Maximize Outcomes with Team as a Service (TaaS)

In today's volatile market conditions, businesses are facing unprecedented uncertainty and change. In order to stay competitive and adapt to these challenges, it's more important than ever to have a flexible workforce. 

Komponent has revolutionised the way businesses operate by providing top-notch talent and flexibility through their Team as a Service (TaaS) business model, delivering tremendous value to their clients.

Here are some ways we have identified that TaaS adds value to our clients’ IT Solution needs:

What is Team as a Service (TAAS)

Traditionally if an organisation wanted to grow, expand or increase capacity there were only a couple of options.  You could hire Full Time Employees (FTEs) to do this or you could augment your team with contract resources.  Both of these options present challenges both in terms of expense, complexity and impact on the culture of the organisation.  It is also empirically proven that changing the composition of the team reduces the productivity and resets the team back to the Forming/Storming stages of performance (see Figure 1 - Tuckman Model).  

Figure 1 - Tuckman Model

But what if you could deploy an entire team at one time to tackle your project?  Think of it like “Seal Team Six” - a unit of highly skilled and professional members that are trained and ready for any mission.  They have trained, worked, lived and learned together for a long time.   They are a well-oiled machine.  

"With the TaaS model, businesses can bypass the costly and time-consuming forming and norming stages of team dynamics by utilizing an already high-performing and cohesive team, maximizing efficiency and effectiveness." - L. Eddie Smith, Komponent | Lithuania

How does it work? 

Let’s take a look below at Figure 2 -The Stacey Complexity Matrix.   The Stacey Matrix has been around a long time. I think I was first introduced to it during graduate school, but basically it talks about uncertainty that exists and identifying coping strategies in each of the identified dimensions. Ralph Stacey proposed this matrix to help with the art dealing with uncertainty by identifying management decisions on two dimensions: the level of certainty about “what” needs to be done (or what the problem is) and the level of uncertainty around “how” it should be done.

Figure 2 - The Stacey Complexity Model

Traditional approaches to software development address the “what” before the “how”.  They focus more on outputs which leads to late surprises.  This is represented by the more linear line at the bottom of the graph.  

Agile approaches focus on both the “what” and “how”.  Collaboration and iteration with stakeholders in short feedback loops helps to front-load much of the risk and uncertainty to the beginning of the cycle.  This is represented by the more curvy line because we are learning and adjusting - pivoting - at regular intervals to better keep our focus on value delivery.  Very simply stated, in complex and uncertain environments, agile ways of working reduces risk and improves outcomes.  The Agile principles of flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement align with the complex nature of the projects, making Agile an effective approach to managing complexity in software delivery.

How does Agile (Scrum) function in the context of TaaS?

Scrum is a widely-used Agile framework for managing and completing complex projects. It provides a set of rules, roles, and ceremonies to help teams work together in an organized and efficient manner. The core tenet of Scrum is to deliver a valuable product increment in each sprint, which is a time-boxed iteration typically lasting 1-4 weeks.

The Scrum team is composed of the Product Owner, who represents the stakeholders and prioritizes the backlog, the Development Team, who is responsible for delivering the product, and the Scrum Master, who facilitates the Scrum process and ensures that the team adheres to its rules.

The team works together to plan, design, build, test, and deliver product increments during each sprint. The Scrum framework emphasizes continuous improvement and adaptation through regular retrospectives, where the team reflects on its performance and identifies areas for improvement.

In TaaS, a cross-functional team is assembled to work on a project, with the team members taking on different roles (not titles) such as Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team. The team follows a Scrum process that includes sprints, daily stand-up meetings, sprint reviews, and retrospectives to continuously assess and improve their work. The Agile approach allows for regular feedback, flexible adaptation to changes in the project requirements, and transparent communication among the team members, leading to a more efficient and effective delivery of IT solutions in a TaaS model.

Tying it all together

Agile is important to the Team as a Service (TaaS) delivery model because it provides a flexible and iterative approach to project management and software development. Agile emphasizes collaboration, adaptive planning, and delivering working software quickly. In the context of TaaS, the Agile methodology helps ensure that the team is able to rapidly respond to changes in the business needs, prioritize tasks based on business value, and deliver results in a timely manner. This allows businesses to quickly adapt to changing market conditions, stay competitive, and achieve their goals in a cost-effective way.

As a result, you approach your business intelligently and get all the control you need over the work, but your resources aren't being drained. You focus on your core competencies and you deploy your “Special Operations Unit - Seal Team Six”.

If you're looking for a flexible, cost-effective solution that can help your business thrive in today's volatile market conditions, TaaS may be the right choice for you. Don't hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about how TaaS has benefited our current and past clients and to discuss how we can tailor our services to meet your specific needs.

Let's work together to help your business succeed in this dynamic business environment.