Partnering With a Dedicated Engineering Team: How Does It Work?

Recently, we covered why we offer our clients a dedicated team service. At Cheesecake Labs, a dedicated team is a supergroup of talented Cakers, hand-picked to fit your project requirements.

Check out the Part 1 of this article – Partnering With a Dedicated Engineering Team: How Does It Work?

Your dedicated team will help you build whatever digital solution you need, and that team will stick with you throughout the process. 

Today, we’re going to be looking at how our dedicated team process actually works. That way, you can know what to expect before working with your dedicated team and get an idea of how it will go from start to finish.

But also keep in mind that since we are plugging into you, we are happy to accommodate your development process — however you work, we’ll work with you.

The Cheesecake Labs dedicated team process

First, let’s start by breaking down the Cheesecake Labs dedicated team process. Below are the core steps that we go through with all of our clients:

1. From sales to development
2. Onboarding and introductions
3. Development phase

Some steps can take longer than others, depending on your needs and current progress. But wherever you’re at, we’ve found that this process is the most effective way to bring your product to market. 

From sales to development

To start, we’ll work with you to determine who should be a part of your dedicated team. For that, we’ll pair you with a Solutions Architect who will work with you to determine your needs, understand your goals, discuss if you have a process in place, and ultimately provide you with the resources and team you need to be successful.

With this insight, the Solutions Architect will identify internal team members at Cheesecake Labs who can provide you with the expertise to bring your product to life. 

As you might imagine, this process is never the same for two clients. It’s a highly personalized process that will conform to your needs, expectations, and goals for the project. 

Onboarding and introductions

When we’re ready to start the project, Cheesecake Labs will spend a week internally to become fully immersed in the project.

That includes going over all of your notes captured by the solution architect, meetings you’ve had with our teams, and any other information you’ve supplied us with. 

We’ll look at what needs to be incorporated to make this project a success and the technical challenges that we might face.

That way, we can ensure everyone is on the same page, has the full context, and is ready to start. 

This also means you don’t have to repeat the same points over and over again. We’ll make sure that your team is up to speed so that you can focus on getting to work and delivering instructions. 

Then, we’ll have an external meeting to introduce you to your team and kick-off your project!

Development phase

This is where wheels touch the ground, and we start to make progress. As you might expect, this phase is also very different from one client to the next. It will all depend on your needs, requirements, challenges, scope, and of course, the progress you’ve already made on your end. 

If you don’t have designs yet, then that’s where we’ll kick things off.

Your Cheesecake Labs team will work with you and the information you’ve already provided to start creating designs and wireframes for your product. 

If you do already have designs ready to go, then our team will begin working out the core features of your product right away according to your direction.

That includes working on communication workflows, tweaking designs to work with the underlying technology, and getting started on the backlog, development, and release plan. Whatever you need from us, we’ll follow your lead.

Weekly check-ins with your team

Once a week (or more if needed!), you’ll meet with your team, who will check in and update you on various progress and details surrounding your project. This way, you’re never left in the dark or caught off guard. 

The goal of these regular meetings is to make sure that your project is constantly adapting and realigning.

This is important because things are continually changing and appearing during development which will require your project to be flexible.

And in between meetings, we provide a Slack channel where we collaborate and have discussions in real time. 

Another great feature of having a dedicated engineering team is that you’ll have access to a Customer Success Manager.

This is your voice within Cheesecake Labs, the person whose sole job it is to represent your interests during development.

They’ll be there when you can’t be, ensuring that the work never strays from your vision and they will help to re-align and adjust as needed throughout the process. 

Transparency, communication, and collaboration

Transparency, communication, and collaboration are the core values that we work to. Everything Cheesecake Labs does maps back to these values.

We want you and your dedicated team to always be aware of what’s happening, changing, and working. 

And the best way for these values to work successfully is for all of us to work together. We want you to think of your Cheesecake Labs dedicated team as an extension of your team.

We’re here to work with you, in tandem and in sync. 

Part of what makes working with Cheesecake Labs such a great and valuable experience is that we’re not just offering you a team of developers.

We have the experience, expertise, and insight to keep things running smoothly, on time, and within your requirements. 

Cheesecake Labs has the tools and the teams you need

Believe us, we know that bringing together the right tools, team, and talent to a project is a serious challenge.

That’s why we’ve already put in all the heavy lifting for you. By working with Cheesecake Labs, you’re passing off the most challenging parts of development to safe hands. 

Our number one goal is to provide you with the skills and tools you need to succeed and bring value to your business.

We are confident that, wherever you are, however much progress you have or haven’t made with your project so far, we can deliver on that goal for you. 

Cheesecake Labs embraces an iterative process. We know you may not know everything about your project from the jump.

And we know that even when you think you do, a lot can change during the process. It’s why we work hard to keep things flexible, moving with the changes rather than folding when they inevitably arise. Here’s how we do it:

Make adjustments

At various stages during the development of your product, adjustments may need to be made. We always work with you to ensure these adjustments improve your product and never come at the expense of your requirements or needs. 

Offer up new ideas

We’ll always work to streamline things, create efficiencies, simplify and offer up new ideas for features that you may not have considered or thought possible for your project.

It’s a great way to take your product to the next level and create something truly special. Bottom line, we are here to support your efforts and help to ensure a successful outcome.

Incorporate new technologies

We love working with new technologies and will always look for ways to use them in your project.

We’re always looking for ways to keep you on the cutting edge of your industry while still building the app you want. If we see something that will benefit your product, we will bring it to your attention for a discussion.

Make Cheesecake Labs your development partner today

Reach out to our team of experts today and see how a Cheesecake Labs dedicated team can take your project, concept, and work to the next level. 

We look forward to partnering with you!