How to scale your software, insourcing versus outsourcing tech expertise and unlocking the growth you need – this is how tech team services can help you succeed
Need to scale with tech?
While technology is certainly advancing, the local talent pool to operate and execute it is a different story. South Africa is facing a severe tech skills shortage – for example, out of the 26.8 million software engineers in the world, only 121k reside in South Africa. And nearly 40% of those work remotely for overseas companies.
No wonder, then, that traditional hiring models — building large in-house teams — don't work in SA anymore. The process is expensive, slow and risky – there’s really high turnover among software developers.
In response, businesses are shifting towards Tech Team Services to outsource and augment teams to fill talent gaps, execute projects faster, and stay competitive.
Here’s what you need to know…
Tech team services provide on-demand access to world-class development talent without the commitment of hiring full-time employees. Companies can leverage external expertise to develop, scale, and optimise software solutions while keeping internal teams lean and focused on core operations.
Tech team services operate as augmented teams – external developers integrate with your existing team to fill skill gaps, boost capacity, or accelerate timelines – or as dedicated outsourced teams, where a fully managed external team takes ownership of development, from concept to execution.
These services cover three main areas:
Scaling software isn’t just about handling more users — it’s about ensuring your tech stack remains efficient, cost-effective, and adaptable as your business evolves. Companies that fail to scale properly face performance issues, high infrastructure costs, and poor user experiences.
Again, it’s not about the tech enabling your growth as much as having the right expertise to help you execute it properly.
Modern tech teams need to understand vertical vs. horizontal scaling, to help ensure you invest in the right infrastructure to avoid future bottlenecks. They need to avoid costly mistakes and validate the market before committing to development. They need to ensure you operate on the right tech stack before work starts, and empower you through smart solutions – like cloud computing – from the start.
The list is near endless. But the long and short of it is, you need the best of the best. A team that lives and breathes Agile, so that you don’t have to babysit; they can empower you and help you grow.
But how can you be sure to get such a team?
See the full guide to scaling your software, why it pays to invest in custom software and all the latest trends and insights into software development.
When insourcing (hiring and building an internal tech team) is not an immediate option and the freelancers that worked on small-scale projects just don’t scale to match your growth goals, some of the most viable options for growing companies are tech team services like augmented tech teams and dedicated outsourced teams.
It’s not exactly like having your own team, but it unlocks the expertise you need on the spot.
See 4 ways to hire developers.
Outsourcing provides immediate access to expertise. Even companies like Google and Meta outsource to stay agile. But it need not always be a question of either or – the right mix of both is often the most effective approach, helping you balance internal stability with external flexibility.
Read all about balancing insourcing and outsourcing in tech.
See the full guide: How to outsource app development in SA.
Finding the right development team is critical to success. You want to check their experience and past projects, look at client reviews and reputation and evaluate their design and development processes so you’ll know for sure if they’re right for your project.
That’s why it’s best to compare multiple tech team service providers and ensure they offer the full-cycle support you need (not just planning and implementation of tech, but ongoing maintenance, support and IT consulting too) before making a decision.
See 10 essential qualities of good developers in South Africa and how to select the best software developers for your project.
Ready to innovate?
Let our team of digital consultants help you find the right tech team services to get it done better and faster.
