QalbIT offers clear, battle tested engagement models for custom software, SaaS and digital transformation work. Whether you prefer fixed scope, flexible capacity or a long term product squad, we shape the engagement around your goals, risk profile and budget.
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Headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, partnering with clients across India, the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
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The right engagement model depends on how clear your scope is, how fast you need to move and how much internal capacity you have. This page is for decision makers who want transparency on cost, responsibilities and risk before they commit to a build.
You are responsible for the outcome and the budget, and you want to avoid open ended engagements or surprise invoices.
How we help
We explain engagement models in plain language, share realistic budget ranges and outline what you can expect at each stage, so you can make confident decisions.
You own the roadmap and architecture, but you need reliable external capacity without losing control or compromising quality.
How we help
We align with your stack and standards, use your workflows where needed and agree upfront who owns architecture, reviews and releases under each engagement model.
You need better systems or automation but do not want to manage a large in house engineering team or chase multiple vendors.
How we help
We propose engagement models that fit your internal bandwidth, communication style and reporting needs so you can stay focused on running the business.
You compare vendors and contracts, and need clarity on risk, billing and how change requests are handled.
How we help
We document how each engagement model works in contracts and SOWs, including assumptions, change control and what is included or excluded in the agreed fees.
Where engagement models apply
Each engagement model can support different kinds of work. We help you map your needs to a model that keeps delivery predictable while leaving room for learning and change.
Greenfield products, platform rebuilds or defined modules with clear functional scope and timelines.
Roadmap execution, iterative feature delivery and technical optimisation for live products.
Bug fixing, small enhancements, dependency upgrades and performance work for existing systems.
Short, focused engagements to clarify scope, validate ideas or audit existing systems before a larger build.
If your situation spans multiple areas – for example a rebuild plus ongoing product work – we often propose a hybrid engagement, starting with a fixed or semi fixed phase and then moving into a retainer or dedicated team.
How we work
Regardless of the model you choose, we follow a clear process so you know what is happening, who is responsible and how decisions are made.
Short discovery or audit engagements usually run for 1–3 weeks, while project builds and product squads typically run for 8–12 weeks or more depending on scope.
Discovery & context
We review your product or idea, existing systems, team structure, timelines, risks and budget expectations.
Key outputs: Shared understanding of objectives, constraints and initial scope candidates.
Model recommendation
We map your needs to fixed cost, time & material, a product squad retainer or a hybrid, explaining pros, cons and cost implications.
Key outputs: Documented recommendation with assumptions, sample team composition and budget ranges.
SOW & onboarding
We prepare a statement of work, define roles on both sides, setup tools, repos and environments and confirm communication rhythm.
Key outputs: Signed SOW and MSA, onboarding checklist, kick off call and first sprint or milestone plan.
Delivery & reporting
The team ships features or tasks in small increments, with demos, progress reports and clear visibility into hours, scope and risks.
Key outputs: Completed milestones or sprints, demo recordings, burn down / burn up views and updated backlog.
Review & adjust
We run regular reviews to evaluate delivery, budget burn, roadmap changes and whether the current model is still the best fit.
Key outputs: Agreed improvements, potential scope adjustments and – where useful – a shift to a different or hybrid engagement model.
Long term partnership
For long running engagements, we move into quarterly planning so you have predictable capacity and clear priorities.
Key outputs: Quarterly roadmap, updated team composition and aligned expectations on velocity and outcomes.
Each engagement model has trade offs around scope flexibility, budget predictability and speed. We help you choose the model that best fits your stage, risk tolerance and internal capacity.
A defined scope, timeline and price for a project or phase. Best when we can stabilise requirements upfront and the goal is to deliver a specific outcome on a specific date.
You pay for the actual time the team spends delivering agreed priorities. Best when scope is evolving or when you want flexibility to re order work based on feedback.
A stable cross functional squad (or dedicated engineers) working as an extension of your team on a long term roadmap.
Hybrid engagements are common – for example, starting with a fixed cost discovery or v1 build, then moving to a time & material or product squad model for ongoing evolution once the product is in market.
These examples show how different engagement models map to real world software initiatives and why we recommended each approach.
A manufacturing client needed a defined set of ERP modules delivered before their financial year end. We scoped a fixed price project with clear milestones and a limited change window.
A B2B SaaS company needed help executing a changing roadmap driven by customer feedback and sales. Scope changed frequently as new opportunities emerged.
A growing platform engaged a dedicated QalbIT squad (backend, frontend and QA) to work alongside their CTO on a multi quarter roadmap.
Names and some details are simplified for confidentiality, but the engagement patterns and trade offs are typical of how we work with long term clients.
Good engagement models are backed by clear communication, reliable tooling and sensible governance. We keep our approach lightweight but disciplined so you always know what is happening.
Regular calls and async updates tuned to your time zone and team structure.
Tools that give you real time visibility into status, priorities and effort.
Healthy engineering practices regardless of how the work is billed.
We are happy to work in your existing tools and repos where it makes sense, or we can propose a lightweight stack if you are starting from scratch. Technology stack · Services
You are not just choosing an engagement model – you are choosing a partner. Our goal is to make it easy for you to understand how work is structured, where your money goes and how we share responsibility for outcomes.
We explain the pros and cons of each engagement model in your context instead of pushing a single way of working.
You work with a compact, senior team, not a constantly rotating bench of anonymous developers.
Everything we build for you – code, scripts, infrastructure definitions – is yours under the agreement.
We treat your data, roadmap and customer information as confidential by default.
“QalbIT helped us choose an engagement model that fit our stage and risk tolerance. We always knew what we were paying for and what was coming next.”
Founder, SaaS product company in Europe
“Their clarity on scope and billing made it easy for our finance and procurement teams to approve a multi quarter product squad.”
Head of Product, mid market company in the Middle East
“We started with a fixed cost phase and later moved into a retainer. The transition was smooth and the squad treated our roadmap as their own.”
CTO, digital platform in the UK
These are the questions founders, CTOs, operations and procurement teams usually ask when they compare fixed cost, time & material and dedicated team engagement models.
Have a question that is not listed here?
Share your roadmap or idea and we’ll help you pick the right engagement model, tech stack and starting point.
Contact our expertsWe usually work with three primary engagement models: fixed cost projects with clearly defined scope and milestones, time and material (T&M) for evolving scopes or ongoing roadmaps, and dedicated pods or long-term squads that plug into your existing team. In some cases we use a hybrid approach, starting with a fixed discovery or MVP phase and then shifting into a flexible, capacity-based model.
Fixed cost is a good fit when you have a relatively stable scope, clear success criteria and a defined timeline. Time and material works better when requirements are evolving, you want to experiment and iterate, or you have an established roadmap that changes based on feedback. During discovery we will usually recommend a model based on risk, clarity of scope and how much room you need for iteration.
For fixed cost projects, the minimum is typically a small discovery or prototype phase of 2–3 weeks. For T&M and dedicated pods, we often recommend a minimum commitment of 6–8 weeks so we can form a stable team, understand your product and deliver meaningful outcomes. For longer-term squads, it is common to work in quarterly or half-year cycles.
Yes. Many clients start with a fixed cost discovery or MVP phase to de-risk the idea and then move into a T&M or dedicated pod model once they have a clearer roadmap. We are comfortable revisiting the engagement model at natural checkpoints such as the end of a phase, a major release or a budget cycle, as long as we keep scope, responsibilities and pricing transparent.
We expect some scope evolution as you learn more about your users and product. In fixed cost projects we keep a clear baseline scope and treat new ideas as change requests. Smaller adjustments can be absorbed within the existing budget; larger changes are estimated separately and planned into a new phase or milestone so that timelines and costs stay predictable.
For T&M and pods we usually define a blended or role-based rate, along with an expected monthly or sprint-wise capacity. You can see how much time is allocated to backend, frontend, QA or design, and how that maps to your roadmap. We share time tracking and sprint reports so you have full visibility into how your budget is being used.
We typically use Jira, ClickUp or a similar board for tasks, along with Slack or Teams for day-to-day communication and short weekly or bi-weekly calls for planning and demos. You see what is in the backlog, in progress, in QA and ready for release, along with clear owners and due dates. For longer engagements we also maintain decision logs so architectural and scope choices are documented.
Regardless of the engagement model, you own the custom code, designs and documentation we produce, as defined in our agreement. Wherever possible we work in repositories, cloud accounts and third-party tools under your control, so you are never locked into a single vendor. Our role is to be a long-term partner by choice, not by restriction.
Yes. Many of our engagements involve collaborating with in-house developers, designers or external vendors. We align to your coding standards, ceremonies and tools, and we agree upfront on division of responsibilities so there is no overlap or confusion. Our engagement model is flexible enough to support shared roadmaps and mixed teams.
Most clients start with a short discovery conversation where we understand your product, roadmap, constraints and internal team structure. From there we suggest a practical engagement model — for example, a fixed discovery phase followed by a pod or T&M setup — along with indicative budgets and timelines. The easiest way to begin is to contact us with a brief summary of your needs or book an engagement discovery call.
Next steps
Share where your product or project is today, what you want to achieve and your internal capacity. We will walk you through how QalbIT would structure the work, which engagement model fits best and what budget and timelines to expect.
Typically we respond within 24–48 hours with clarifying questions and a suggested engagement approach.