IT Staff Augmentation: How to Extend Development Teams And Solve Hiring Problems

About The Author

Nitin-Nijhawan-CDO-VLinkNitin Nijhawan, CDO
LinkedIn|18 Sep 2023

Technology is a strategic differentiator in today's fast-changing business environment. But technological expertise commands a high price. Expertise in new technologies like machine learning or AI can also be difficult to find. IT staff augmentation is a solution to these challenges. See how it can help your business, now or in the future. 

What is IT Staff Augmentation? 

IT staff augmentation is when you purchase IT resources from an IT services provider (or IT outsourcing company) for a short-term or long-term project. You pay a monthly fee to the provider, which includes the salary (usually based on an hourly rate) for the full-stack developer or cloud engineer you hire. You maintain direct control over the resource, and assume responsibility for their onboarding. 

Why do companies choose staff augmentation services? 

IT staffing offers the following benefits 

1. Increases technical capacity cost-effectively:

Say you need a team of six to develop an app but have four in-house developers only, who you cannot burden with more work. Hiring two full-time equivalents for the project isn't practical. Augmenting your team with outside talent for the duration of the project makes better financial sense. If you source talent from a country with a lower per hour cost for that skill, you realize a substantial cost-savings.  

2. Actualizes the project by providing the required skills:

IT staffing companies help you find scarce talent quickly. You can save time on finding gig workers on your own. Access to specialized talent on-demand allows you to launch your product faster than your competitors, meet a client deadline on time, or implement a productivity-boosting enterprise app without delay.  

3. Allows you to scale your business rapidly:

By boosting operational efficiency or enabling the provision of services to clients, technology helps businesses grow faster. Employing full-time staff to create technology solutions or manage technological assets is expensive and time-consuming. Sourcing offshore or onshore talent from an IT staffing company as and when you have a need to scale up is faster, cheaper and more convenient. 

4. Reduces administrative responsibility:

As you add new people to your team, can your in-house staff manage employee-related procedures such as hiring, benefits, payroll, performance management, leaves and others? Do you want to keep HR tasks to a minimum and have lean operations? If so, IT team augmentation through a third-party provider is perfect in this scenario. 

In-house hiring vs IT staff augmentation  

A huge advantage of IT staff augmentation is the flexibility to hire a resource to work solely on your long-term project. The engineer totally immerses in your project and it receives the attention required. On the cost front, you don't pay additional costs like bonuses and insurance. You also save on equipment, training and rental (if hiring a team) costs. 

You can use the IT outsourcing model to fill any position in your company. If it's possible for remote workers or someone located nearer to you to manage all responsibilities of their particular roles without being on-site, you should explore the staff augmentation route. 

In-house hiring and IT staff augmentation are somewhat similar on one respect - you take care of managing the external resources. It's smooth sailing if you have an in-house project/product manager or a team of developers who can onboard the offshore/onshore talent and manage the project amongst themselves. 

IT staff augmentation is suited to companies of all sizes. A small or mid-sized company may find it more cost-effective to outsource daily operations while they focus on core business goals. Large companies may use IT staffing services to capitalize on specialized offshore talent and obtain cost savings. 

What Are Some Risks of Utilizing Staff Augmentation? 

Some checks and assurances are essential before hiring augmented staff

Not being able to handle team management at your end: Augmented staff companies are experts in their field but their contributions will require monitoring by you or your project manager. Allocating tasks, creating workflows, and tracking task completion will fall on your shoulders, or you can consider managed IT staff Augmentation as an option as well. 

Difficulty collaborating due to different time zones: If you go for offshore outsourcing, consider the impact of time zone differences on collaboration. Depending on the number of hours that everyone on your team must work together, you can establish overlapping hours.  Companies like VLink Inc, offer time zone alignment in all instances, making this an attractive option. 

Data privacy risk: Worries around the confidentiality of your source code, product and business or customer data are natural. Sign an NDA with the outsourcing agency, stating their legal obligation to protect the privacy of business data shared during the project, and repercussions arising from a breach of contract.  Companies like VLink Inc, require this important step. 

Communication issues: A project can suffer a setback due to a lack of communication, or in a worst-case scenario, a total communication breakdown. Differences in language, failure to exchange information smoothly, and non-alignment with project goals are some causes to ponder. 

How to Find a Reliable IT Outsource staffing Agency? 

To get the best from an IT outsourcing company, evaluate them on the following qualities

Reputation - A company that has worked with leading brands and provides customer testimonials can be trusted to deliver value. 

Experience - IT outsourcing is a highly competitive industry. IT staffing companies will remain in business for long only if they provide consistently good service. 

Flexibility - Your staffing provider should be able to help you scale your technical capacity quickly. In this respect, a company with a global presence is more reliable than one with geographical limitations. 

Range of expertise - If you anticipate a long-term relationship with your IT staffing provider, understand whether they can assist with your future needs. For example, provider engineers proficient in new technologies and the latest app development languages. 

Why is VLink the Best Partner to Help You Outstaffing? 

VLink is a trusted partner for onshore and offshore IT staff augmentation. Whether you're looking to hire talent located closer to your operational base or remote talent in a geographically distant country, we've got you. 

We provide dedicated IT resources for your project - we're able to fill ALL your IT team roles. As part of our managed IT services, we provide attrition management, check-in meetings and training. 

Discuss your requirements with us. We look forward to hearing from you. 

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