We live in a time where no company can escape the need for software in its daily activities. It doesn't matter whether you work in retail or own a clinic, whether you're a large enterprise or a thriving startup – you'll need digital tools for many of your regular tasks. This need is natural (…)
We are living in a time where no company can escape the need for software in its daily activities . It doesn't matter whether you work in retail or own a clinic, whether you're a large enterprise or a thriving startup – you'll need digital tools for many of your regular tasks.
From this need, it is natural that another arises: the need to have a technical team that can help you with all your technological requirements, whatever they may be. Maybe you need maintenance for your CRM, support for your infrastructure, or are thinking about developing your own custom platform for administrative tasks. These are all vital tasks for your business, so you need to build a reliable technology team to accomplish them.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Hey, I can just use off-the-shelf software and hire freelancers when I need them.” While this is a valid approach, using it can be quite limiting. Having your own technology team (even a small one) can be extremely helpful in many scenarios, from dealing with small technical issues to massive emergencies.
In fact, most startups care about building a solid technology team simply because they know the value they can get from it. And before you start arguing that having such a team can be expensive, you should know that startups are capable of doing this without breaking the bank. How can they do this? By following these 3 essential steps you can take lessons.
1. Recognize the talent you have – and the one you don't have
Building a technology team may seem like an easy thing to do, but that's far from the truth. There are many things to consider, from technical aspects you need to address to budgetary issues. Therefore, finding the right candidates involves looking for people who meet specific criteria, such as having knowledge of certain tools and technologies, adequate experience and reasonable economic aspirations.
However, before diving into all of this, there is a crucial step to take: think about what you already have and what you don't have. It is very important to take stock of the talents you already have internally.
Maybe you have some technical knowledge or some of your employees are perfect to fill the technology roles you fill at your company. If this happens, some internal reorganization may be all you need to get the right team in place. Of course, taking stock of your talent will likely reveal knowledge you don't have and will have to look elsewhere.
But be warned: Just because you already have the talent at your company doesn't necessarily mean you need to use it. Maybe you can take care of certain technology things, but in doing so, you relegate more urgent business tasks that need your attention. It is necessary to check whether your internal talent is better utilized in current positions or whether internal reorganization is viable.
2. Focus on your core digital needs first
Given the huge amount of digital solutions available on the market, it's easy to get lost along the way and end up using or developing platforms that you don't really need at the moment. For example, you may feel that a mobile app can open a path to gaining more brand awareness. But unless your service is the mobile app, you might be better off focusing on digital tools that can improve your processes and make them more efficient.
Startups deal with this by thinking about their core IT activities and the value they can get from them. For example, if you realize that a mobile app is not currently needed, you will look beyond the mobile developers in the market and focus on other engineers.
What's more, understanding what your core digital needs are will help you decide whether it's better to develop your own custom software or whether an off-the-shelf alternative will do. This is not a minor thing. Custom software development brings many benefits, mainly because it is adapted to your company's requirements and processes. However, you should consider whether you need a fully customized app from the start or whether you can get by with just a few custom features in a boxed solution.
By stripping your digital infrastructure strategy down to its essential aspects, you will be able to easily identify which and how much talent you could use at any given time. So, instead of hiring that mobile app developer to work on an app from scratch, you can outsource the development of some automation modules to an open source CRM, adding much more value.
3. Find the right balance in your development collaborators
Finally, there is the need to understand how you will build the team. You already know which talents you have, which you don't have and which are the main solutions needed for your business. Now you'll have to find the right balance between in-house employees and outsourced developers, experienced leaders and junior programmers capable of handling the bulk of the work.
As always, there are seemingly easy ways to resolve this, but reality shows that the balance is delicate and more difficult to achieve. For example, you might think that hiring a senior developer is enough to handle your entire IT operation. But then, you might find that you have an experienced professional doing work that a junior developer could easily handle. On the other hand, entrusting all of your IT to a few junior engineers can end up backfiring, especially during emergencies.
Additionally, you will have to think about whether you need the technology team to be always available at your company or whether you can work with an outsourced team that can provide solutions on demand. Again, you may need to find the right mix to enjoy the benefits of both.
Startups usually have a few in-house technology employees to handle core IT tasks – infrastructure-related operations, support, and maintenance. They often augment their IT teams with external teams at specific times, such as when they are building a platform or need to perform a system migration.
In the end, it will come down to how much talent you have in-house, how much IT-related activities you need to offload, and how cost-effective the combination can be. You may find that, after thorough analysis, it will be better to outsource the entire IT team or, on the contrary, have a few engineers with varying seniority to take care of the entire IT spectrum.
The right team for you
As you can see, building a technology team following the startup path entails a deep understanding of who you are as a company and what your core needs are. Because startups can't spend money just because, they rely on strategic decisions that involve a mix of in-house talent and outsourced help, depending on the project at hand.
Therefore, following the advice described here, the right team for you is the one that perfectly adapts to your vision and needs. Since you will have to use digital software anyway, the final recommendation is quite straightforward – spend some time considering these aspects before forming a technical team. Doing so can lead your company to more efficient processes, greater value, and a technology-driven mindset that can take you far.
