IT team augmentation is a system where organizations supplement their existing internal workforce with additional and external personnel. Additional personnel can be temporary or permanent, and organizations can employ specific staff augmentation methods. This article will explore profitable IT staff augmentation and the nuances of setting up the systems.
IT staff augmentation can be tricky, especially for firms looking to recruit from countries they do not have a foothold. Organizations must wrestle with cultural differences, different time zones, collaboration and communication barriers, and integration.
How to Set up a Profitable IT Staff Augmentation
Identify Your Organization’s Needs: Before contacting an augmentation partner, you must understand the skills needed for your project. Companies need to hire more professionals for a broad-based project instead of specific tasks. For example, if your organization is in the middle of creating software and you need a React.js specialist, you can employ the services of an external and temporary React developer.
Integration: Once your IT staff augmentation partner services secure an external staff member you like, it’s time to integrate them into the company. Beyond proficiency in duty, external staff should be able to seamlessly integrate themselves into the organization’s system chain. You should consider language, company and employee culture, time zones, and systems to monitor and determine augmented staff performance metrics.
Augmentation Model: You can either outsource or outstaff for your augmentation needs. The outsourcing model involves partnering with an outsourcing agency for whole projects. The agency will charge hiring, management, and staff payment. The outstaffing model involves partnering with an outstaffing agency to access professionals for short-term and specific projects. Your choice of model depends on your project needs and your company’s peculiarities. You should also consider cost and company culture.
Country Selection: While IT staff are scattered globally, some countries have tech advantages. For example, Ukraine and India invest so much in tech, and many of their talents seek remote jobs from international countries. While China, Japan, and South Korea are great hubs for IT staff augmentation, you must consider cultural differences and language barriers. For example, China is racing the United States as the largest world economy, focusing on training talents for in-country integration in the tech industry. This means the average Chinese tech developer might not speak fluent English and struggle to integrate into the traditional US or European company culture. South Koreans have a relatively high standard of living compared to other Asian countries like Taiwan. India’s developers sometimes charge a fraction of the hourly rate their US counterparts will charge, even when they are just as good.
Security: Staff augmentation services can be great but can also lead to security breaches. It’s important to set up tough systems for security checks. Ensure that the people you hire are who they claim they are. In a world where identity theft is a norm, you should be careful about the people you onboard into your company, especially if they will take on roles that will give them a high level of access. For example, a web developer hired to set up payment integration can create a backdoor entry into your website or apps and siphon money out of your company.
Importance of Software Development Staff Augmentation
Flexibility
When outsourcing or outstaffing IT professionals, you create a flexible and hybrid workplace that will survive through changing market demands. In the ever-growing IT world, finding local IT staff might take a lot of work. Augmentation gives you the flexibility to access and optimize global staff.
Cost-effectiveness
Exploring IT staff augmentation in a different country can be cost-effective for hiring local staff. First, local staff come with a costly tag, especially in the United States and Western Europe. Let’s explore other cost-effective advantages of staff augmentation:
- 1. Lower hourly rates: You can access IT experts with considerably lower rates than local IT experts. Rates do not necessarily define expertise. Many incredibly talented and experienced software developers charge a fraction of what developers charge in the United States.
- 2. No need for equipment and training: With staff augmentation, you do not have to worry about buying new equipment or training staff. The staff augmentation agency is responsible for sourcing experienced IT staff who can do the job without training.
- 3. Scaling: Staff augmentation makes it easy for organizations to scale up or down their operations. For example, some organizations hire only core staff for core competencies and tasks but supplement the internal staff with remote IT staff. The flexibility that comes with IT augmentation allows organizations to meet growing demands without committing to long-term hiring. It also protects organizations from losing so much when they decide to shed supplement staff during an economic downturn.
Access to Specialized Skills
IT staff augmentation companies allow organizations to access specialized skills and expertise that may not be available in-house, enabling them to tackle complex projects or address specific challenges effectively.
Conclusion
IT staff Augmentation helps a company scale up to meet growing market demands and scale down when demand drops. Before settling on an IT augmentation direction, organizations must consider project type and company needs, cost, cultural synergy, collaboration, remote team management, and other factors. IT augmentation partners in the country of choice are usually the best because they understand the workforce, have easier access to talent in their country, and can help with management.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is staff augmentation always profitable?
The purpose of staff augmentation is profitability—the capacity to hire external professionals for specialized skills that may not be available in-house at a much affordable rate.
How do I know the best staff augmentation partner?
It’s important to check the track records of your staff augmentation partner. Look at the companies they have worked with, reviews, and experience with the country. You need IT professionals and cultural synergy with the country.
