What Is the Difference Between Staff Augmentation and Other Models
Finding reliable and experienced software developers is really hard.
The same goes for talented digital specialists such as UI/UX designers and product managers. Demand for such talent is high and the market is really competitive.
Recruiting software engineers is time-consuming and expensive... retaining them on your team is another challenge altogether as they will undoubtedly receive many offers to join your competitors.
So, how do you ensure that your projects and business are never disrupted by talent recruitment and retention issues?
But how does staff augmentation differ from freelancing, or project outsourcing, or even hiring a managed service provider.
Let's dig in...
Staff Augmentation vs Other Models
Staff augmentation providers enable clients to temporarily boost their local software engineering teams by bringing in highly-skilled technical personnel across the project or at specific stages.
As a result, this type of IT staffing can assist businesses in remaining competitive and achieving success.
Let's look at the common drawbacks and benefits of the suggested IT staffing solutions.
Related: 7 Ways Staff Augmentation Can Boost Your Business
Hiring Managed Services Providers (MSPs)
Managed services is another type of outsourcing that is gaining popularity right now.
In the period 2019-2025, the global market for MSPs is expected to reach US$309.4 billion, with an annual growth rate of nearly 10%. MSPs and outsourcing firms are typically similar. MSPs, in essence, provide long-term distributed IT services.
The project outsourcing model, on the other hand, works on a project-by-project basis.
A managed services provider, for example, can provide a skilled team as well as a wide range of IT resources.
You can hire the necessary number of experts as well as infrastructure components to meet your daily operational needs, such as software development, technical support, application management, and so on. Simply put, the MSP should do everything possible to keep your office running smoothly and efficiently.
Payments for such services are usually set and performed on a monthly basis.
Benefits of Managed Service Providers:
1. Higher Availability of Resources
Unlike staff augmentation, an MSP can provide you with full project support and services.
2. Higher Level of Delegation
Choosing the ideal MSP can help you delegate most if not all of the project activities; enabling your in-house team to focus on other valuable activities.
3. Start Your Project Development Faster
You don't have to wait to hire talent, MSPs should have designers and software developers ready and in place to start working on your project immediately.
Cons of Managed Service Providers:
1. Higher Costs
Hiring the services of an experienced and trusted MSP is not cheap. Typically, you will be charged on a monthly basis or on a subscription basis.
2. Inability to Fix Problems Locally
Your ideal MSP doesn't necessarily have to be in your local region or city. They are available across the world. That means their specialists will not be able to be physically present to fix any local technical or hardware issues you may face.
Outsourcing Your Software Development
The main difference between using staff augmentation and outsourcing your project is that with the former, you purchase human resources (engineers, DevOps, data scientists, and so on) while maintaining complete control over your team.
With outsourcing, you pay for a specific outcome that has been agreed upon in advance and share responsibility for any risks that may arise with a contractor. You do, however, delegate direct governance over certain assets in your business processes.
Benefits of Software Project Outsourcing:
1. Reducing Your Costs
59% of businesses use outsourcing to save money.
It's no surprise that once the contracts are signed, the contractor-company takes over many time-consuming, costly tasks (configuration, training, managing a remote team). Outsourcing companies handle everything from start to finish, including releasing fully functional software.
2. Access To Emerging Technologies
According to additional research, modern IT executives (42%) have difficulty finding and hiring talented and experienced specialists. Outsourcing your project to a software design and development partner like Sitech gives you immediate access to certified expertise in emerging digital transformation and AI technologies.
3. Your In-House Team Focuses on Valuable Activities
As aforementioned, outsourcing companies can handle a project from ideation to delivery. This enables you to allocate your internal team and resources to other valuable activities.
Read more: 8 Reasons To Consider Software Development Outsourcing
Cons of Software Project Outsourcing:
1. Lack of Flexibility
Outsourcing your project to the wrong software development partner can limit your ability to adapt to changes quickly. Your business will have less flexibility when it comes to making changes because the terms of collaboration are predetermined by the agreement.
You need to choose who you outsource your software development to carefully, as flexibility is at the core of being an agile and lean digital business.
In today's digital economy, disruption is commonplace and the sudden shift in user preferences and behavior may render your digital products irrelevant.
Sitech's Managed Software Teams help your business avoid expensive delays to your project development.
2. Lack of Control
Finding out that your outsourcing partner's software development process is lacking may force you to adopt a more hands-on approach to project management.
However, your ability to influence the outcome will always be limited by the outsourcing partner's expertise.
Here's a tip: If you find that your outsourcing partner is not contributing expertise in the early stages to ensure your product will be a success in the market; its a strong sign that they do not have the necessary skill or expertise to ensure your digital product will launch successfully.
3. Disruptions Caused By Poor Communication
You may consider outsourcing because it's the cheaper alternative to developing digital products in-house.
But that also means that you are most likely outsourcing to remote software design and development agencies that do not have a clear understanding of your brand's culture, your target audience's needs and wants, and most likely, do not speak your language.
Interpersonal conflicts are more likely in international teams because teammates may not share the same values and priorities. As a result, project managers and team leaders should strive to create a culture of trust and cooperation.
How To Choose The Best IT Staff Augmentation and Recruitment Model
It's critical to choose the right approach once you've realized you need more personnel, resources, or services for your company. The following insights we gained through experience may be of assistance to you.
- Software Development Project Duration: Staff augmentation is an ideal approach for software development projects that are expected to last between 6 to 12 months. Consider a different approach, such as outsourcing a project, or hiring a Managed Software Team for longer-lasting projects.
- Sensitivity of Information and Project: It's best to make agreements only with reputable vendors and under strict NDA terms. Client data is always safe and secure with reputable software development companies like Sitech.
- Project Budget: In the case that you don't have the budget to fully outsource your project, staff augmentation is the ideal approach. However, you still need to define a budget to train your internal team members on how to best collaborate with remote augmented staff or team members.
Consider our suggestions and incorporate them into your strategic planning to avoid future roadblocks. When accurate and beneficial agreements are made, outsourcing of any kind can be a win-win situation for both the client and the vendor.
If you follow these tips, you'll be able to find the ideal outsourcing partner:
.png)
How To Choose The Best Software Development Services Provider
1. Check the Company's Reputation
After researching outsourcing companies and their locations, it's a good idea to read reviews from previous or current clients (if possible). There are also specialized job-search sites where employees rate companies based on a variety of factors such as work environment, benefits, salaries, and executive attitude.
Visit Sitech's LinkedIn page here.
Check out what previous and current clients are saying about the company online on relevant 3rd party websites that offer transparent reviews and testimonials shared by clients. For example, Sitech maintains a perfect client score on Clutch so far - and we strive to maintain that position.
Read what our clients are saying about us here.
2. Review the Company's Ethics and Values
Effective cooperation is dependent on teamwork, mutual relationships, and the ability to avoid or quickly resolve disagreements. A provider should be able to meet a client's needs quickly and respond to questions and changes.
A software design and development service provider is more than just a technical services provider - they are the driving force behind digital products and services that should cater to human needs first and foremost.
If a service provider doesn't have a transparent culture that promotes innovation, collaboration, and excellence internally, then it definitely cannot deliver digital products or services that actually communicate to other people.
3. Assess their Ability to Adapt to Changes
Ask how a vendor reacts to challenging and non-standard situations, and how quickly they deal with them, before signing any contracts or proceeding with future partnership negotiations.
Sudden changes caused by emerging technologies and shifts in customer behavior means that your ability to pivot and adapt to those changes mid-project is essential to your businesses' success.
To remain a relevant competitive force in your market - you must be able to adapt to changes quicker than your competition.
4. Can they Help Your Business Scale?
Any company in the software outsourcing industry should be prepared to provide scalability on a client's request. Check to see if the company you want to work with is prepared to provide you with staff and resources as soon as you need them, rather than having to wait weeks.
The need to scale maybe for a number of reasons, chief amongst them is the need to fill many gaps in your project teams immediately.
Markets such as Saudi Arabia are witnessing a massive wave of digital transformation - and they need to find and recruit multilingual digital talents that include product managers, designers, data scientists, analysts, and software engineers.
Their only hope is to outsource projects fully or rely on staff augmentation solutions provided by reputable vendors such as Sitech who can offer them a global database of certified digital talent to choose from.
From vetting, to interviewing and negotiating contracts - Sitech can help businesses find and recruit the needed IT staff in a matter of days, rather than months.
5. Communication and Social Skills
Staff augmentation means that your internal team members need to effectively collaborate with remote team members. At the very least, your staff augmentation service provider must have developers and designers that speak fluent English and are trained to communicate clearly across all channels.
Sitech's global database of talent consists of certified software engineers across all technologies and they can communicate using English as a first language. The added benefit is that they are compatible with working across different timezones and speak multiple languages.
6. Dedicated Workplace and Readiness
The effectiveness of distributed teams is determined by the conditions in which they work. Ascertain that your hired employees have the necessary hardware and software to complete your project successfully.
The list is not limited to software and hardware though, the ideal staff augmentation partner will provide the necessary support in the form of project/product managers that have relevant expertise in both your market and industry best practices.
At Sitech, we go as far as building a unique workplace for your recruits that features your brand identity and culture to make them feel at home and develop a sense of true ownership in your project's success.
Boost Your Digital Transformation With Sitech
Hopefully, our pointers will assist you in finding the ideal partner for collaboration. As you may have guessed, enhancing business capabilities by enlisting the help of third-party employees and service providers through staff augmentation can be extremely beneficial. It enables you to:
- Save hundreds of recruitment and headhunting hours
- Save money wasted on a lengthy recruitment process
- Access certified expertise in software project management and development
- Access advanced tools and technologies
- Easily find and hire certified talent from our global database
- Become a truly technology-driven business at managed cost
- Become a flexible digital business that adapts to changes quicker
- Scale up and down whenever needed
Sitech has 14 years of experience in the IT outsourcing industry. We are prepared to provide a full range of outsourced services, from experts with specialized technical skills to partial project assistance at any stage.
We can recommend a full-cycle software development with subsequent maintenance, in addition to selecting the right IT staff for your current needs.
Book a free consultation with our specialists to help you get started today.