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IT Staff Augmentation Services - everything you need to know

In today's unpredictable and ever-changing corporate environment, the demand for specialized IT services grows every day. However, the scarcity of competent coders is a problem that today's market must confront and resolve. One of the ideas to solve this issue is Staff Augmentation Services in the IT industry.

What is IT Staff Augmentation?

IT Staff Augmentation entails using trained technical personnel from the outside to cover vacant spots on your team temporarily or permanently.

Employee automation software allows employers to select prospective employees that fit their criteria and then cut or extend their augmented team. There are a lot of businesses that use staff augmentation. IT staff augmentation providers assist you in adding skilled technical personnel to your in-house development team on a temporary or long-term basis.

Staff augmentation is an external outsourcing service employed on a contract basis to complement the in-house team's expertise and abilities. This method entails analyzing current workers' skills and determining what talents are required. In general, IT professional staff augmentation is part of overall staff enhancement.

The vendor employs these resources directly; thus, the cost and liability of making new full-time hires are eliminated. That being said, remote developers hired through a staff augmentation company are dedicated to one project at a time.

Staff Augmentation vs. Other Models

Staff augmentation is a type of outsourcing model that uses temporary workers to fill short-term positions in your company. However, there are other models for effective employee sourcing and collaboration with software development companies.

Outsourcing Model

With project outsourcing, you don't have to worry about any details. You won't need any technical expertise or time working on your remote development team, just an app idea. From structuring a team with their developers available to managing all processes on their side, the outsourcing vendor takes care of it throughout your project's development.

Unfortunately, this solution's downside is that customers frequently don't know who is working on their project, what is currently being done by developers, or which decisions are made throughout the process when projects are outsourced.

Within the outsourcing approach, you delegate outsourced developers to achieve a particular aim while retaining responsibility for the associated risks.

In the case of the staff augmentation model, you have more IT personnel on your augmented team, and you're taking on extra responsibilities and having direct control over your staff. As a result, you are not sharing the same dangers of a possible bad outcome as those who have decided on a different cooperation model.

In house team

Of course, it is always possible to implement a project with the help of an in house team. The local team usually has a lot of knowledge about the project, which is extremely important. However, the projects are highly varied, and a given company rarely has the appropriate class of specialists. On the other hand, the cost and time of recruiting an internal team can be enormous.

Thanks to staff augmentation services, you can hire highly qualified remote programmers and dedicate them to a specific project in your organization.

As a result, IT staff support services reduce organizational expenses and prevent delays in software development.

Managed Services

In this model, a third-party organization takes care of everything from start to finish during the creation of your project. You have to pay a fee, and the external business does the rest. As a result, you know who is working on the project and how it's being done.

What is the distinction between staff augmentation and managed services? Staff augmentation gives the project owner a voice in it. It gives them greater control over their project.

Own R&D Center

Some companies decide to establish their R&D center in a country with a more favorable business environment and a wider tech talent pool. Of course, such an investment requires the employment of a minimum of several dozen people and huge costs. In addition, opening your research and development center means that you will have to delve into the country's legal system, learn about its cultural specificity, and bear all the risks yourself. For this reason, this model is chosen only by the largest companies with huge financial resources.

What are the benefits of Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is readily accepted as an alternative employment model. Companies benefit from this flexible hiring. They use the capabilities of highly skilled professionals in a cost effective and efficient manner. The key benefits of staff augmentation are undoubted:

• No recruitment hassles

• Access to vast talent pool

• High productivity level

• Security of intellectual property rights

• Flexible scaling of cooperation

• Support in delivering the project on time

• Cost efficiency

No Recruitment Hassles

The hiring process is complex and sometimes unpredictable. Planning and organizing the recruitment process requires a lot of time and resources. The more in demand qualified IT professionals are, the more difficult it is to get to them. What if you spend six months attempting to fill the position, only to have it quit after a few months? How long do you have to look for an expert before giving up? Do you have the appropriate time and financial resources?

You should know that staff augmentation is more cost-effective and time-saving no matter how you answer the above questions. Staff augmentation may be helpful if you work with vendors with a large database of prevetted experts to match your needs promptly. Thanks to this, you will save time, energy, and money.

Access to the vast talent pool

Staff augmentation gives you immediate access to a huge pool of talents at an affordable cost. You can strengthen your team at any time, thanks to certified IT specialists starting with UI / UX designers and front-end developers to Scrum masters and product owners.

Staff augmentation partner will provide you with great specialists that you would not be able to obtain in the standard recruitment process due to, for example, the too short duration of the project.

High productivity level

The higher productivity from staff augmentation services stems from the fact that developers are exclusively focused on one project for 100 percent of their time, in contrast to a project outsourcing team that may manage several projects. Working for one customer and promoting their grand plan instills higher motivation and dedication.

Security of intellectual property rights

All intellectual property rights are yours from the start of your working relationship with your dedicated teams. You don't have to be concerned.

Flexible scaling of cooperation

Staff augmentation services allow you to increase and decrease the size of the team flexibly. During periods of increased workload, you can empower your team with the right specialists to distribute the amount of work. A freelance developer is often an added value for your team. He has experience in similar projects and can offer you previously unknown solutions. It is a person who will help you solve problems efficiently and avoid potential mistakes.

Support in delivering the project on time

The upcoming deadline is the bane of every project manager. Nowadays, even the slightest delay is associated with financial losses. Anyone familiar with the specifics of the IT industry knows that projects are diverse and often require different efforts. If your team is trying to get the job done on time, but you are far from achieving your goal, you should look for solutions. Sometimes even the most competent, experienced programmers who know how to develop a product need support to complete the project on time. It is one of the examples of situations where staff augmentation services turn out to be the best solution.

Cost Efficiency

The expense of staff augmentation is highly transparent. You won't have to worry about administrative and organizational costs like office space, workstations, or other facilities. You just pay a fee, and the provider takes care of everything while you focus on your core business operations.

This unique staff augmentation model allows you to hire temporary workers, meaning you don't have to hire full-time employees, which can be very costly. You only pay for what you need for as long as you need it.

What are the disadvantages of Staff Augmentation?

As with all models, staff augmentation also has its drawbacks. In our opinion, the most important are the following:

• Increased Managerial Efforts

• Communication Issues

• Little Knowledge of Institutional Practices

Increased Managerial Efforts

Remote staff expansion requires a highly skilled project manager. In addition, the team working on one project is often in different locations, which can cause some management difficulties.

Communication Issues

Communication problems mainly relate to language barriers and functioning in a different time zone. It is sometimes the case with small suppliers who do not have the necessary experience. Therefore, when choosing a partner for cooperation, make sure that he has the appropriate expertise in such services.

Little Knowledge of Institutional Practices

Because this new team is just being introduced, the project manager has to bring the augmented team up to date with company policies. For a job that might be time-sensitive, this could cause a problem and affect delivery time.

Is Staff Augmentation the solution for you?

You now know what means of augmentation staff, what benefits it brings, and what disadvantages it entails. But surely you are still asking yourself if this solution is for you? Strengthening your team is beneficial in the following situations:

• You are working on a project that requires a specific skill set, where none of your in-house team is experienced, and it would be costly and time-consuming to hire new staff. In that case, hiring extended staff would be a great way to fill the skill gap.
• You are working on a large and time-consuming project, and you need a few extra developers to meet the project deadline. Therefore, you can decide to expand your IT team to complete the project on time.
• You're attempting to outsource responsibilities while maintaining greater control over the assigned outsourcing personnel by interacting with them directly. As a result, the team provides consistent results in line with your company's rules and culture.

If you are in one of the above situations, staff augmentation services are definitely for you.

Types of Staff Augmentation

Short-term services

If your company is short on a local team member, it might need short-term staff augmentation services to make up for the loss. If there's a lot of demand for IT workers, you may also use this recruiting method.

Long-term services

This type of staff augmentation service solution is ideal for long-term initiatives if your firm needs to fill a talent gap or avoid the hassle of recruiting.

How to Succeed with Team Augmentation?

The IT Staff Augmentation may significantly influence your company and improve performance if done correctly. Here are some things to keep in mind when putting your model into action.

Identify the skill gap in your business

Each business decision requires detailed analysis. You should evaluate current and future project requirements and match them with the talent audit result. This way, you will know the gap that needs to be filled. Then determine whether you need a specialist for the short or long term.

Choose the right partner

Choosing a business partner is critical, but we know that it is often difficult. It is crucial to find someone who has knowledge on the subject, experience, and understands your business needs and company culture. The topic of choosing a software development partner wisely is pervasive, and we described it in detail in our previous article.

Make hire developers feel like your in house team

When working with augmented staff, you must ensure the correct flow of information to ensure synchronization of the work of the in house developers and remote team. Also, don't forget to build relationships with all project participants. The relationships do the job in a good atmosphere, and the motivation and commitment of the entire team grow.

High level of communication

High-quality communication effectively contributes to the successful implementation of projects. Communication affects the entire project implementation process. The team needs to understand the vision, mission, and design requirements.

Use tools and technology

To assist in idea sharing and tracking project progress, utilize project management and team collaboration systems like Slack, Asana, or Jira. Communication difficulties might lead to misunderstandings that might significantly impact the entire project. As a result, these technologies are critical for fostering communication and cooperation throughout the development process.

Conclusion

The demand for tech professionals with specialized skills is growing faster and faster. That's why more and more companies in the IT industry are struggling with the problem of hiring people with the right set of skills. Staff Augmentation is a response to the current market needs. Instead of hiring an entire team of full-time employees, who will be fired at the end of the project and the tasks are completed, you can hire external specialists to take care of the tasks. The staff augmentation model is a great solution that allows IT companies to minimize operating costs while maximizing productivity and efficiency.