IT Staff Augmentation helps companies reduce operational costs and enhance core competencies. Companies must outsource their IT requirements to reduce operating costs and enhance core competencies. They must thoroughly understand how it works and choose the right service provider before outsourcing any part of their business operations to save operational costs. This article provides a detailed view of what IT staff augmentation entails.
What Is IT Staff Augmentation?
In some ways, IT staff augmentation is like outsourcing. A company hires and takes advantage of employees’ talent from an outside staffing firm that focuses on providing services to meet your company’s needs.
However, a few key differences between IT staff augmentation and outsourcing set them apart. Outsourcing can be more cost effective because you only pay for what you need when needed, but it’s not as customizable or personalized as IT Staff Augmentation.
As organizations struggle to keep up with technological innovations and adapt to new practices, it’s not surprising that IT staffing needs are constantly changing. Keeping up-to-date on new technologies and finding professionals with the right skills to work at your company can be daunting.
Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can meet your staffing needs while ensuring those workers stay satisfied and engaged in their roles. One of the most effective methods is IT staff augmentation.
Types Of Staff Augmentation
While many IT staff augmentations are available, we can categorize them into three types. Here’s a quick rundown of each category:
Commodity: These are staff augmentation tasks that freelance contractors can easily and quickly handle. A quick search for a freelancer will turn up dozens of qualified candidates within minutes. There is usually no interview process to find the perfect person for the job. If you have one-time projects and need someone on your team to complete them, commodity staff augmentation is perfect.
Non-commodity: Non-commodity IT staff augmentation tasks are more in-depth and require skills or knowledge that are hard to find. If you’re looking for a specialized skill set, such as someone who knows how to design websites, you’ll probably have to conduct an extensive search, even if it means hiring someone full-time.
Skill-based: Skill-based staffing is used when a business needs to fill an open position with a skill set it doesn’t currently have on its payroll. There are often high barriers to entry for these positions because these skills are hard to find, so staffing agencies may require potential employees to take tests or prove their qualifications before being considered.
Highly Skilled: High-skilled staff augmentation falls into short-term and long-term categories. Short-term is what it sounds like, workers who come in for short periods (often weeks) while your regular team takes a vacation. Long-term hires typically stay on your payroll full-time, but you cannot handle 100% of their workload. They work as support while your regular team handles the heavier stuff.
Looking to increase productivity and reduce costs? Staff augmentation could be ideal for you.
Why Hire An External Support Team?
Rely on an external support team for your IT needs when you need a more consistent and personalized level of service. When staff augmentation is in place, your company will be more productive because it’s free from responsibilities that take up valuable time and energy.
These IT staff augmentation services come in many flavors, but the common denominator among them is the type of commitment they provide to the customer.
You can hire either onsite or remote employees. Both have advantages and disadvantages, depending on your business needs.
Onsite staff augmentation means working with IT support professionals in your company’s office space. It gives them a direct line of sight into what’s happening with your network and your technology infrastructure to address the issues quickly and immediately.
Remote staff augmentation means they work from another location outside of your office space, usually at home or in a co-working facility.
Onsite staff augmentation is more expensive, but it gives you direct access to your support professionals. You can also choose when and how you would like to have their assistance.
With remote staff augmentation, IT services are cheaper overall because there is no cost associated with office space or equipment that a contractor must use. However, these workers often require more oversight because they aren’t sitting in front of your company’s network daily.
Also Read: Top 20 IT Staff Augmentation Service Companies
What Are The Benefits Of IT Staff Augmentation?
Many companies these days face the problem of being unable to keep up with technology. However, implementing an IT staff augmentation solution can solve this dilemma of many industries.
This blog will explain in-depth if you’re interested in finding out more about IT staff augmentation. Here are a few significant benefits of implementing such a solution: –
- You will spend more time managing business and less time managing equipment, networks, and software updates.
- You get assistance with ongoing and sporadic projects that require your little more time & attention than others.
- You will be able to ensure consistency in the quality of your business services.
- There will be no more creative blocks as you will be able to bring in fresh ideas, insights, and creativity to your business.
- Outsourcing IT staff augmentation services enables you to focus on your core competencies.
- IT staff augmentation services mean there is no need to recruit, train or manage in-house IT professionals as the outsourced company does.
- If an issue occurs, then somebody at hand can quickly deal with it and get things back up and running again, so you don’t have to worry about expensive downtime or loss of productivity.
- You’ll also save money on recruitment costs as the augmented staff will handle any unexpected issues with minimal disruption to your day-to-day work, which means you’ll avoid costly hiring mistakes.
- The right IT staff augmentation service can help you focus on long-term goals, so your business always works at its best.
- IT Staff augmentation can provide the expert knowledge that is difficult to find elsewhere. With the right service providing all these benefits and more, it’s not hard to see why they’re becoming increasingly popular.
- Making sure you select the right one is vital. However, some providers may offer their skills at a fixed price, whereas others may charge hourly rates.
Also Read: What Is Staff Augmentation
What If Your Company Already Has A Strong In-house Technology Department?
If your company already has a strong in-house technology department, there is still good reason to hire an outsourcing provider. IT Staff Augmentation covers the requirement of unique skill sets required for specific projects or tasks but can’t be supported by an in-house IT team due to technical or logistical limitations.
When staffing increases during peak periods, you may need temporary staff to augment the existing team. Outsourcing providers allow your organization to utilize this increased availability with little overhead.
IT staffing companies can provide you with highly skilled & experienced resources who know how to work with your systems and processes. Additionally, they can be contracted to bring on temporary staff when significant workload increases. This gives you an agile technology team that is uniquely qualified to tackle projects of all sizes and scopes and allows you to concentrate on running your company.
Also Read: How Is IT Staff Augmentation A Unique Talent Option For The Startups?
What Business Functions Will You Outsource?
When outsourcing IT functions, it is important to start with the tasks that will have the least impact on your current staff’s workload. But what if you need help from outside companies to understand which IT services are best for your company? Consider asking for a free consultation from ValueCoders Consultants.
- Determine which IT Staff Augmentation solutions will have minimal impact on your current staffing. Look at projects that don’t need to complete immediately or tasks that can be delayed. Your outsourcing provider should have no trouble helping you identify and prioritize which applications you should handle internally vs. which ones you should outsource.
- The distinction is easier when your company only has a few IT personnel and there aren’t any pressing needs for new software or hardware. For example, outsourcing services make sense if your business doesn’t need video conferencing equipment until your needs change and expand.
- Next is to make sure you always have an outside contractor to fall back on. This allows you to keep things under control in your business and take advantage of outsourcing when it makes sense for your company.
- For example, if you need help to install a new database management system, you can contact an IT Staff Augmentation provider for assistance. Afterward, go back to handling database management internally by leveraging a remote cloud database server from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Be sure to research your options carefully and find an IT staff augmentation provider that you feel confident in. Each outsourcing agreement is unique, but all of them should offer a contract where you have complete control over when your company is on call for support and what happens when that time comes. If you’re looking for an IT Staff Augmentation provider to support your business now and in the future, ValueCoder may be a good fit. We have assisted enterprises, startups, and SMEs with their digital transformation for over a decade.
Looking to increase productivity and reduce costs? Staff augmentation could be ideal for you.
Budget of IT Staff Augmentation
The standard model of providing IT services is an in-house IT department. This is a larger expense, as the company must set aside more funds to cover staff salaries and equipment upkeep. However, this can lead to savings in other areas of business.
For example, a company must rely on outsourced contractors without in-house IT staff when disaster strikes. Contractors come at an increased cost and often lack the efficiency and knowledge that an experienced in-house IT staff member might offer.
The outsourcing model involves hiring a third-party IT firm to handle your company’s IT needs, including installing new equipment, providing repair and support services, and offering advice on improving your system. Outsourcing is less expensive than an in-house option. Many IT companies offer package deals that combine hardware maintenance and software support for a single fee.
However, before selecting a service model, deciding your budget or taking stock of all your current expenses is essential. Start by counting how much you spend on IT currently. If you haven’t used outsourcing yet, find out how much you would be charged per hour for these services. Next, consider if increased or decreased support will benefit your business more to save time and money for future projects.
Based on your needs and project workload, this may make more sense for one company than another. Knowing where you stand financially can help ensure that choosing a new IT service model is an investment rather than a cost. With so many considerations to think about, narrowing down which one will work best for your organization can seem daunting. But with careful planning and guidance from industry experts, anyone can find the right fit.
Things To Ensure Before IT Staff Augmentation
You’ll need to have each contractor on your team sign a non-disclosure agreement so that you can remain confident in the work your IT Staff Augmentation company is doing. In addition, include language in your contracts stating that any code or design created by outside contractors will belong to you and not them.
Lastly, you may include a clause prohibiting IT staff augmentation team members from working for competing companies. And you’ll want to make sure they sign an NDA when they work on your project so that you don’t end up with a competitor using your intellectual property.
You’ll also want to ensure that their contract states that all codes and designs created by outside contractors are yours, not theirs. And it’s always good practice to add a clause banning IT staff augmentation employees from working for competing firms.
Once you have everything in writing, you can start hiring. Start your search by requesting references from your friends, business partners, and colleagues. You’ll likely be able to find local contractors through personal referrals as well.
That way, if someone asks where you found an IT staff augmentation team member who did great work for you, they can refer more business to that person, which means more work for them!
How To Get Started With IT Augmentation?
Once you’ve a sense of how IT Staff Augmentation Services work, it’s time to evaluate the options. An ideal place to start is with your industry contacts. Reach out to fellow business owners or colleagues in similar industries and see if they can recommend any reputable service providers in your area.
It’s also a good idea to search for opportunities through job boards and social media groups related to your industry. To ensure you’re working with a reputable company, run background checks on their employees (although it’s probably best not to go overboard here), talk with other clients, and ask about their experiences working with that provider.
When you work with an offshore provider, you must write your agreement and establish expectations from both sides. Many service providers offer contract templates, so you can use that as a starting point when drafting your agreement. While they may look intimidating at first glance, they’re typically straightforward once you break them down.
If a standard contract doesn’t address your needs, work with an attorney or service provider who can draft something more comprehensive that addresses any unique issues specific to your business and industry. You should also outline any special terms regarding pricing or payment within the contract itself to avoid misunderstandings down the line.
ValueCoders is dedicated to providing top-quality services that enhance business productivity and profitability at IT Staff Augmentation. We handle all aspects of outsourcing your IT needs. We have been transforming businesses from over 15 years. J You will receive dedicated account managers who listen to and understand your business needs. Contact us today to learn more about how we can improve your company’s profitability!
Conclusion
If you need IT Staff Augmentation Services for your company, ValueCoders can help you. We are specialized in business since 2004 and worked with hundreds of companies globally.
We can help you find a solution, whether you need help with short-term needs such as project management, data entry, or help with an overload of work.
Or if you need long-term employment of Software Development Engineers, web developers, and project managers. We will work together to find a staffing solution that fits your business needs and brings you success in achieving your goals.
