If you want to look for new business practices and discover the latest trends, the IT jobs market is your go-to place. The latest buzz word is staff augmentation. One thing is for sure; it definitely sounds techy. But what is staff augmentation anyway? What are the benefits of staff augmentation?
There are just a few questions that are possibly troubling you at the moment. We’ve composed an introductory article to staff augmentation to help you figure it out. Among other things, you will be able to discover what it is and see a real-word staff augmentation example.
Defining Staff Augmentation
The closest match to a staff augmentation synonym would be outsourcing. The reason is simple. In its essence, staff augmentation is an outsourcing strategy based on flexibility and streamlined management.
Thanks to staff augmentation, companies of all sizes can hire top tech talent anywhere in the world and manage the entire team with ease. A team that consists of your inhouse employees and talent hired through staff augmentation is conveniently called an ‘augmented team’.
The flexibility of staff augmentation lies in the ability to extend or cut the augmented team to answer specific project needs at any given moment. When it comes to software development, the staff augmentation model is really helpful.
The staff augmentation service provider handles all administrative and organizational tasks. The chosen talent hops on your team, and you get to manage this asset as you manage other in-house developers.
Staff Augmentation Example
Here is a staff augmentation example to help you understand the concept even better.
Imagine having a team of engineers working on a project. You need the microprocessor to be programmed according to tech specifications. Unfortunately, there is no tech talent available in your country. At the same time, you find out that there are a lot of idle IT specialists in Poland.
After contacting staff augmentation companies in Poland, you will get paired with the best possible available talent. They’ll then join your project team immediately and start working on tasks.
How Does Staff Augmentation Compare Against Other Models
Staff augmentation is not the only outsourcing strategy out there. Managed services and independent contractors are also common practices in the outsourcing niche, especially in the IT vertical. Let’s see how it compares against these two outsourcing models.
1. Staff Augmentation vs. Managed Services
Managed services is an entirely different outsourcing strategy than staff augmentation. With managed services, you have no control over nor insight into what is going on. The service provider does a full scope job. It manages hiring, project management, workflow, and processes.
You are completely in the blind, not knowing who is working on your project. In fact, you, as a client, don’t even need to have in-house tech expertise to benefit from managed services.
With staff augmentation, you remain in complete control. You select the hires personally and keep the wheel in your hands until the project is done or until you no longer need services.
2. Staff Augmentation vs. Independent Contractors
An independent contractor is a neutral person that provides development services to companies. Independent contractors work under terms specified in a contract agreement. Very often, top talent working as an independent contractor is very expensive and not available.
Finding an independent contractor is also a hassle. You have to interview and select contractors that match your project requirements. This is also a time-consuming task that can prove fatal if it is the only option for companies dealing with time-sensitive projects.
The Benefits of Staff Augmentation
At first glance, staff augmentation can appear as just another outsourcing strategy. Maybe even with no real benefits whatsoever. In reality, the situation is quite different. Here are the strongest points of staff augmentation.
1. Very High Productivity
If you outsource any project related to software development to a third-party company, you won’t be able to affect productivity in any way. Productivity will often suffer because the developers hired by the third-party company have to work on several projects at the same time.
Software engineers hired via staff augmentation have to work on only one project: your project. The talent that joins your team will boost the overall productivity and do everything according to your company culture and values.
2. Protected Interests
Handling intellectual property rights via contracts is very complex. Especially if you have to disclose your company secrets to an intermediary company from another country. Whether or not you can trust outsourced companies with your IP rights depends on the individual company. Your rights are, of course, always safe with CoderTalent.
Regardless, you can avoid all this inconvenience and enjoy high levels of IP rights and security with staff augmentation. You will retain your IP rights even when the augmented team works on projects closely related to your patents and company secrets.
3. Flexibility and Scalability
In the IT world, you often end up needing professional services of specific experts in only one or a couple of project stages. These include UI designers, front-end, or back-end developers. Hiring them on a full-time basis is not feasible. With staff augmentation, you can hire and terminate contracts as you please.
Replacing IT professionals is also very convenient. Staff augmentation service providers have access to big talent pools, and you can hand-pick those that you want on your team.
4. Reduced Costs
Staff augmentation service providers have a transparent pricing policy, and there are no hidden costs. At the same time, you won’t have to worry about covering any costs associated with hiring, finding a workspace, and providing essential equipment. The service provider is in charge of all these tasks.
Why Choose CoderTalent’s Staff Augmentation Services?
Although a brand new outsourcing strategy, staff augmentation has already become very popular in the world of software engineering. It is a unique practice that connects companies in need of top software developers and talent interested in making a career and an impact where it counts the most.
Here’s what you’ll get when you work with CoderTalent on staff augmentation:
- The best developers from Poland (which is top 3% in the world).
- A dedicated support contact to help with onboarding and any future challenges.
- Advice on management and project coordination.
- Interview as many candidates as you want and only pay for the hires.
- Expand or cut back on your augmented team members as you please.
Want to know more? Head over to CoderTalent now and get in touch to discuss your project.
