Frequently Asked Questions
About ManagedTeams.co
Everything you need to know about building dedicated remote engineering teams in India — from pricing and setup timelines to IP ownership and team management.
What Is ManagedTeams.co?
ManagedTeams.co is a managed remote engineering team provider based in India, operating under Zenkins. We help startups, SMBs, and enterprises build dedicated remote engineering teams with full operational management — including recruitment, HR, payroll, compliance, infrastructure, and delivery governance.
Unlike traditional staff augmentation, we don’t just place engineers and leave. We build, operate, and scale the entire engineering function on your behalf so you can focus entirely on building your product.
- Dedicated teams exclusively allocated to your product
- Full operational management — HR, payroll, compliance, infra
- Delivery governance built in from Day 1
- Technical leadership included in every engagement
Traditional IT staffing agencies place contractors and collect a margin — delivery accountability, retention, and team continuity are your problem. ManagedTeams.co operates as a fully managed engineering partner with a fundamentally different model:
- No shared bench — every engineer is 100% allocated to your team
- Transparent cost-plus pricing with zero hidden markups
- Senior delivery leadership included, not sold as an add-on
- Long-term knowledge retention and structured operational continuity
- You own all IP and code from Day 1 — always
We work across all growth stages — from seed-funded startups building their first engineering team to large enterprises launching full offshore capability centres:
- Startups — MVP builds, Seed to Series B, fast-track onboarding
- SMBs — product scaling, cost optimisation, managed operations
- Enterprises — Offshore Development Centres, Build-Operate-Scale, governance-grade delivery
We serve sectors including FinTech, Healthcare, SaaS, Ecommerce, Logistics, EdTech, AI & Deep Tech, and more.
India remains the world’s most mature and scalable destination for remote engineering talent for several reasons:
- One of the world’s largest pools of pre-vetted software engineers across all major stacks
- 60–70% cost savings versus equivalent US or UK hiring
- Mature IT compliance frameworks and data protection practices
- Strong English proficiency and established async/remote culture
- Time-zone flexibility supporting both overlap and follow-the-sun models
Getting Started
From signed agreement to your first engineering stand-up in 2–4 weeks. Our phased approach ensures speed without compromising on fit:
- Days 1–3: Discovery & planning — goals, stack, team structure, delivery expectations
- Week 1–2: Team formation — recruitment, screening, you approve all final hires
- Week 2–4: Onboarding & integration — Slack, Jira, GitHub, agile ceremonies, stand-ups
Yes — always. We handle the sourcing, technical screening, and shortlisting, but you make all final hiring decisions. We never place an engineer on your team without your explicit approval.
This keeps the speed benefits of our model while ensuring your team fits your culture, technical standards, and communication expectations.
Every candidate goes through a structured multi-stage process before being presented to you:
- Technical skills assessment aligned to your specific stack
- Domain and product experience evaluation
- Communication and collaboration style assessment
- Background and reference verification
- Cultural and time-zone alignment check
We only present candidates we’d confidently hire for our own delivery teams.
Your managed team integrates directly into your existing toolchain and delivery processes from Day 1 — no adapters or translation layers:
- Communication: Slack, Teams, or your preferred platform
- Project management: Jira, Linear, Trello, Asana
- Version control: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
- Agile ceremonies: daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives
- Reporting: performance dashboards and weekly delivery updates
ODC Explained
An Offshore Development Center is a dedicated remote team established in India that functions as a permanent extension of your in-house engineering organisation. Unlike outsourcing, an ODC is long-term, accountable, and 100% yours — your team, your processes, your roadmap.
- Engineers, QA, DevOps, and tech leads exclusively allocated to your product
- Structured governance — sprint cadences, KPI dashboards, escalation matrix
- IP and security-first infrastructure from Day 1
- No shared bench, no rotating contractors
Staff augmentation fills short-term skill gaps on a contractor basis. An ODC is a long-term, structured setup with dedicated teams, infrastructure, governance, and defined KPIs aligned to your strategic goals.
No. This is one of the core advantages of the ManagedTeams.co model. We handle all HR, payroll, compliance, and operational infrastructure entirely on your behalf.
- No Indian company registration required
- No upfront infrastructure investment
- Operational in weeks — not the 12+ months a legal entity takes
- HR, payroll, and compliance fully managed by us
You get all the control and benefits of a dedicated offshore engineering centre with none of the operational burden.
We offer three flexible ODC models designed for different growth stages:
- Monthly Managed ODC — ongoing engagement for long-term product development and engineering continuity
- Build-Operate-Scale ODC — we build the team, operate delivery processes, and scale capabilities over time (our most popular model)
- Flexible ODC Scaling — scale up or down based on business demand with zero hiring overhead on your end
Transparent Pricing
Team costs vary based on size, seniority mix, technology stack, and engagement model. As a benchmark, our clients consistently report 60–70% cost reduction versus an equivalent team hired in the US or UK — while maintaining senior-level delivery quality.
We operate on a transparent cost-plus model — you see exactly what each engineer costs with no hidden agency markups stacked on top.
None. Traditional agencies typically stack 40–60% hidden markups on every engineer billed. Our cost-plus model is completely transparent:
- You see exactly what each engineer costs
- Management and delivery governance fees are clearly itemised
- No surprise charges mid-engagement
- No renegotiation penalties for scaling
We work with teams ranging from a single senior engineer to cross-functional squads of 20+. There is no rigid minimum — we scope each engagement based on your actual delivery requirements.
Engagements run on a monthly basis with flexibility to scale up or down as your product roadmap evolves. We are built for long-term partnerships, not short-term project sprints.
The management fee covers all operational overhead so none of it lands on your side:
- HR management, payroll processing, and compliance
- Delivery governance and sprint management
- Technical leadership and senior delivery management
- Performance reporting and dashboards
- Retention management and team continuity
- Infrastructure and IT environment support
Contracts, IP & Security
100% of all code, IP, and deliverables belong to you — always. Watertight NDA and full IP assignment agreements are implemented from Day 1. There is zero ambiguity and zero shared ownership.
- Full IP assignment contracts in place before work begins
- NDA coverage for every team member
- Zero shared capacity with other clients
- Your code repositories, your infrastructure access controls
Data security and compliance are built into the engagement model — not retrofitted. Standard provisions include:
- GDPR-aligned data handling and processing agreements
- Secure cloud environments with access controls and audit logs
- VPN and encrypted communication channels
- Role-based access controls and least-privilege principles
- Security-reviewed infrastructure by default for ODC setups
Since all IP and code is fully assigned to you from Day 1, there is no data or code handover risk. Your repositories, credentials, and deliverables are yours throughout the engagement.
We also provide structured knowledge transfer and offboarding support to ensure continuity — whether you’re transitioning to an in-house team, a different model, or winding down a project.
Running Your Team Day-to-Day
Both — by design. You retain full product and technical direction (what to build, priorities, roadmap decisions). We handle all operational management so that overhead never lands on your plate:
- You own: product roadmap, sprint goals, technical direction, team access
- We own: HR, payroll, retention, performance ops, reporting, infrastructure, escalations
A dedicated Senior Delivery Manager is included in every engagement as your primary operational point of contact.
Performance management is fully handled by our delivery team. If a team member is underperforming, our Senior Delivery Manager will identify it through KPI dashboards and performance tracking, initiate a performance improvement process, and — if needed — facilitate a fast replacement with minimal disruption to your sprint cadence.
Full visibility at every stage — this is a core principle of our model, not an optional add-on:
- Daily stand-ups and sprint ceremonies in your time zone
- Weekly delivery reports with KPI snapshots
- Shared dashboards for velocity, ticket throughput, and team health
- Direct access to your engineers at all times
- Regular review calls with your dedicated Delivery Manager
India Standard Time (IST, UTC+5:30) naturally provides significant overlap windows depending on your location:
- US East Coast: 3–5 hours overlap in the morning (IST afternoon)
- US West Coast: async-first model with end-of-day syncs works well
- UK / Europe: strong overlap — IST morning aligns directly with European business hours
- Australia / APAC: excellent overlap across most of the working day
We align team start times and stand-up scheduling to maximise your overlap window during discovery.
Growing & Adapting Your Team
Yes — scaling is one of the primary structural advantages of our model. You can expand or reduce team size based on evolving roadmap demands, market conditions, or budget cycles — without the overhead of individual hiring or agency renegotiations on your side.
- Add new engineers in as little as 1–2 weeks for a pre-qualified match
- Reduce headcount with no penalty beyond standard notice periods
- Add new skill domains (e.g. adding AI/ML to an existing dev team)
Our pre-vetted engineers cover the full modern technology stack across all major roles:
- Frontend: React, Next.js, Angular, Vue.js, TypeScript
- Backend: Node.js, Python, Java, .NET, Laravel
- Mobile: Flutter, React Native, iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin)
- Cloud & DevOps: AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, CI/CD
- Data & AI: AI integration, LLM/RAG, data engineering, automation
- QA & Testing: Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, manual QA
- Roles: Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, Scrum Masters, UI/UX Designers
Yes — many of our clients start with a focused team of 3–5 engineers and progressively expand into a full Offshore Development Centre over 12–18 months. Our Build-Operate-Scale engagement model is specifically designed for this journey:
- Start with the team size that makes sense today
- Expand capability, team size, and governance as you grow
- Transition to a full ODC framework when the time is right
Getting started requires no upfront commitment. The process begins with a no-obligation discovery conversation:
- Step 1: Submit your team requirements via our contact form or schedule a discovery call
- Step 2: We scope your team structure, stack, and engagement model
- Step 3: Receive a full cost-transparent proposal within 5 business days
- Step 4: Sign agreements and kick off — your team is live in 2–4 weeks
Can’t Find What You’re Looking For? Let’s Talk.
Our team is happy to walk you through exactly how ManagedTeams.co works, what your team would cost, and how quickly you could be live. No sales pressure — just answers.