Who a Virtual Team is for
For longer running web, software and app development roadmaps, Applicable can provide a Virtual Team: one or more developers with a full-time or part-time commitment to your projects. Teams can mix NZ-based staff and top-tier offshore staff, which gives a combination of value and quality that is hard to match by hiring locally or by taking a chance on a marketplace freelancer.
It suits a business with more than one project's worth of work: a web app that keeps growing, a portal with a roadmap, or a product being built in stages. If you have a single, well defined build, a fixed-scope project is the better fit and we will say so at the first call.
Why hire a developer this way rather than a freelancer
A freelancer is one person. When they get a better offer, get sick or go quiet, your project stops and nobody else knows the code. A Virtual Team sits inside Applicable, so there is continuity when someone is away, a senior person reviewing the work and someone in Auckland who picks up the phone.
Benefits of a Virtual Team
Lower costs. The reduced risk of downtime on our part lets us lower the costs to you. With Virtual Teams we also individualise hourly rates for each team member, based on the cost structure that sits behind each person.
Deeper engagement. The existing benefits of a full service development agency are extended to a deeper level of partner engagement between you and your Virtual Team.
Firewalled flexible resourcing. The planned resourcing of the Virtual Team approach firewalls your team from other client needs within Applicable, while still letting you scale the team up or down over time.
Access to our IP. As with any engagement of our services, your Virtual Team can draw on Applicable's own IP, including Hypercode, our build accelerator, to speed up development.
How a Virtual Team is set up
- We work with you to determine the right team composition and the stages of implementation.
- We calculate individual team member costs and put forward a rate schedule.
- Between us we work out and document who leads what.
- If you are happy with the proposed team, responsibilities and rate schedule, we kick off the implementation plan.
For staff we already have, the rate schedule shows their individualised hourly rates to you. For any positions that need recruiting it will be an indicative range, and each hire is subject to your approval.
The engagement model
Billing and payments. From the commencement date we bill for all logged productive hours. You can pay mid-month and end of month in arrears on seven-day terms, or at the end of each month on 20th-of-the-following-month terms if a suitable bond is lodged to cover our credit risk.
Scaling up and down. If project or delivery timeframe requirements change during a project, you can scale your team up or down with only these limits:
- Minimum of 30 days notice to scale down by less than 25%.
- Minimum of 60 days notice to scale down by more than 25%.
- The extent and timing of a scale-up depends on our ability to allocate or recruit people, and your acceptance of their proposed rate.
Rate adjustments. Based on changes in underlying costs, in particular staff pay increments, Applicable may change the rates applied to the Virtual Team with 60 days notice. You can scale down or cancel the team if you are unhappy with a change.
Cancellation. Either party can cancel the entire Virtual Team arrangement by giving 90 days notice in writing.
How the accountability changes
Setting up a Virtual Team instead of a fixed-scope project reverses the cost-delivery equation. Instead of variable costs for a fixed delivery, you have fixed costs and variable delivery, so the accountability on our side moves from cost to productivity. A Virtual Team also usually means more of the team's leadership sits on your side. If nobody in your business can take that on, Applicable's Virtual Product Owner can fill the seat.
Key takeaways
- Applicable Virtual Teams let an Auckland business hire one or more web developers part-time or full-time, mixing NZ-based and top-tier offshore staff.
- You are billed for logged productive hours, on seven-day terms or 20th of the following month with a bond.
- Scaling down takes 30 days notice for under 25% and 60 days for over 25%; cancellation takes 90 days in writing.
- Rate changes need 60 days notice from Applicable, and you can scale down or cancel if you disagree.
- Your team is firewalled from other Applicable clients and can use Hypercode, Applicable's build accelerator.
