IT Staff Augmentation: Why Your Company Needs It

Overview

What is IT staff augmentation? How does it work? What are its benefits? If you’re enquiring any of these questions you’ve come to the right place. We will explain in detail in this complete article what IT augmentation is, why IT staff augmentation companies are so widespread, how they function and how to take profit from IT staff augmentation services.

 

In the 21st century, with such advanced IT technologies in place, appointing in-house employees is no longer the only option (and not the best one in many cases). Globalization and technological advances have made it happen to build international remote teams easily and without any menace.

 

This happens even more in the case of IT and software development. More and more technology-related enterprises are shifting from classical in-house development to committed development teams and IT staff augmentation.

What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is an outsourcing model for the staffing of a project or company according to present objectives/staffing requirements. This generally involves staffing projects and companies with the required developers (generally distant ones) in the context of IT staffing.

It often occurs that a company does not find the necessary human resources for a variety of reasons. In such a situation, it is always a good idea to turn to IT staff companies that will find and hire the needed team members.

Are IT Staff Augmentation Companies Popular?

If you’re thinking if this service is popular, our answer is 100% yes. There are many companies that figure out and shape remote dedicated development teams for bulging western companies. So, certainly, this trend is popular and will continue to grow.

How IT Staff Augmentation Works?

Identify the required skills, qualifications, expertise, number of developers, etc.

You need to define the exact number of people you want to hire and requirements for candidates. These should include skills qualification, years of experience and so forth.

Review & Selection

Once you know exactly who you want to hire, the next step is to begin the search process. Interviews and tests to suitable candidates to ensure they are qualified enough to join your team.

Integration of new team members

It is a mistake to think that once you’ve signed agreements with the new team members, all the hard work is over. Ahead of you is on the boarding process which must be conducted very diligently to help new employees successfully integrate into your team. They must get comfortable in the new work environment.

Continuous support and nurturing

Even after the integration process, you must continue providing support to your new employees on an on-going basis. Gathering feedback and developing strong relationships with them is essential for effective cooperation.

What are the Advantages of IT Staff Augmentation Services?

Less Recruitment Headache

When you go for IT staff augmentation companies, all the search and recruitment work becomes their responsibility. They explore and find qualified candidates according to your necessities. The only part of the staffing process which is your responsibility is final interviewing and selection.

Lower Operational Costs

Office space, equipment, taxes, etc. – all of these things constitute a big part of operational expenses, especially in Western countries with offshore staff outsourcing, the operating costs are much lower. Therefore, by using staff augmentation services, you can significantly reduce your operating costs.

Less Legal Headache

Hiring individuals always involves legal responsibility and a lot of documentation. Taxes, payroll, and employee benefits – all of these things require it. When you use staff augmentation, the outsourcing company functions as the official employer of your developers. Therefore, the outsourcing firm carries all the legal responsibility and handles all the official procedures.

Access to the rare and needed specialists

The other obvious benefit of staff outsourcing is that it provides you direct contact with the needed experts which you may not all the time find in your city, region or country. Sometimes it also occurs that you may not find the right specialists at the right cost, etc. In that situation, you can always discover the right experts at a lower cost who are based abroad. Staff augmentation companies provide immediate access to such experts.

Better output and team size

Lower development costs let you hire more people and respectively increase your output. What if for the same money it would cost to appoint 10 US-based developers you could hire 16 Indian developers (with equal skills and knowledge)?

Flexibility

Finally, remote outsourcing gives you more geographical flexibility and time flexibility. If, for instance, there is an urgent technical problem that needs to be addressed, your Indian developers can take care of it while local American coders are still asleep. Some clients believe that remote teams make their companies more susceptible. Reality shows that this is precisely the reverse. They make you further flexible and stronger as practice shows.

Identify benefits specifically for your business

What are the Important Aspects of IT Staff Augmentation?

In addition to the apparent benefits, you also need to know about some significant features of this cooperation model. Let’s have a look at what they are:

NDA, protection of intellectual property

You want to be sure that your intellectual property is safe. For this reason, the agreement you sign with a staff outsourcing firm must contain a non-disclosure agreement. Remember, your remote developers turn into full-time employees and get access to confidential information so it is important to ensure they don’t misuse it.

The outsourcing company stays the official employer of your remote developers.

Despite the fact that they work for your company and become part of your team, the outsourcing company is their official employer. Therefore, it’s vital to clearly define each party’s area of duty in the agreement and decide on the specific working terms (number of days off, vacations, etc.).

Transparent monthly fee.

Ideally, the outsourcing company should charge a flat monthly payment for each developer it offers. The fee should incorporate genuine pay and the company’s fee for providing the service. Such conditions of payment are transparent and honest.

Staff augmentation in IT companies has moved past its origin stage. It is being readily believed as an alternative model of staffing. They control the abilities of professionals with intensive skill sets in a profitable and capable manner. Staff augmentation also benefits the idealistic generation. They have a preference to work on projects that need their knowledge rather than undertaking traditional jobs. Therefore, staff augmentation helps as an effective bridge ensuring capable of talent for firms available for particular durations.