Whether you are looking to drive innovation, or you are experiencing any of the 9 signs your company needs more developers, it's time to look at how to scale your development team.
In our industry "scale" typically means "spend more". While that is often the case, at Creo Solutions we work with your team to find ways to scale without breaking your budget.
Let's look at 5 keys to efficiently scaling your development team to deliver innovation for your business.
1. Collaborate with Customers to Identify Opportunities
Our industry never sits still. Customer needs are always changing and competition is continually advancing. Are you working on the projects that will deliver the best results? Or is your development team working on projects that you "think" are the most important?
Engage with your customers - both internal and external - to gather feedback and identify their needs. Customer insights are invaluable for ensuring your team works on the projects that will impact your business and deliver the highest return on investment.
Here are a few tools you should be using to gather customer insights:
Surveys and Questionnaires Regularly conduct surveys to collect feedback on your products and services.
Customer Interviews Conduct one-on-one interviews to understand individual customer experiences.
Customer Feedback and Support Data Review customer feedback and requests that come into your contact center, marketing team, and sales team.
Usage Data Analysis Analyze how customers use your products to identify patterns and areas for improvement.
Want to learn more? We recommend checking out The Ultimate Guide to Gathering Customer Insights from the Product Marketing Alliance.
2. Define Your Scaling Goals
Clarify your objectives for scaling. Whether you aim to develop new products or expand your market reach, setting clear and measurable goals is crucial for success.
You may have various goals for scaling your team including:
Develop New Products Innovate and create new telecom products to stay ahead of the competition and meet customer demands.
Enhance Existing Services Improve and expand current services to increase customer satisfaction and retention.
Expand Market Reach Scale your team to support expansion into new markets, both domestically and internationally.
Increase Efficiency Streamline development processes to reduce time-to-market and operational costs.
Improve Customer Experience Develop features and services that enhance the user experience and address customer feedback.
Adopt New Technologies Integrate cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, and CPaaS into your product offerings.
3. Assess Your Team's Capabilities
Evaluate your current team against your scaling goals. Identify their strengths and weaknesses, and pinpoint skill gaps. This will help you understand:
Where you need to invest in training
Where you need to invest in additional resources
Where you need to create new roles and add expertise
We like this article from McKinsey that provides a structured approach to aligning your team to the critical competencies of your company. Following this structured approach helps build your company's competitive advantage by aligning talent and capabilities with strategic objectives.
4. Leverage Expert Development Talent
Having the wrong developers slows down your entire software development process. We like this article from Codebots that highlights the biggest risks in software development. Having the wrong developers on your team magnifies risks in project estimation, requirements gathering, code quality, and productivity.
For some roles you want developers who understand the telecom industry. These developers will be working on:
OSS/BSS development and integration
Real-time communications and messaging services
Numbering and vendor management
For other roles you may want developers who have worked extensively in other industries. They need to understand the requirements of those industries. You may also want them to be unconstrained by typical telecom concerns. These developers may be:
Creating APIs for your technical customers
Developing applications for enterprise users in marketing, operations, and contact center
Implementing AI and other technologies inside of your systems
Creating solutions specifically for industries such as Finance, Logistics, and Healthcare
At Creo Solutions we have deep experience creating innovative solutions for the telecommunications industry. We understand the regulatory and security requirements for our industry, including GDPR, TCPA, CCPA, CALEA, and more. We also understand the expectations of telecommunications customers, including ease-of-use, support for job-specific functionality, and integration with business applications.
5. Develop a Strategic Staffing Plan
Focus on hiring for roles that will have the biggest impact on your innovation efforts. These may be roles that offload work from other team members, or roles that add new skills to your team.
We provide recommendations on 5 challenges your plan should address in our blog post Top Challenges Facing Technology Leaders in Telecoms Today.
One of the biggest challenges you will face is fitting all of your developer needs into your budget.
Our recommendation? Include strategic partners in your staffing plan.
At Creo Solutions we specialize in creating innovative solutions for telecommunications companies. Our team of experienced telecom developers, product experts, and marketing specialists works hand-in-hand with your team to scale your efforts through:
Expertise Providing guidance on industry trends and customer expectations through our relationships with CPaaS Acceleration Alliance, Cloud Communications Alliance, and top industry analysts
Innovation Utilizing our Strategic Sales Catalyst to work with your sales, product, and technology teams to identify and deliver new revenue-generating innovations
Resources Leveraging our team of AWS, Microsoft, and Google-certified software developers to cost-effectively deliver new products, features, and solutions for your business
Are you ready to grow?
At Creo Solutions, we're here to help you every step of the way.
Contact us today and let's work together to address your software development and solution delivery challenges.