Custom Software Development Blog by Syberry

The integrated team is a new software development industry model under which the vendors’ team works closely with the clients’ IT department, integrating into their processes and procedures rather than working separately. This model is becoming increasingly popular, especially in scenarios where clients need to introduce a new product to the market quickly. Outsourcing and out-staffing might not necessarily be the most effective solutions in these cases, whereas the integrated team model encapsulates the advantages — in terms of pricing, quality, and process — of both fully outsourced and fully in-house models.

All stories of failed vendor-client software development relationships are similar. On the other hand, every successful collaboration is unique. The reasons for failure could include issues with communication, language and culture barriers, or lack of understanding of the business and technical requirements by the vendor.

While successful projects have more varied stories, however, that success is usually built on a variety of components that lead to successful partnership between the vendor team and the client.

Agile methodologies rule the software development world nowadays, and one of their goals is to build self-organized teams for every project. Of course, that raises the question of whether relying on self-organized teams will leave managers out of a job. If a team is capable of performing the work on their own, why would we need managers at all?

Part of this concern likely comes from the general uncertainty and opacity about a manager’s actual role and responsibilities. So before we answer the question, let’s give a brief overview what the role entails.

When you imagine a typical software engineer, what do you imagine? A grim-looking, withdrawn person in glasses, who enjoys coding quietly, alone, and hates having to interact with other people? This stereotype should be long gone soon, as the software development world is changing, and soft skills like communication are on the rise.

All modern software development frameworks emphasize the importance of communication. One of the core values of the Agile manifesto is that “individuals and interactions are more important than processes and tools.” Does that sound counterintuitive? Let’s analyze what is behind this principle.

A lot of things about Scrum-based software development are set in stone, such as the roles involved and the kinds of meetings teams must hold. However, there are some things that can vary from project to project and company to company. One of those is team size. So, what factors influence the optimal team size, and how do you determine the right size for your project?

The product owner is a “connecting link” between the development team and the client. The goal of the product owner is to guide the development team toward creating the most valuable product possible to achieve the client’s goals.