What is the “tech squads” model and its nearshore methodology?
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As businesses look to undergo digital transformation, two strategic concepts continue to stand out: the tech squads model and a nearshore methodology. Together, the two create a synergy that helps firms scale their technical capacity, but without the rising costs of recruitment and outsourcing.
What are tech squads?
A tech squad is a small team that is both cross-functional yet autonomous. The squad is usually dedicated to just one product or mission and, unlike traditional project teams, they’re not siloed by department (developers in one group, QA in another). Instead, a squad contains all the necessary roles internally to complete a project from end to end. So, personnel like the product owner, software engineers, a scrum master and quality assurance specialists.
The unique benefit of this model is ownership. Because the squad is responsible for an outcome as opposed to a list of tickets, it avoids fragmentation and remains aligned with the long-term product health. This often cuts hand-off delays and promotes a culture that’s both agile and experimental because the outcome is more visible. Because the team is self-sufficient, it then decentralizes decision-making, allowing space for fast technical pivots that would otherwise be paralyzed by corporate hierarchies.
The advantage of nearshore methodology
The squad model defines how people work, but the nearshore methodology defines where they are located. It’s a type of outsourcing in software development, but is one that focuses on countries in similar time zones, like a US firm using Uruguayan talent. When time zones are close, the culture and language is too, unsurprisingly.
The main pain points of traditional outsourcing is communication lag and cultural misalignment. In a tech squad environment where daily stand-ups are important, as are improvised meetings, having a team that works during the same hours is a little more like simply having remote employees – only, it’s temporary, and the firm can roll back spending after launch. This alignment means high-intensity collaborative practices are possible, like pair programming, which really improves collective code quality.
A few firms have mastered the art of providing these assembled, high-performance teams that we call tech squads. Applicacorp.com is an important provider of these talent pods, particularly due to its focus on integrating agile squads into existing teams. BairesDev is another provider that leverages a big talent pool across Latin America to form specialized teams. Then there is Gorilla Logic, known for its “Agile Nodes” (emphasizes technical leadership) and Teravision Technologies, which focuses on delivering end-to-end product development.
Why this model is replacing traditional staff augmentation
Traditional staff augmentation tends to place a single developer into an existing team. This has its place, but it can lead to onboarding bottlenecks. The tech squads model already has a self-governing unit that arrives – think of it like hiring a pre-assembled A-Team, and they have their own internal chemistry and established processes.
When combined with nearshoring, it’s a powerful mix because companies get those cost efficiencies associated with augmentation, but maintain high-velocity communication. This will only be more important as AI-driven processes drive faster product launches and a more dynamic market – there is less time for onboarding than ever before.
All in all, focusing on team outcomes rather than individual hours is what minimizes technical debt and allows you to stick to your long-term goals. Tech squads are there to help you do just that.