So, you’ve got an app idea. Your app will be data intensive, will require scaling and potentially has real-time features, which makes Node.js your ideal Javascript runtime environment! It’s an awesome app idea that’s backed by market research, but none of this matters if you don’t have the right development team to nurture your project towards its full potential. The expertise surrounding your Node.js app is just as important as the idea itself, as your team determines its quality and survivability in a crowded market.
Whatever you do, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by the constantly changing demands of the IT market and the regular updates of Node.js. They can be tricky waters to navigate, but that’s why you need the right development team. Are they worthy of the challenge? Or have they fallen behind the play? The following piece will assist in making that decision and help you setup hiring parameters for your own project.
Technical Ability
We’ve already identified the three things that Node excels at. It’s made for data-intensive, highly scalable and real time apps—we’re talking contemporary apps that are lightweight and super fast!
The question being, what are the technical skills that reputable Node.js developers must have to ensure the success of your app? Let’s discuss below.
Node.js Release Lines
It’s essential that you hire a development team that keeps up with new Node.js releases. Node.js gets updated frequently, but has a specific process for its release lines—the community knows which releases will receive long-term support and what will receive short-term support (approx 6 months). What’s important to remember is that the most recent release of Node.js has an 18 month period of receiving active long-term support until it enters End of Life.
Why is this important? Because if you’re producing an app, it’s safer to develop with the latest release of Node.js, not to mention the latest release has improved features. Developers that are up-to-date with the latest release are also likely to have tools that can be used with a range of releases, which helps greatly in creating your app!
Basically, you want to hire a Node.js development team that is proficient with the latest release and are ready to work straight away. If there is some upskilling needed for certain niche aspects of your project, then that’s fine! Upskilling is a standard part of every developer’s job—you can’t expect them to know everything, but you can try to pick people who need to learn a lot less.
Of course, an excellent Node.js development team should also be up to date with JavaScript and be well-versed in popular cloud computing services such as Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform. The more relevant tools and technologies a development team is knowledgeable in, the more potential solutions they can provide for your project. A development team should have the ability to determine when it’s best to use SQL or NoSQL databases—MongoDB and postgreSQL are both very popular choices, and Cassandra shows up more than you’d expect, but favourites like MySQL still have their place. A great development team will be able to make technical decisions that suit your project requirements best.
Appreciation for design patterns is another aspect of an awesome development team. Design pattern expertise results in faster development through reusable code that fixes reoccuring solutions.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are an underrated part of choosing a development team. They have a profound influence on your project and their importance becomes amplified when outsourcing. You could have hired the most technically talented Node.js developer in the world, but if they can’t provide suggestions, receive feedback or appreciate the roles of the rest of the development team, productivity is going to be severely hindered.
Communication is probably the most important soft skill. A developer or project manager needs to keep communication channels open with app entrepreneurs, so that you can provide feedback and ensure project accuracy.
This works best with development teams with regular working hours who are able to schedule planned meetings. The best developers are able to prioritize different information coming from different communication channels. That which needs the most discussion and input should be discussed during a verbal (video or in-person) meeting, while less meaningful pieces of information may be better suited for email, or an even quicker chat app. Communication also builds trust with you and—considering development relationships are often long-term—you want to be able to enjoy the success of your project together. The more trust you have in your developers, the less need you’ll have to find new hires, which saves you a lot of money and time long-term.
The Team
This is limited by your project requirements and your hiring budget. Not to worry—the best development companies are able to provide cost-effective hiring options that allow you to hire developers with a range of expertise at an affordable cost.
First things first, you need more than just a Node.js developer! There’s more to a development team, such as a project manager, designer, server support technician and professional tester to name a few.
Usually, when wanting to hire an entire development team, you hire a developer package. Dedicated developer packages are tailored towards your project requirements and allow you to increase or decrease the size of the team to meet current project requirements. The other bonus of developer packages being that if you need to hire more expertise, you’re already hiring from a development team you’ve built a relationship with. Furthermore, you don’t have to go through the trouble of syncing up two separate hired parties, like you would if you had to hire multiple freelancers.
Below I’ll link a couple of development companies who offer Node.js services and feature dedicated developer packages:
1. Little Giant
This New Zealand agency are on the more expensive side, but do some incredible web design for high-profile clients. If you’ve got the budget and want a top-tier website, they’re an excellent pick.
2. CodeClouds
This team is a global development firm with offices in India, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The bonus here being that they you can nearly always communicate with someone about your Node.js project as they have active developers or designers in different timezones. They have affordable subscription packages for small-medium businesses. With almost a decades worth of industry experience they’ve different dedicated developer packages to meet projects of all sizes—a great choice if want to hire Node.js developers.
Consulting and Project Research
A good Node.js development team will take the time to thoroughly understand your project, and undertake market research to gain even more insight into your market niche, your expected users and how your application will serve them.
In this aspect of development, it’s the project manager’s duty to facilitate communication and ask the necessary questions that help them learn more about your project and your mission. By the end of this you should be familiar with the individual members of the hired development team and know who to approach concerning different areas of your project.
Remember
A great Node.js development team has the best of both worlds when it comes to technical and soft skills, placing a notable emphasis on communication. They should be up-to-date with the latest Node.js release as well as development practices and hiring plans that create cost-effective outcomes.