the outstaffed project team to 3 developer engineers who completed the lengthy work.
Versatility
Reliable staff augmentation companies understand that having unique narrow-specialised IT experts is great but versatility is what makes outstaffed professionals valued and highly sought-after. At Modsen, we strive to deepen the existing tech skills of our team members and at the same time broaden their domain experience and tech stack coverage to be able to provide our partners with universal tech soldiers, able to quickly adapt to a project’s specificity and bridge multiple expertise gaps.
Monitoring
At Modsen, the IT staff augmentation process is accompanied by round-the-clock team’s progress monitoring using our internal employee management system. Apart from that, each specialist working on an external project is supervised by a company manager, whose task is to review the daily and weekly efficiency rates and keep an eye on the overall mental state of a person to avoid performance dropping and burnout.
Reporting
During the cooperation period, Modsen project team members regularly submitted weekly and monthly progress reports and discussed them directly with the client to streamline the project’s advancements and ensure the timely incorporation of product adjustments.
Results and outcomes
Modsen team dispatched a selection of senior-level tech specialists with in-depth competence in the required domain and tech stack. Within 10 days, we formed a top-class external team and provided our partner with:
9 senior-level developers on the React, React Native, Node JS, PHP, and WordPress tech stack.
High resource performance according to the customer`s work schedule.
Systematic transparent reporting on tasks performed, project KPIs, and working hours spent on certain tasks.
Team communication control and application of Scrum methodology on the project.
The joint development of the Logistics web product resulted in one of the most long-term partnerships in our practice. The decision to augment one’s in-house team with Modsen experts significantly boosted the velocity, efficiency, and quality of the products developed by our partner.
X3%
boost in project development velocity100%
bridging of existing project-related expertise gaps5
jointly developed projects in 2.5 years