Brief into IT Staff Augmentation
No matter how much staff you have, you are likely to face some skills or resource shortages because technology is constantly changing. Hiring the right professional can take days, weeks, and even months, this can eventually disturb your business flow and affect productivity.
IT staff augmentation service solves this problem. It is basically a type of hiring method where companies hire suitable experts for an hourly or suitable period of time to fill their technical gaps in the project. This is one of the most popular methods these days because of its numerous benefits. The top benefit is cost! It helps to save cost and time as well as without the pain of screening and hiring.
How does IT Staff Augmentation Work?
Every IT staff augmentation works on their style to provide the best services. It works by hiring short-term experts on a temporary basis. Below is how IT staff augmentation works.
#1. Understanding Your Needs
First thing, you need to identify the expertise or resources you are lacking for your current project. Suppose you have a senior developer who does project management and complex development tasks but for a small feature or module development, maybe he is not that skilled, then it’s better to hire an augmented developer with 2 or 3 years of experience to handle these small tasks.
Pro tip: For additional benefit, if you are dealing with a long-term continuous project, you can include that as well to ensure smooth work without wasting much time.
#2. Partner With A Reputed Staff Augmentation Company
Research and make a list of good IT staff augmentation companies. Start by checking clients’ reviews and testimonials, see what type of professionals they have, and check expertise in suitable technologies and domains.
To get started, it’s important to approach the first staff augmentation company and understand it better.
#3. Choose A Suitable Engagement Plan
Once you have finalized the staff augmentation provider, go through their engagement plans (hourly, monthly, or temporary period)and select the one that fits best according to your project length, budget, and industry. Make sure you consider your project timeline and technical expertise while choosing engagement plans.
Pro tip: confirm whether the service provider allows you to customize the plan in case of any project change.
#4. Talent Matching
Now matching talent, hiring, and onboarding the best experts for your project is the responsibility of the staff augmentation company. They do detailed screening as per the project needs and expertise, followed by interviews, assessments, and trial sessions.
They also check for cultural fit, time zone, language compatibility, and other factors for the best experience.
#5. Integration and Collaboration
Once the right expert is picked, the service providers onboard and integrate the professional into the team. They also help with establishing communication channels, reporting, and other facilities.
Once everything is done, an augmented expert can start working on your client’s project and whatever the help is required.
#6. Scaling & Adjustments
You can also scale and make adjustments with the augmented professionals in your in-house team according to project complexity and the overall skillset required.
Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation
IT staff augmentation offers lots of benefits by filling the urgent skills gaps while saving time and money. This may vary from business to business because some companies may be happy and blessed with the expertise in their in-house team while some companies get the high-paying project done by augmented talent at lower costs to earn more profit.
#1. Painless Recruitment
You don’t need to waste time researching, screening, interviewing, and onboarding the professionals. Once you approach an IT staff augmentation service provider, they handle everything and get the job responsibly done.
#2. Reduces Training Cost
Augmented professionals are well-trained and hired with thorough screenings, interviews, and multiple assessment rounds. So there is no need to train, they know their job well.
#3. Faster Implementation
As the experts are already experienced with technical skills and adaptable to the changing nature of the project, the project can be started immediately without any delay.
#4. Access to Global Talents
You get access to world-class professionals, no matter where they are located. This is beneficial when you are dealing with advanced projects like AI, cloud computing, or IoT that need more technical expertise.
Common Challenges of Staff Augmentation and How to Overcome Them
Apart from all the plus points, staff augmentation has also some cons. The challenges are different for everyone but below are a few challenges that are likely to occur.
#1. Communication Issue or Culture Clash
Access to global talent does not always work on your favor if you are not good with the suitable language or aware of their culture. Hence hiring experts from different regions or countries can sometimes cause issues in the project if the communication is not done properly.
#2. Security Concerns Related to Data
Working with new augmented employees can cause trust issues while sharing sensitive details of the project.
#3. Disagreement Between In-House and Augmented Employee
Different backgrounds of in-house and augmented employees may sometimes lead to disagreements and trouble while working together.
#4. Compliance Issue
Labor law changes from country to country. So if you hire an expert from outside the country, meeting legal compliance may be an issue.
The above things might seem small but they are important to consider. If ignored, can lead to poor results.
When Should You Consider IT Staff Augmentation?
Every business has its own reason to consider IT staff augmentation. Below are some reasons
- If you are running short of skilled IT professionals or suitable expertise.
- You have an urgent requirement for a new project.
- You are facing costly hiring and training costs for in-house developers.
- If you need to meet tight project deadlines.
- You have onboarded short-term or niche-specific projects.
Difference Between Staff Augmentation, Outsourcing, and Dedicated Team
Staff Augmentation
- It includes hiring suitable experts on a temporary basis to fill up the skills gaps in your in-house team.
- You can control and manage the augmented team flexibly like you manage your in-house team.
- You can scale the team up and down according to the convenience of the project.
- Cost-effective choice to handle short-term, temporary, or urgent technical needs.
Outsourcing
- Outsourcing is where you send your project or suitable task to an outside company to get it done on your behalf.
- You have less control over the team because everything is handled by the outsourcing company you hire for your project.
- As the outsourcing is done on a project basis or suitable task basis, there is less flexibility in case there is a change later.
- It is also a cost-effective choice but may add up to extra costs according to the need for resources in the project.
Dedicated Team
- Dedicated teams are team or groups of professionals that exclusively works on one project with full dedication to achieve great outcomes.
- Here, the team operates independently but you have moderate control.
- Dedicated teams are flexible and can be adjusted as per the company’s goals.
- This model is best for companies needing a long-term, dedicated team for continuous development and quality work.
How to Choose the Right IT Staff Augmentation Partner?
Follow these steps if you want to pick the best IT staff augmentation partner.
- Start with deep research to find the right fit of service providers according to your industry, domain, expertise, needed tech stack, and other factors.
- Check the reviews, case studies, and testimonials to get more idea of the expertise they have served to their previous clients.
- Communicate your skills requirements and business goals clearly.
- Evaluate the talent screening and onboarding process of the augmented service providers to get an idea of the quality professionals.
- Consider time zone alignment and communication practices to avoid future circumstances.
- Ask for flexibility of resource and talent adding.
- Review their SLAs and NDA contracts carefully to make sure conditions align with your business requirements.
Why choose Best Remote Team for IT staff augmentation?
We are a certified IT staffing company hence we pick the deserving professionals to offer quick augmentation service in this fast-changing world.
#1. World-Class Team
We have a globally good presence as a top IT staff augmentation company hence we have years of hands-on experience in finding the right gem for your project. All the experts we have in the team are pre-vetted and verified for their expertise.
#2. Top-Tier Security Protocols
Our team is familiar and experienced with security standards and compliance. We follow secure coding practices and strategies to ensure every development meets all the secure standards.
#3. Pay By The Hour, No Hidden Fees
We have a pay-by-hour model that is most used. No hidden fees, simply pay for what skill you hire. You can also upgrade the service model if you need extended service.
#4. Minimal Legal Burden & Paperwork
We handle contracts, tax regulations, employment laws, payroll management, and all legal formalities. So you can completely focus on your business with less admin work and other headaches.