On the one hand, tech startup valuations have rebounded to all-time highs, according to TechCrunch. The US economy also grew 3.0% in Q2, which marks an improvement over Q1’s 1.4% and last year’s 2.5%. On a less optimistic note, cost-cutting remains a top priority for companies ranging from startups to giants like Apple, Cisco, and Dell.
While primarily macroeconomic factors are driving this year’s challenges, there’s lots of room for improvement on a company level in terms of resilience and efficiency. In a recent Boston Consulting Group survey of C-level executives across 25 industries, almost half of respondents admitted that over 30% of their IT initiatives fail to meet deadlines and budgets.
AgileEngine has over a decade of experience leveraging dedicated teams to help clients boost project speed and cost-efficiency. As a digital consultancy serving 250+ brands, we see companies employ this engagement model in many ways to bridge resource gaps and ensure timely project delivery.
Overcoming resource gaps
In the BCG survey, 36% of respondents named insufficient financial and developer resources among the top three causes of project delays and overspending. The resource gap will likely remain a significant concern as tech companies seek ways to get leaner.
Companies can engage more experts for the same budget with dedicated teams or similar remote development models. For instance, the salary estimate of a senior data scientist in Florida, US, falls within the $120,000–202,000 range on Levels.fyi. The estimate for the same position in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is $36,000–67,200. Here’s a quick overview of salary estimates for senior software engineers across some of the top nearshore and offshore locations compared to tech hubs in the US.
In our experience, remote development typically yields 2–3 higher value for the same budget than in-house. That being said, remote teams come with challenges of their own, like talent search, vetting, coordination, retention, and more. For this reason, it’s best to view remote teams as a strategic effort that requires dedicated management resources — or a reliable vendor.
Case study: tripling clients’ ROI through nearshore rates
The ROI gains that stem from nearshore rates make vendors like AgileEngine a go-to option for startups funded by venture capital or private equity companies. In one case, a company providing growth consultation to early-stage startups brought in AgileEngine as a strategic engineering and design vendor across multiple projects.
The caliber of our experts allowed us to build a highly custom data visualization solution that involved high-level math, including gradient-descent algorithms and multilinear equations. In a different project, our experts developed a feature-rich web app enabling users to “test-drive” complex cybersecurity functionality from their browser. In both cases, the client reported 3X higher ROI compared to US-based dev shops.
Ensuring project alignment
For 43% of executives, lack of alignment on business outcomes is the top reason why projects go over budgets and get delayed. Another major cause for delays mentioned by 45% of executives is unrealistic timelines. Remote development models like the dedicated teams address both of these concerns.
At AgileEngine, new projects start with in-depth alignment on project scope, timeline, and expected outcomes. Sessions like this typically engage principal-level project delivery, management, and engineering experts with 10+ years of experience. Alignment with tech leads and delivery experts is also available throughout the engagement to address the ever-changing nature of agile product development. Clients can also consult our starter leads on architecture and technology when building new solutions.
Some of the typical services enabling us to ensure alignment on timelines and outcomes include:
- Continuous alignment with tech leads
- Part-time oversight by delivery managers
- Granular reporting on progress and financials
- Ad-hoc project discovery and strategic planning
- Consulting and on-demand support from Design, Data, AI, and Quality Studios
Client outcomes: improving project timelines and outcomes
According to BCG, having management experts with wide-ranging skills can increase the likelihood of project success by 30%. The presence of specialized engineers who are well-versed in large-scale systems design and machine learning methods also improves outcomes by 14%.
This reflects our own experience: providing 360-degree management, architecture, engineering, and design support allows us to both speed up project timelines and boost specific business outcomes. Here are a few examples of outcomes achieved by clients engaging our dedicated teams.
Bottom line
Despite the industry-wide push for efficiency, one in two tech companies struggles with project delays and overspending. In a survey of C-level executives representing 25+ industries, insufficient resources, unrealistic timelines, and lack of alignment on outcomes are named among the primary concerns for software projects. Dedicated teams, along with other remote development models, offer a comprehensive solution for tackling all of these challenges.
If your digital initiatives are open to remote talent, AgileEngine is happy to consult you on optimal strategies for boosting your project ROI and speed. Share your challenge with our experts and explore strategies for saving costs while shipping top-quality software solutions faster.
