Many companies face limitations in time and budget, in addition to challenges finding developers with the necessary skill sets. Not to mention, the temporary nature of some projects can make hiring in-house engineers impractical.
If any of these issues sound familiar, Staff Augmentation may be the solution you’re looking for.
What is Staff Augmentation? A Simple Way to Scale Your Team
Staff augmentation enables a company to extend its IT team by hiring engineers at a software development agency or consulting firm. These developers are officially on the agency’s payroll, but they work as part of the client’s team, collaborating alongside existing staff.
The staff augmentation model can also function as an alternative to managed services, allowing companies to continuously fix bugs and keep their digital products up-to-date working in close collaboration with the in-house team.
When is staff augmentation the best option?
When you’re growing or maintaining a digital product, you may only need one or two developers to get the job done. In this case, staff augmentation is highly convenient, since it’s often costly and slow to hire a full-time employee in-house.
A staff augmentation firm can deliver the talent you need quickly. Their developers are experienced in getting up to speed on a new client’s core business so they can integrate themselves with the team and continuously deliver high-quality results.
Staff augmentation also provides a great solution when you have an in-house software development team, but your project requires some additional skills or specific expertise that your engineers are not well-versed in.
Staff augmentation allows you to add these technical skill sets to your team without having to invest in infrastructure or recruitment.
The False Choice Between Outsourcing And Hiring
The shortage of skilled developers has made for extended hiring cycles for in-house developers when roadmaps are urgent.
Staff augmentation provides businesses with access to global talent that places full-time developers from talent-rich regions for long-term, sometimes indefinite engagements.
These firms focus on placing fully vetted, experienced developers who are trained and equipped to join teams, and hit the ground running.
The reality is that there is a world of engineering talent outside of tech hubs and outside of the United States, with developers that are hungry to work with leading companies and challenging products.
How IT Staffing Companies can Help Your Business Grow
You can rely on a staffing company to find the qualified candidates you need, simplifying the hiring process, allowing you to focus more time and attention on your business.
Reduce Costs
It takes time and money to hire, train, and maintain an in-house team. Instead, consider staff augmentation. An IT staffing service can handle:
- Finding candidates
- The recruitment process
- Interviewing
- Negotiating salaries
- Onboarding new team members
- Training new hires
Reducing operating costs can improve your ROI. Meanwhile, you’ll have the qualified candidates you need to compete with large corporations. While they waste time and money, you can gain a competitive advantage.
You can use a staffing service to improve your existing IT team, too. You can maintain a small team in-house, then add or remove additional members as needed.
When your workload shrinks, you can shrink your team. That way, you won’t pay for the support you no longer need.
By outsourcing the staffing and recruiting process, you can experience long-term business growth.
Gather Expertise
Regardless of your current needs or location, you can find someone with the experience and expertise you need.
As a business owner, you can specify requirements based on:
- Specific skills
- Experience with specific technologies
- Certifications
Specifying your requirements will help you find the help you need for your current projects. By hiring a specialist, you can avoid delays.
Is your human resources team struggling to find someone with a unique skill set? A staffing service can help, saving you valuable time and effort with your search.
Recruiters and hiring experts can help you find qualified candidates. With top talent, you can work on more complicated projects and gain access to the expertise you need.
Remain Flexible
Staff augmentation can offer you ease and flexibility. You can scale your IT department as your business changes.
For example, many businesses had to make staffing cuts when COVID-19 first hit. Perhaps you have a short-term project and need a few new staff members. Either way, you can scale your team as needed with IT staffing companies.
With IT staff augmentation, you can adapt to changes without delays. You won’t have to handle the full expense of expanding in-house, either. Instead, you can add and remove specialists based on a by-project basis.
Scaling up and down as needed can set you up for long-term success. You can cut costs and focus on current projects. You’ll also have the ability to expand into new markets or easily innovate.
Your current in-house team won’t feel bogged down by tasks that are beyond their areas of expertise. You can assign tasks based on specialties as well. Your team can better utilize their time as a result.
This flexibility can provide you with the ease you need to grow!
Boost Productivity
Human error can cost you time and money. You need employees who can complete your projects without costly mistakes. By hiring qualified candidates from the start, you can avoid wasting time and money.
Instead, you can complete projects quickly without these mistakes. Your team’s efficiency and productivity will improve as a result.
Staffing and recruiting experienced candidates can help you find new ways to boost your efficiency, too. For example, you can start by updating old equipment, networks, and software. You can also redesign old workflows or start using business automation.
These changes can boost your productivity and improve your bottom line. They’ll help your business grow.
Find the Right Fit
Staffing firms are accountable for finding qualified candidates that can benefit your business. If their choice isn’t the right fit, you can request a replacement.
You should develop a long-term relationship with your staffing agency. That way they’ll learn more about your company’s culture and abilities and can refine your IT staff selections to choose people who suit your business.
Maximizing the Staff Augmentation Advantages
Top talent can be hard to find (and even harder to keep), and there are too many over-eager junior devs that can’t handle what you need them to do. It’s easy for the talent pool to look a little shallow from this perspective.
Staff augmentation services could be a big help if you’re struggling to find help on your next software development project.
When you’re deep into dev work it can be very easy to self-validate your own ideas. Sometimes you need an outside perspective, and help from a staff augmentation company can give you the insight you need.
The staff augmentation model ensures that the developers you work with will be at the top of their game. They’ll know about the latest platforms and languages you can work with, and could even make some helpful suggestions on how to make your product even better.
