The rise of staff augmentation- why is it a popular business model?

Staff augmentation is quickly gaining popularity in the IT job market. In fact, it’s become a buzz word in the world of tech and there are several reasons why. But first, let’s answer the real question- what is staff augmentation?

Staff augmenting is a means of outsourcing by adding new members remotely to an already existing development team. In this dynamic and ever-changing market, companies need steadfast flexibility to be able to deliver products on time. We are seeing a rise in the idea of staff augmentation to tackle the rapid market and cater for on-demand needs. 

What mainly drives a business to choose to augment its staff is the lack of tech talent in the market. Outsourcing talent from all around the world allows you to utilize and leverage the global workforce. But this isn’t just any kind of outsourcing; augmenting your staff particularly lets you and your onshore team be in complete control of project management, while using the expertise of a few qualified offshore members to maximize productivity. 

Weighing out the pros and cons of staff augmentation

Pros:

1. A major advantage of the staff augmentation business model is the fact that it speeds up the recruitment process. While it usually takes a long and taxing process to find the right fit for the team, by augmenting your staff you can fill positions in just days. 

2. Staff augmenting organizations give you a huge pool of potential candidates to choose from that fit your tech needs perfectly. Not only that, but the legal burden you would usually have to bear with full-time employees is avoided. 

3. At times, you might find yourself in a conundrum trying to figure out how to deliver a project on a tight deadline while keeping your costs within budget. This is where augmenting your staff might seem like a good idea. It’s the secret ingredient to an extended development team at a reasonable price, for a faster outcome. It’s safe to say that the cost-benefits of augmenting your staff is a big factor in deciding whether to go forward with it or not.

Cons:

1. Although staff augmentation has its clear benefits, you must consider a few hard facts before diving head first. Staffing your team with a 3^rd party that is not within your direct control means there are some obvious quality risks. 

2. These offshore members may not stick strongly to company values and in the end deliver poor work. So, making sure you find a reliable staff augmentation organization is essential.

3. Even though we stated above that staff augmentation allows for a much quicker recruitment process, we must also take into consideration that finding the right organization to augment from may take time if you want to make sure you get the best of the best. 

4. A really challenging part of augmenting some of your staff is integrating the new members with the current team and process. If integration isn’t seamless, you could face troubling consequences. But good integration begins with a good internal process so new members know exactly what to follow. 

So what can we conclude from all of this? To put it simply, staff augmentation is a great tool that you can use to overcome various obstacles. But as it does come with its drawbacks, this tool is only as good as you use it. Keeping all the factors in mind, if you have a well thought out plan and a good strategy to incorporate offshore members, then the pros of staff augmentation can easily outweigh the cons. 

When to augment your team

Early stage startups: They especially benefit from hiring qualified and highly skilled team members offshore on a contractual basis when their product demand is not yet at a steady pace.

Talent shortage: To combat a shortage in tech talent, this is a great tool to enhance your competences and give you an edge over competitors. 

Launching a new project: New projects may require a larger load of work and new skills that the current team does not possess. Augmenting your team can help carry the load.  

Testing new products: Products in their end stage development that need to be trialed and tested before hitting the market, can be done by temporary qualified employees. 

Save on costs: Every organization, big or small, can benefit from the cost savings of augmenting your staff. The cost of hiring on a contractual basis is typically lower than hiring a full-time employee. 

Should I outsource or augment my staff when hiring new tech talents?

Now comes the question I’m sure you’ve all been thinking, what is the difference between simply outsourcing and augmenting your staff? 

While the two are very similar, there are some sheer differences that can help a business decide which one is best for them.

A huge factor in deciding which way to go lies in the way you want to manage the project. With staff augmentation, you will have direct control over the whole team, including the offshore members. You will still be managing the details and making sure things go exactly how you want. Many businesses prefer not to spend their time micro-managing offshore members, and so they opt for outsourcing. With outsourcing, the offshore members usually get a few instructions but are mostly left to do the job themselves. 

Project outsourcing has the added risk of quality issues. Because of the lack of direct managerial control, you might find many issues with quality of work. So it’s absolutely vital to keep in mind which projects are less critical and which are not worth taking the risk with. In that way, you can choose to both outsource and augment your staff in different kinds of projects in order to reap the cost-benefits of both. 

Conclusion

When you have a smart tool within your grip, thanks to the wonders of the internet, why not use it? The more we advance in business, the more we see that being confined within borders is what limits our potential. Augmenting your staff is a great way to leverage global talents while keeping your projects within your control. 

ITC’s pool of tech talents have been successfully serving internationally for over a decade. With promising skill-sets and advanced technical know-how, our team helps all kinds of businesses achieve their goals. Get in touch with our team to know more about how we can help you transform your business efficiently.