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What is IT Staff Augmentation?

In this day and age of cutting-edge technology and quick change, firms must strive to be competitive at all times. This is critical in meeting the high-tech requirements of today's clientele. Nonetheless, the difficult fact of modern digital rivalry is that firms require exceptional development teams to prevail. New programming languages and technologies arise in the computer industry regularly, and recognizing and adopting them is critical to success. So, how can you maintain a development team with the correct composition and size to use new technologies and handle current difficulties if IT recruiting is time-consuming and expensive? IT Staff augmentation is the solution.

IT staff augmentation focuses on expanding in-house teams by obtaining the necessary personnel. This allows a firm to remain nimble by avoiding the headaches of hiring in-house personnel, which is especially important when specialists or high-level expertise are required. This blog defines staff augmentation, its relevance, benefits and downsides, several models, and how to employ offshore devs using the appropriate augmentation model.

1. What exactly is IT staff augmentation?

IT staff augmentation is an outsourcing strategy that involves hiring skilled technical resources on an as-needed basis to fill open positions on your team, either temporarily or permanently.

The IT staff augmentation model enables businesses to select only candidates who meet their needs and to cut or expand their augmented team as needed. Many staff augmentation companies provide staff augmentation. IT staff augmentation vendors can assist you in adding skilled technical resources to your in-house development team on a short or long-term basis.

IT staff augmentation is about hiring more people to work with your current team
Figure 1. IT staff augmentation is about hiring more people to work with your current team

IT staff augmentation is a subset of general staff augmentation. Staff augmentation services are a type of contract-based outsourcing service provided by an external provider to supplement the knowledge and skills of the existing in-house team. This strategy entails assessing existing staff capabilities and determining what skills are required.

Because the vendor employs these resources directly, the vendor avoids the cost and liability of making new full-time hires. Having said that, remote developers hired through a staffing firm are committed to only one project at a time.

2. Types of IT staff augmentation

Staff augmentation can be accomplished in three ways:

2.1. Commodity-based augmentation

This sort of augmentation generally increases a company's workforce. It entails recruiting individuals who are not necessarily highly skilled but can nonetheless carry out the core functions of the firm. When there is a lack of staff and organizations need to recruit individuals fast, or when they need to fill roles that do not need high levels of ability, commodity-based augmentation can be used.

2.2. Skill-based augmentation

This type of staff augmentation occurs when companies acquire competent individuals. These people will have more knowledge and experience than regular workers, allowing them to execute jobs more quickly than others in the firm. This person may also possess abilities that are not widely available in other organizations, making them important assets to a company.

2.3. Highly-skilled augmentation

Highly qualified people are hired from outside companies for specialized tasks within such organizations. They may be asked to build new goods or solve complicated problems with existing ones, which need specialized knowledge.

It is also separated into two types: short-term and long-term. Short-term staff augmentation is hiring temporary workers to assist you with a specific assignment. If you're working on an ad campaign, for example, you should hire an intern to assist you with the design aspects. Because it would only be used for one project, this would be deemed short-term.

Long-term staff augmentation, on the other hand, is when you hire someone for a longer length of time, generally a year or more. This might be because your employees' abilities have advanced to the point that they are now crucial to your company, and you require them for the long term.

3. When to use IT staff augmentation?

It is critical to carefully consider whether and under what conditions to grow manpower. Here are five circumstances in which staff augmentation is ideal for your company.

3.1. To supplement your internal team

Even if you have in-house software developers, it is critical to supplement or expand your present knowledge when launching a new product or beginning a new project. In that circumstances, expanding your IT team is a wise decision.

Expanding your IT team
Figure 2. Expanding your IT team

3.2. To fill skill shortages

Your company may have multiple projects going on at a time. Many of these projects require different skills in different specialties. Demand for these particular skills is constantly changing, so you need to dynamically address this issue on a project-by-project basis.

Staffing allows you to add experienced developers, bringing specialized skills that may not be needed outside the projects they're working on. So you don't have to spend time, energy, and money training your in-house employees in these fleeting skills.

3.3. To quickly grow the staff

If you need a local developer with deep knowledge of IoT, Dart, software development, etc., you should be ready to look for a while. The augmentation model helps save time finding and hiring an expert. You just need to contact the vendor, review the developer's resume, and interview.

3.4. To meet the deadline

From job advertisement to onboarding, the hiring process is lengthy. You most likely lack the time and patience required, which takes an average of two months. workers augmentation is a cost-effective solution to add IT workers and satisfy your demands regardless of contract length (short or long-term). It also gives firms rapid access to a worldwide pool of software developers, allowing them to enhance from anywhere in the globe.

3.5. Other models do not suit you

This problem may arise if you want greater control over the developer's work and wish to manage the developer's workload yourself. Integrating software engineers into your team smoothly might provide additional motivation to focus on your business.

4. Benefits when choosing to work with IT staff augmentation

4.1. Saving costs

The cost structure of IT staff augmentation is extremely transparent. You won’t have to worry about administrative or organizational costs like office space, workstations, or other amenities. You only pay a fee, and the vendor handles team augmentation and other things, allowing you to focus on your core business activities.

4.2. More flexibility

You gain access to a diverse pool of IT professionals, from UI/UX designers and front-end developers to Scrum masters and product owners.

It is much easier to replace a developer because the talent pool is larger, and if you work with an IT staff augmentation partner like Daxx, you won’t have to spend extra money on the transition.

You can easily choose the right candidate that meets your need
Figure 3. You can easily choose the right candidate that meets your need

4.3. Always have a high productivity level

In comparison to a project outsourcing team, which can manage several projects concurrently, staff augmentation enables a higher level of productivity because the developers are focused on a single project 100 percent of the time. Working for one client and adhering to their big vision entails greater levels of motivation and dedication.

5. Selecting the best IT Staff Augmentation service

Consider the following aspects when choosing a staffing service provider:

  • Expertise and Experience: Look for service providers who have a proven track record of providing high-quality services in your sector or a certain subject.

  • Flexibility and Scalability: Make certain that the supplier can adapt to your changing demands and grow the team as needed.

  • Cultural Fit: Assess the provider's cultural fit with your business to guarantee a smooth integration and productive partnership.

  • Communication and Project Management: Assess the provider's communication channels, project management tools, and processes for successful cooperation and transparency.

  • Talent Pool: Determine the provider's access to a varied pool of experienced specialists who can match your criteria.

6. Working with an IT staff augmentation will be a perfect fit if you are

You already have engineers working on your product in the local office. But you’d like to expand your team by hiring a team of programmers to develop another component of the product. You need to hire a team of 3-8 tech professionals, but due to a talent shortage in your local market, this is impossible. You realize that local recruitment will take too long, and that, given the risks and high market demand, this option is not viable.

You can attract more employees easily with this method
Figure 4. You can attract more employees easily with this method

You are working on a technological product with a team of programmers and need to add new engineers to your team. Because the professionals you want to hire are hard to come by in your country, you’re looking to broaden your search.

You collaborate with a project outsourcing firm to develop your product. But this model does not work for you for a variety of reasons. First, you want to communicate directly with your team daily, and second, you want to get to know your remote programmers so they feel like they’re a part of your local team. Both are essential for remote team integration with the local team as well as motivation to work toward a common goal with you and the in-house team.

Summary

IT staff augmentation is a powerful model that organizations can use to improve agility and respond to changing enterprise needs. It’s becoming more popular across industries, not only limited just to the technology market.

Source: Internet

Get top-notch Staffing and Payroll solutions from TSC in Asia. Our services, including Staffing and Payroll Outsourcing, BPO/RPO, and BOT model, enable businesses of all sizes to hire and operate cost-effectively. Since 2018, our recruitment team has provided candidates in diverse fields catering to specific client needs, from junior to management positions.

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