Many companies have an outsourcing team for Staff Augmentation. Some IT companies have less number of developers, so they need to do team augmentation and software team augmentation according to their team and project.

About 54% of businesses have a shortage of talented people. It is now more than double compared to a decade ago. According to Bloomberg, HR managers in 36 out of 44 countries struggle to find and attract talented employees.

Many companies need help understanding which model best suits their business situation. Also, they need to make the right choice of resource augmentation.

Staffing services are now a widely accepted staffing solution for hiring skilled resources. Hence, HR needs to know the team growth process before hiring employees.

In this article, I will discuss about staff augmentation, the basics of this staffing model, its types, uses and benefits, etc.

So, let’s dive right in!

What is Staff Augmentation?

Now we should know first what stuff augmentation is. Staff augmentation is an outsourcing model of hiring talented people from an agency. That increase the team’s productivity. The talent provider company does this on a contract basis.

The core purpose of IT staff augmentation is to find a team that can fill the lack of skills and knowledge. Technically, it is reasonable because you don’t need to hire new employees to grow your company. You don’t have to take on HR and administrative employment issues as your team grows. Instead, the outsourcing partner that provides the extended team takes care of all these issues.

This outsourcing model runs on a supportive strategy that enhances or supplements the current in-house team.

Now that we know what stuff augmentation is, we will discuss its other aspects more. So let’s dig in!

Summary of Staff Augmentation

Many industries feel that projects that need efficiency to keep up with demand must be cost-effective at once.

We’re going to focus on employee growth today. I am giving you a summary before diving into the article.

Advantages of Staff Augmentation

When discussing employee growth, you may ask what the advantages of people augmentation are or why I would do it on my team.

From industry to industry, people augmentation has various benefits. But when it comes to growing an IT team, clients are looking for some of the most valuable employees to grow productivity. In that case, companies need to do IT team augmentation.

So, let’s see some advantages of using software team augmentation services:

• Increasing Scalability
• Cost-effectiveness
• Process Simplicity
• Scalability
• Control
• Speed

Cost-effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is the most significant benefit of IT staff augmentation services. By bringing on extra employees to perform the same job as existing employees, companies can reduce the number of staff members they while need to pay. And thus, software team augmentation helps companies save money from hiring new employees.

For example, US companies hire people from Asia or Europe through resource augmentation. In that case, they will ask for less pay because their cost of living is lower.

Also, through IT staff augmentation, companies do not have to provide their employees with extra devices or other internal costs. Since they do the work remotely with the companies.

Process Simplicity

Sometimes, the recruitment process can be complicated as companies are serious about the quality of the professionals they use. However, increasing IT Staff is much easier with the increase in Staff. Your company will then only coordinate contracts and other less important, less complex processes.

You can resize your team depending on talent demand and workload. If you want, you can hire an entire team for a specific job through staff argumentation.

Increasing Scalability

For software providers, scalability is important. So they pick the perfect person while doing manpower augmentation.

Adopting an IT staff augmentation model quickly brings new talent into the company, giving it the resources to scale its services and knowledge.

Let’s say a company knows what variety a product needs to stay ahead of trends. But it doesn’t have all the funds to expand the team. So a company can hire highly skilled people globally through IT staff augmentation. As a result, the company can achieve 100% productivity in its team.

Speed

The hiring process is simple but gets complicated when you increase the IT staff. Finding the type of IT professional you need takes longer.

So if software team augmentation is needed in any other matter other than IT staff augmentation, then it takes less time.

The particular job you were hired for also ends quickly. Because here, the employer does not have to travel to the office. He also can finish work remotely at any time before the deadline.

Scalability

You can customize your team to your liking by staff augmentation. You can hire as many IT staff as you need. If your team needs one worker, then one. Or, if you want to, you can hire a whole team by team augmentation.

Control

Many companies feel that if they increase Staff for a project, they will lose control over the project or team. But in reality, it is completely the opposite.

The great thing about team augmentation is that it gives you more control over your team. Because recruiters depend on the company for any of their job decisions. However, you must check the company profile information from which you are doing resource augmentation.

Why Does Your Business Need Staff Augmentation?

In this digital world, every business should take advantage of manpower augmentation. Because it not only increases the workforce but also increases work productivity. So every IT company should get certified IT staff augmentation from a good agency.

Following are some reasons you will understand why IT staff augmentation is necessary:

• Accelerate the Growth of Business
• Provides a Competitive Advantage
• Consultation-Based Transactions
• Enhance Processes’ Efficiency
• Adapt and Grow
• Under Control

Accelerate the Growth of Business

IT staffing augmentation is a simple process. With this, there is no time limit that how long you can employ someone. You can replace permanent Staff if needed.

This type of recruiting method avoids additional expenses. Since there are no additional expenses, the company can invest more money in other areas. And this is how the growth of the company continues to increase.

Provides a Competitive Advantage

As mentioned earlier, staffing up saves you from overspending. Organizations avoid additional costs when software team augmentation on a project because they only pay for skills during the project period.

With talent, the business can expand into new areas. This is a win-win situation for businesses as they can add talented people at a lower cost.

Enhance Processes’ Efficiency

Businesses face high operating costs in the beginning. Staff augmentation agencies provide a flexible work environment, thereby reducing recruitment costs.

By partnering with IT staff augmentation agencies, you can also reduce infrastructure costs by working remotely with outsourced Staff. Thus, resource augmentation services reduce operational and recruitment costs and generate profits.

Consultation-Based Transactions

An IT staff augmentation services objective is one such team that is passionate, talented, and a good fit for the corporation. Companies will then become long-term supporters of agencies instead of commercial ones. And for the next projects, they will choose that agency again and again.

Under Control

Organizations oversee both management and operations. Software team augmentation is not the same as project outsourcing. By outsourcing, management control can be maintained only by increasing the number of employees.

Businesses can design projects as per their choice. Final decisions will always be in the control of parent organizations.

Staff Augmentation Models

The company can take Staff differently as per its requirement through staff augmentation. A company hires Staff depending on the type of solution the company needs. Depending on the solution, the number of employees and time can be more or less.

So let’s see some basic types of staff augmentation models:

• Traditional Staff Augmentation
• Remote Team Augmentation
• Independent Contractors
• Resource Augmentation
• IT Staff Augmentation
• Team Augmentation
• IT Outstaffing

Traditional Staff Augmentation

Traditional staffing is approaching staffing agencies and hiring some of their resources to bolster your in-house team. It provides the traditional setup of manpower augmentation of a temporary workforce, which is available through a staffing agency or service provider.

Traditional software team augmentation is great because it can be used for any project, including IT and non-IT-related engagements.

Remote Team Augmentation

Remote team augmentation also involves hiring an employee through a third-party agency. 

This can be based on a project or ongoing contract basis – depending on the time required to complete the tasks or initiatives that require additional assistance. 

Remote augmented staffing is a great alternative to traditional staffing models. It provides a relatively faster and more cost-effective solution for companies needing appropriate help to manage or execute their projects.

Independent Contractors

When independent contractors look for work on their own and work directly with the hiring company. Independent contractors can also be great when you just need a helping hand on your team.

The best thing about hiring an independent contractor is that you only need one to fill multiple vacancies. Independent contractors are highly qualified.

Resource Augmentation

The resource augmentation model is a project to recruit global technology talent from third parties on a contractual basis.

Internal Staff and extended resources work together for the entire duration of the project. New employees can also work remotely from home or their office.

IT Staff Augmentation

IT staff augmentation is needed when businesses rely on outsourcing to meet technology needs.

When companies realize that the onsite team cannot meet their enterprise’s needs, they resort to resource augmentation for IT. This happens when a company grows or launches a major project.

Team Augmentation

A team augmentation is done when a company needs to hire an entire team. The company then hires the entire team from the provider for a specific project. This people augmentation allows the business to control and maintain visibility while adding skills and knowledge.

IT Outstaffing

IT Outsourcing isn’t easy, but it’s one of your company’s most important decisions. Generally, outsourcing is when you have an idea but don’t have the means to implement it yourself.

Outsourcing is the best option for startup businesses that don’t have enough technical support to dive deep into the projects. This is also a great option for those companies who don’t have enough time to spend on their project and don’t want to lose control over the project.

Again based on the length of the services, manpower augmentation can be simply divided into:

• short-term
• long-term

Short-term

Short-term manpower augmentation is usually done for small projects. When a company hires Staff for a short period for a project, they do short-term resource augmentation. This short-term people augmentation also reduces costs over time.

Long-term

A long-term type of workforce augmentation is suitable for large, time-consuming projects. Most of the time, companies invest in diamonds for the long term. Long-term resource augmentation costs more over time.

Market Research of Staff Augmentation

Market analysis by G1 says, IT staff augmentation is twice as difficult. For example, it takes 61 days to fill a technology role. And up to 72 days for the App Developer subcategory. Meanwhile, non-technical roles take only 42 days.

According to a Survey, at the end of 2020, the IT staff augmentation in the US was about 8 million. Of these, 5.2 million were in essential technical roles, including technicians, technical engineers, installers and repairers.

Tech employment will reach nearly 9 million positions by 2030. There are currently about 65,000 students pursuing computer science degrees each year in the United States. So it is clear that the demand for IT staff augmentation in technology is high. Reference: CompTIA

According to another survey, from January to August of 2022, the technology sector employed 147,248 new professionals in Brazil, corresponding to an increase of 149% compared to the previous year.

Staff Augmentation vs. Manage Services

Managed services are also called consulting support for specific business tasks. Manage service providers work side-by-side with a client. But they must be within complete control over the project. They help you manage tasks more strategically with long-term results in mind.

However, increasing Staff leaves you fully in charge of operations. Then you can work independently, keeping in mind the deadlines and what to deliver. You then need to monitor the team’s success as a manager and the performance of your new hires yourself.

Staff Augmentation vs. Software Outsourcing

Software outsourcing is not the same concept as it relates to employee growth. When outsourcing business, you control the deputy over a project to third-party vendors. This way, you can eliminate the management process once and for all.

On the other hand, recruitment challenges can be met through manpower augmentation. Monitor the new team’s progress if you feel the candidate needs to be more suitable.

Staff Augmentation vs. Dedicated Teams

If you set up a dedicated team, you will get loyal employees who complement your existing team. Then they will focus only on your project. This way, you can invest your wealth in long-term success.

Staff augmentation offers you something similar. However, the difference here lies in the management. A vendor usually oversees dedicated teams. On the other hand, resource augmentation teams may work with two or more companies on different projects.

How Does Staff Augmentation Work?

According to a Statista report, software companies’ revenue worldwide is expected to reach $608.7 billion by the end of 2022. These software companies may need a lot of software team augmentation to reach this target.

Manpower augmentation is a fast and flexible process. Let’s focus on how IT staff augmentation can work:

• Gathering Project Requirements
• Selecting The Team
• Augmented Team Onboarding

Gathering Project Requirements

Companies that provide staffing first bring skilled people to their company for outsourcing. The company then collects project requirements from the outsourced partner.

Before forming a team, they need to learn what skills the client needs for their project. After that the company closely interacts with the client during pre-sales calls and the development process. The results will be satisfactory after a close partnership with clients.

Selecting The Team

When the company realizes exactly what kind of team it needs, it will look for such skilled people. It can be a single person or an entire team. The outsourcing company will then select professionals with the required experience, skills and technical knowledge. This process can take 1-3 weeks.

Augmented Team Onboarding

Presenting a team for staffing is a very important stage. At this time, the company contacts your team to start work. So, the company should hire skilled managers to set up communication channel management tools during onboarding.

Staff Augmentation Before and After Covid-19

Covid-19 has greatly impacted businesses. In some cases, it has had a good effect, and in some cases, it has had a bad effect.

From the ultimate staffing guidelines, we will know the impact and results of IT team augmentation during Covid. 

I have divided the effects and results of staff augmentation into 3 stages:

• Staff Augmentation Before Covide-19
• Team Augmentation During Covid-19
• Staff Augmentation After Covide-19

Staff Augmentation Before Covide-19

The staff augmentation system was in place long before Covid.

According to a Statista report, the global outsourcing market was worth $92.5 billion in 2019 before the coronavirus hit the world.

Before the coronavirus hit, IT companies were working on expanding their internal teams. They outsource software development to expand the team.

At that time, entrepreneurs spread resources and outsourced projects. It was the first step in hiring new developers to fill the skills gap.

Typically, IT entrepreneurs can hire a dedicated developer by staffing and talking about their business. Extended employees can acquire a lot of knowledge, work processes and patterns from internal team members. Because, at that time, extended employees worked more onsite than remotely.

However, the Covid 19 pandemic has confounded this view.

Team Augmentation During Covid-19

With the implementation of strict lockdown, IT companies have gone digital by expanding their inclusive development teams. These IT companies launch cloud services for their employees. Gartner Inc. In one of its surveys, total cloud services revenue rose from $214.3 billion to $249.8 billion.

With the growth of IT Staff, organizations have created new capabilities using a mix of employees and external resources. According to research, the global revenue of the outsourced customer experience market was $78.8 billion in 2019. Whereas post-Covid-19, it will be $82.6 billion in 2020.

These figures above prove that the Covid pandemic has encouraged IT companies to switch to more IT staff augmentation. As a result, the staffing market’s size is increasing.

Staff Augmentation After Covide-19

As time passes, COVID-19 is becoming challenging for all of us.

For many companies, the current challenge is to reach target goals through IT team augmentation.

According to a Statista report, after the pandemic, the size of the IT staffing growth market reached $132.9 billion.

By the end of 2021, the IT outsourcing market will reach $413.7 billion. Reference: Statista

So it is understood that over time, IT companies’ demand for IT staff augmentation is increasing.

When is Staff Augmentation Right For You?

IT Staff augmentation is a great tool for increasing business productivity. However, it is not a one-size-fits for all approach. Team augmentation is only helpful in certain situations.

Below is a list of the exact circumstances under which staff auDoesn’tion is required:

• While Outsource Model Doesn’t Fit
• Launching A Side Project
• Need To Launch QuicDoesn’trt-Term Projects

While Outsource Model Doesn’t Fit

By the outsourcing model, we mean that you have a remote team that performs specific tasks independently. This remote team is operating as a separate company.

Instead, the team augmentation model suggests that the remote team feels like a part of your internal team. People you can interact with directly and daily. When looking for close collaboration, you need to grow your team by IT team augmentation.

Launching A Side Project

Suppose you already have a project team. And you are already working on a project with them. Suddenly you decide to launch a side project. But can’t you have the kind of team you need, you don’t it now with them.

At this moment, you don’t have time to hire new employees. You can do IT team augmentation to increase the number of employees for that particular project.

Need To Launch Quickly

Suppose you are already developing software. At this time, your client came and told you that they want to launch the software quickly. Then you may need to increase the number of team members through IT staff augmentation.

Short-Term Projects

When you need to complete a project quickly, you need more IT people on the team. Because your existing team will not be able to complete the work within that time. Then it would be best if you increased the member for this part by software team augmentation.

Things to Consider Before Team Augmentation

First, you must know how to increase Staff before increasing your team members. Outstaffing a team might be difficult.

But, the process of choosing the right employee enhancement provider is quite straightforward. You just need to know first what exactly you are looking for. If you can keep your goals fixed, you can easily increase the Staff as needed and in less time.

Coming to this stage of the manpower augmentation article, now you will know how to choose the right software team augmentation. Below are the steps:

• Know Your Need
• Research Staff Augmentation Agencies
• Create a Shortlist
• Negotiate the Contract

Know Your Needs

Firstly, you need to know your need for the project. Since there are not enough people to work on the project, the team needs to be expanded.

Below is a list of what you should know in the process of expanding your team now:

• What skills does your current team lack?
• Core values, culture or how they relate to you?
• What is your budget?
• How long will the project last?
• What roles must be covered within your budget?
• Which industry-specific characteristics that the new team must match?
• What hourly rate are you willing to pay?
• How seller features are essential for you?

Research Staff Augmentation Agencies

The most important stage in IT staff augmentation is choosing an IT team augmentation agency. And before choosing this agency, it’s must research the agencies.

Yes, we know it’s hard to track agency info. That is why there are many platforms through which you can get a great result from this research. One of the most reliable platforms right now is Clutch.

After researching, make a list of agencies that are compatible with you. Then contact each agency one by one.

Create a Shortlist

Thirdly, create a shortlist as you get the responses from the agencies you’ve contacted.

At this time, you should check the reviews of the agencies. Then you can compare it with other agencies. And after comparing, you have to make another shortlist.

From the final shortlist, you have to choose exactly which agency is perfect for you in all aspects.

Negotiate the Contract

Now, you have to start the discussion with the final shortlisted people. Through this discussion, you should know which agencies are better for you. For example, how their internal team works, company culture, and other aspects you want to know.

By doing this, you have to choose a final agency. After choosing, an agreement has to be signed between the two companies. The external team will soon join the local team and work together towards the same goal.

Top Challenges of Staff Augmentation

IT staff augmentation is essential to reduce time and cost and embrace innovation. The Covid-19 crisis has proven that a remote working model is more effective. Where many companies shut down during the pandemic, IT companies survived just fine.

Moreover, those who have never operated team augmentation services are planning to do so for the first time in 2021. Today, businesses are willing to augment their teams with IT experts for this.

In this virtual world, everyone wants their companies to keep up with the times. And to keep pace with the times, all the best IT professionals from different countries want to work with. And then, it is necessary to do software team augmentation later.

These are some challenges you may face while doing IT staff augmentation. A list of them is given below:

Challenge 1: Finding the Right Experts

There are many choices when choosing a staff development agency. We have already discussed how you should choose the right software team augmentation agency.

Today, IT talent shortage is a critical issue in America and Western Europe. Finding IT experts with the required skills, experience, and background is becoming increasingly difficult. And then, they are taking the companies forward by working remotely through IT staff augmentation.

Challenge 2: Communication and Management

Effective communication and management are key to the success of any BPO. IT staff augmentation agencies are establishing management processes and communication best practices. Thereby ensuring the delivery of services to clients.

Regardless of the type of company you choose, there are some rules that you need to follow when setting up a partnership with an IT team augmentation provider:

• Identify the provider who will oversee the project.
• Choose the right collaboration tools for communication.
• Regularly review the services provided.
• Agree on project management methodologies.
• Agree to practice coding.

Challenge 3: Legal Issues

The contract negotiation process is important because it provides transparency in the customer-vendor relationship. A shaky contract can have a detrimental effect on your business. This can result from unexpected outsourcing bills, loss of control over the quality, loss of information security, and compromised staff growth.

Software development outsourcing contracts correspond to three main collaboration models. 

• 1st is a long-term dedicated development team 
• 2ndly short-term time and material projects
• 3rdly, fixed price projects businesses’ detailed requirements.

Challenge 4: Scalability

Team Augmentation with additional IT specialists is one of many businesses’ top challenges. You need to set up an IT team so the team can work productively in less time. So companies should choose an agency with adequate recruitment capabilities and a wide network of IT talent.

Please note that it takes some time to get hired, even in countries with huge talent pools. Especially if you need expertise in rare technology stacks like Scala, Golang, or data science/AI-related technologies.

Challenge 5: Project Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer is important at every stage, especially during project kick-off, implementation, and completion. It would be best if you shared all the project-related info with the IT team augmentation to decide what information resources to collect and how to organize the process.

If knowledge transfer fails, the project will not be completed properly, and the contract may also be canceled.

Step-by-Step Process of Staff Augmentation

So far, we have learned about the importance of IT team augmentation, its benefits, and why it is needed. Now at this stage, we will know the process of manpower augmentation. You need to know about this process to ensure your IT staff augmentation will succeed properly.

The staff augmentation process can be broken down into four steps as follows:

Step 1: Identify Your Requirements

Search for the right kind of skilled people to enhance your team. Before doing that, you need to see what kind of talent you are looking for. Firstly, understand what specifications you will need for candidates, such as their qualifications and experience, as well as any special requirements. It would help if you also get exactly how many qualified people you want to hire.

Step 2: Search and Review

After the company’s type of candidates you’re looking for; your next step is to start searching. So, the second is finding out which company’s IT staff augmentation team will work for you. You need to research and check the reviews of the companies. It will take some time to action the whole job. Otherwise, you may not find a good agency.

Step 3: Onboard New Team Members

Thirdly, the onboarding part of the staffing process begins. The new team member needs to meet other team members and learn about your work processes and procedures. So that they can have an idea about your work entry and style. They may be experts in their particular field or skill set, but they will need some help settling in and getting comfortable in their new workplace.

Step 4: Provide Support

Finally, once new team members are integrated into the workforce, Staff should communicate each task update to support work collaboration. Provide feedback opportunities so you can build a strong and ever-evolving relationship with extended Staff.

Cost of Staff Augmentation

In modern models, outsourced IT support is possible. You can scale your operations based on strategic assets and a budget reallocation.

IT workers are most in demand for:

• Software developers and engineers
• Data Analyst
• Automation Engineer
• QA Engineer
• Scrum Master
• IT Project Manager

The cost of the software team augmentation depends on the geographical location, type of work, and time. The average cost of software team augmentation can range from $50 to $99 per person, depending on the job and location.

Here is an idea of what the rate of Staff augmentation could be globally:

• US hourly rates range between $65 and $150.
• Hourly rates in Asia are around $50 to $75.
• Eastern European rates are between $35 and $75.
• Hourly rates in Latin America are $25 and $60.

Top Staff Augmentation Companies in the USA

Staff augmentation agencies are very popular now. Today, companies are working on their projects with the help of IT team augmentation. Because they understand that workforce augmentation is easy and cost-effective.

In today’s digital world, businesses expect more flexibility than ever before. A team augmentation provider company will take your business to the next level.

So for your convenience, I am highlighting some of the top companies in the US so that you can get staffing through them: 

Riseup Labs

Riseup Labs is a leading IT company, pioneering mobile apps, games, web systems, QA testing, IoT, AR, VR, R&D, and Ecommerce solutions with expertise in creating interactive entertainment experiences across multiple platforms.

It also provides hire team, staff augmentation, IT staff augmentation, Resource Augmentation, Outstaffing, IT Outstaffing, Dedicated Team, and Freelance Resource services. Riseup Labs is a company that can be diving into technology.

WeDevelop LLC

WeDevelop LLC is a software company delivering exceptional Software Development Services. It delivers web development and manpower augmentation. They are very understanding while working with agile methodologies.

BairesDev

BairesDev is a leading Nearshore Technology Solutions company. With engineering centers in Belarus and Lithuania, it offers custom software engineering services in Ecommerce, Financial Services, Supply Chain, Travel, Healthcare, and Entertainment.

It evolves digital transformation into digital acceleration using tech expertise and cross-industry experience. 

Octobot

Octobot is a Latin American Software Development Company. It was described in the journal Nature in 2016.

It provides companies with the software development outsourcing solution they need to deliver top digital experiences and turn problems into products people love.

Intellectsoft

Intellectsoft is a full-service software development company that provides engineers, designers, and developers. It provides ongoing support through its IS360 framework.

Conclusion

By reading this complete article, you will understand how important employee growth is. Staff augmentation is a process by which your company will have a full talent.

Software team augmentation increases the company’s productivity while freeing it from additional costs. You can even build an entire project with extended, cross-functional teams.

In this digital era, many IT companies have positioned themselves through software team augmentation or IT staff augmentation. And now these companies are getting more popularity for their work.

So it is clear that software team augmentation, IT team augmentation, and software team augmentation are important for the IT industry.

Staff Augmentation FAQs

Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding staff augmentation or IT staff augmentation. I am here to help you. Here are some answers based on the most frequently asked questions:

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