Staff Augmentation in Software Development - Solve your Hiring Problems

Software development is a lengthy and complicated process. The numerous steps that are required in the development cycle are done by several different professionals who have specialized in their respective fields.

As a result of this specialization, there is a dearth of skilled software developers in the field that can handle the workload of an entire company alone. This is where software development companies tend to outsource work to be done by specialists, freelancers, or agencies. This has led to staff augmentation in software development which has gained immense popularity over recent years.

One of the most significant trends in today’s business is how organizations increasingly use contingent workers. It’s a practice that has been around for centuries, but it has evolved in many ways over time. The most common types of contingent work are staff augmentation and outsourcing.

Introduction to Staff Augmentation in Software Development

 

Staff augmentation is a type of outsourcing that allows companies to quickly gauge their internal teams and fulfill IT needs. By hiring outside developers to work in-house, IT staff augmentation plays a key role in reducing the gap between recruiting full-time staff and working with a remote team.

Staff augmentation solutions enable companies to cut recruitment and employee retention costs. The model is gaining traction because it's easy to scale up or down. There are no hassles with hiring processes and employment contracts, so companies can add or subtract employees as needed.

Why is Staff Augmentation Important?

 

Staff augmentation can provide several benefits to your company, including lower operational and development costs, fewer legal liabilities and paperwork, fewer headaches when hiring, and more flexibility in size and structure—all without sacrificing the quality of work. However, it's not always easy to know when you should use staff augmentation services.

IT staff augmentation services can also drastically improve sales efficiency within your organization. Integrating a specialized external team with your existing workforce ensures that you’re technology and sales tools are handled by experts, allowing your internal sales team to focus on improving strategies and reaching their goals. In turn, this alignment enhances productivity without compromising on the quality of output.

 

 

The staff augmentation model has seen significant growth in recent years due to its flexibility and scalability. This model allows companies to hire specific skills on a per-project basis, and integrate them into their existing teams. 

In the software development industry, where there is a constant demand for new products and processes, you can use a staffing model like IT Staff Augmentation to get the right people for each project. 

Staff Augmentation Models in Software Development

 

When you need to find a rare, in-demand skill—or even just address technical gaps with your in-house staff—an experienced IT staff augmentation company like InvoZone can help. 

After all, a company that outsources IT staffing services can walk you through the differences between onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing models while pointing out the pros and cons along the way. And then, armed with more knowledge at your disposal, you can choose an approach that best fits your company’s operating needs.

 

 

Here’s a brief rundown of the three essential staff outsourcing models available today, along with some of their benefits and drawbacks.

1. Onshore Staff Augmentation

When a company needs to scale up its engineering or development team to meet a deadline but lacks local talent, an IT staffing agency might recommend working with qualified candidates located in another town or city in the same country.

Benefits

• Because the onshore staff is located in the same country as your company, there should be no language or cultural barriers to overcome.
• A wider range of technical expertise will be available to you with the onshore model, as your IT staffing company can identify and pull out skilled labor from the entire country.
  

Drawbacks

• While your onshore staff will have more in common with permanent staff than workers based in a foreign country, delays can still occur due to time differences.
• Managers won't be able to directly oversee the job performances of supplemental staff that work remotely.
• When you use the onshore approach, integrating with onsite employees can take longer because distance and time can affect how people cooperate and interact with one another.

2. Nearshore Staff Augmentation

Nearshore outsourcing is similar to onshore, except for the fact that the developers are located in a nearby country. With this model, you can increase your team's productivity by hiring on-site workers who are close in proximity and have similar time zones.

Benefits

• Because the nearshore staff is located closer to your central headquarters, there is less time zone lag, making it simpler to communicate and coordinate tasks during standard business hours.
• Nearshore software developers are often cheaper than onsite or onshore talent, but still, give you firm access to top-notch technical skills.
  

Drawbacks

• While hiring engineers nearshore is typically less expensive than onsite or onshore labor, it's still more costly than contracting with offshore teams.
• When you select the nearshore model, you'll encounter some time zone differences (a few hours) because of the time difference between your location and the location of your contractors.
• If every hour counts, especially when you're on a tight delivery schedule, these meager differences can potentially lead to some marginal productivity losses.
  

3. Offshore Staff Augmentation

For a variety of reasons, a company might choose to augment its staff with a remote employee from overseas. This means hiring someone from another country and working with them via the Internet, email, and teleconferencing.

For example, an American software firm in California that partners with programmers in Pakistan or Ukraine would fit this outsourcing paradigm.

Benefits

• While the cost of working with software developers overseas can vary significantly, depending on several factors, including the strength of the local (overseas) economy, foreign business regulations, and more, as a general rule, offshore destinations tend to cost less than other staffing options when augmenting your IT staff on a project-by-project basis.
• Offshore employees can help you get projects done around the clock, even if your onsite team is out of the office. However, this can be a drawback as well, so think carefully about how to work with an offshore team.
  

Drawbacks

• Working in different locations can sometimes cause communication issues due to cultural and language differences, as well as difficult-to-understand accents.
• Collaboration with offshore staff can be limited when coordinating schedules (due to time differences), which can sometimes slow down productivity during the workday, and frustrate expectations as far as output is concerned.

In the long run, you can find a staff augmentation model that fits your software company’s specific staffing needs even if those needs end up changing and evolving based on your company’s business needs.

Top Reasons to Choose Staff Augmentation

With staff augmentation, a third-party company can help you hire people with the requisite skills and just the right amount of experience for a limited time. IT staff augmentation is always a good alternative for businesses that are looking for development solutions on different platforms.

Let’s discuss a few proven benefits of staff augmentation in software development and other industries.

 

• Overall Cost-Effectiveness

Hiring someone full-time can be a good option, but this means you'll have to spend more money and time on the process of onboarding your new employee. Plus, you probably won't need that person after the project is done.

Instead, staff augmentation in software development and other domains is a great way to hire new experts in your team on a short-term basis, which allows you to circumvent many of the costs associated with benefits and salaries for internal employees.

• Just the Right Skills

Staff augmentation is considered to be a great option for short-term projects. The temporary staff gives you the chance to fill skill gaps in your internal teams, as opposed to hiring new employees.

Staff augmentation allows you to analyze the exact fields of expertise or skills that your internal team lacks and then find the appropriate temporary staff for your project — all at a lower cost than if you were to hire new employees.

• Quick Scalability

Staff augmentation can help you scale up or down your workforce quickly and efficiently. You can hire top talent that’s suitable for your specific projects while also reducing costs — allowing you to scale up or down without hiring too many costly full-time employees at once.

Today’s business landscape is constantly shifting and changing, so people in charge of hiring are shifting their focus toward staff augmentation to meet the demands of new projects without taking on the financial burden of full-time employees.

• Authority to Control the Process

Staff augmentation involves outsourcing, but it gives companies more control over the experience and skills they expect from their temporary hires. Because these staff members will probably be working with full-time employees, you can easily monitor the work they do.

Outsourcing has many benefits, but one of its drawbacks is the lack of easy oversight and access to individual staff members. With a well-placed IT staff augmentation company, you can oversee the work being done on your projects, ensuring that all tasks are performed with fidelity, confidentiality, and quality.

 

• Collaborative Ideas 

Internal teams can often fall victim to tunnel vision, particularly if they’ve been working on a particular project for a long time. And the external temporary staff brought in through the staff augmentation model can provide an outside perspective that helps ensure you and your team aren’t making any mistakes due to company biases.

 

Hiring Remote Developers

 The remote-first model has grown in popularity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This model, which prioritizes remote work over in-person collaboration, is common among startups and small businesses.

But it isn't an intuitive switch for many leaders who are used to managing people in person. Many business owners have a hard time reframing their hiring processes to accommodate remote developers.

Staff augmentation is an alternative to hiring new employees. People who are hired through a staff augmentation agency have already been vetted and trained, so you can skip the usual recruitment process and start working right away.

By using the services of a top staff augmentation company to hire remote software developers, your company can save money, time, and resources while maintaining long-term team flexibility for projects.

 

Key Thoughts

 

Staff augmentation in software development is an efficient way for companies to scale up their software development projects. Because it allows you to tap into top development talent from all over the world, but at a moderate price, many companies find it an attractive option. 

At InvoZone, we take the time to understand your needs and then match them with the right team of developers. We're proud of the partnerships we've built with companies around the world, delivering innovative IT solutions that help businesses grow! Give us a call today!

 

A failed attempt to find a company that gives the best consultation when it comes to outsourcing?  Do not worry. Read our well-structured outsourcing articles to gain valuable insights to kickstart your project.

 

---

What is team augmentation in agile?

In agile, team augmentation is a method of increasing the number of people in a development team to get more work done. 

It's similar to having someone help with a project. The person who needs help asks for it, and the person who can help says "yes." The person who needs help gives the helper specific tasks to complete and then they work together to complete the assigned tasks.

What Percentage of IT Companies Use Staff Augmentation?

 The answer to this question depends on how you define IT. In general, it's about 10% of companies use staff augmentation.

But, if you're talking about companies that are using staff augmentation by hiring remote developers, then it's more like 30-40% of them.