Staff Augmentation in 2023: Ultimate Guide

Staff Augmentation: Overview

Augmentation, the word suggests something in excess or the addition of something or some value. In short, doubling is what we call augmentation. In any company or organisation, there is a term called staff augmentation. Many of you must have heard about it. But the meaning is not clear to many of you, right!

Suppose, your company lacks sufficient expertise or developers to develop a software project. Then you need to hire expert developers to help your company develop the software and achieve company goals. But what if we say that you can hire top mobile developers on a per-project basis? Great, right! Well, it is possible with the staff augmentation model. This model helps your software project get done without affecting your other business tasks or goals in any manner.

And as per the Forbes, Staff Augmentation is one of the three strategies for filling tech roles during the talent shortage.

After implementing the staff augmentation model, you will be able to engage/augment your current team with the software experts you hire. In this blog, you will come across several things that you need to know about staff augmentation.

What is Staff Augmentation?

The hiring of experienced software developers to let your custom software development project or Minimum Viable Product (MVP Version) development be done with 100% success is nothing but the process of staff augmentation. So whenever you are hiring a new software development team to support your existing team, you will be considered as augmented the staff. The moment these augmented staff join your existing team, you can move forward to make business achievements. Well, you can hire these developers providing the option of working from home. However, you can also appoint them on the condition of working at the workspace.

Today the demand of the software developing industry is very high. And the competition is high at the same time. These companies suffer due to high demand but less supply. Moreover, there remains the pressure of deadlines too. In that scenario, it is beneficial to proceed according to the staff augmentation model. And to remain on a safer and better side, try to apply this model on a per-project basis.

Wow, so many IT companies have preferred to opt for staff augmentation! But why?

What are the reasons for preferring augmentation of staff?

There are some software developing experts who are skilled enough and are looking for short-term positions like part-time or freelance. These experts always help the software companies to take up more projects and fulfil their projects within deadline.

The staff augmentation model helps IT companies choose the right talent for their ongoing projects.

Now let us discuss the benefits of the staff augmentation model in detail:

1. Reach more talents

   This augmentation process is different from the normal hiring process. The normal hiring model generally supports long-term hiring whereas the augmentation process of staff is meant for appointing employees on a short-term basis for certain specific projects. The projects that we are talking about require professionals who think out of the box.

   So are you looking for professionals who give your team a lead for a short period? Then nothing can be better than this augmentation model. But if you compare the full-time and employee augmentation hiring process, you may notice that staff augmentation is more cost-effective.

2. Growth and quick adaptation

   Several software companies desire to grow fast and grab a major portion of the market. But the main obstruction they face is the shortage of capital. Not only this but they often fear investing thinking about the risks or failures in the future. This augmentation model in that case is a great aid for these companies because this hiring process does not require you to appoint costly and time-consuming full-time employees.

   What if the company needs more adaptability capacity? Well, let us understand this situation with an example. Suppose a company wants to hire software developers on a project basis. Then no other option can help you to avoid market fluctuations other than the staff augmentation process. If any changes occur in the market conditions, then your short-term extended employees quickly reach those changes and enable your project to get fulfilled.

3. Improved and innovative performance

   Do you know the result of continuously working with existing team members? Well, it becomes impossible to come out with something different with the existing workforce for the improvement/growth of the business. So if you want your business to reach a new level, you need innovative ideas, imaginations, discussions. And that calls for outstaffing.

   Give your business a new outlook with the facility if extending your team. This concludes that for excellence in the current projects and attracting the new software projects, you need the guidance of new software developing professionals or go for the remote team extension.

4. Enhanced operational efficacies

   Are you going to initiate a start-up soon? It means you will have to bear those heavy infrastructural costs first. But with the staff augmentation process, you can go for selecting employees for doing the work from home and let your project be done in time. So this automatically outstaffing eliminates high infrastructural costs as there remains no need to appoint full-time workers.

   Are you worried about high operational costs? When you opt for hiring a remote team of talented software professionals, you can indirectly save a large portion of your operational costs.

   So start investing in start-ups and expect huge revenues in return with the support of augmentation of staff.

5. Cost consuming process

   It is always better to start a new business set up in a location with high living costs from the revenue earning viewpoint. But it can cost you a lot if you need to hire full-time employees from the same locality.

   Do not get worried because there is a way out. Extend your team by our developers belonging to the locations with low living costs and having enough expertise and experience.

   Many people have a question about when is staff augmentation the right model for you. Well, there is nothing such a right or wrong concept that works over here. If all the following points are your requirement, then no model is right for you other than the out staffing model. Apart from these, you should also choose this model if you find any match of your requirements with the below-mentioned points. However, all these points can also be coupled as the types of staff augmentation.

   

Types of Staff Augmentation

1. Short-term needs: Suppose, your regular software developers are on a holiday for some days. But you require immediate work to be done. Then outstaffing can be a good option.
2. Long-term need: Say, for example, your company has achieved a new project for the long term. But in-house hiring can consume a long time. Then it is clever to pick up outstanding talents through the staff augmentation process.

Other than these situations, you may need to hire software developers or any other expertise if your company deals with the following:

1. Product-based work: No particular skills are required, only hard-working employees are the selection criteria.
2. Skill-based work: Yes, skills are essential here, but unpolished skills are good to go.
3. Highly skill-based work: Only a good level of knowledge and highly polished skills are entertained here.

Now let us take a quick look at the demerits of Staff Augmentation:

1. Involvement of new members may create hassles

   Suppose you have invited new software developers to work with your existing team. Then it may take some time for them to understand your existing team members and vice versa. Moreover, you need to keep enough patience to let them understand your projects and writing style thoroughly. And many confusions or slowdown of activities may also take place.

2. Training cost

   When you are appointing staff on an augmentation basis, you may need to provide the required training to let them understand your working process. They might lack any skills for which they may request training. So you need to keep a sufficient amount available for providing training.

3. Management of additional team members

   When there will be additional team members through the way of outstaffing, you will need to manage the exceeded team too. So management needs to be of high quality. You may also require spending high on it then.

   So now the question is whether you should go for the staff augmentation or not. Then it is advisable to notice the weightage of pros and cons of staff augmentation. Then you may observe that the benefits win over the demerits of outstaffing. So you can go for hiring additional employees for your team to become stronger.

   Suppose now you are ready to augment additional employees. Then you need to follow a proper way for the same that has been described below.

Key things you must keep in mind while choosing the right Staff augmentation model

1. The type of staff required

   A business comprises different staff members who have different talents and specialties. But if you are not able to understand the requirement, then sit for a discussion with HR, and other employees of your company. Try to find out which category of the team needs improvement for the betterment of the company. Is it the front-end developers, full-stack developers, or any other? Suppose, it is the lack of excellence in the back-end for which your company is currently suffering. Then extend your back-end developers’ team size. So choose the model that is based on the criteria of the staff.

2. Contact types

   Suppose a project comes incidentally. That time, you need the support of some brilliant and highly experienced staff members that can make your project done instantly. So you must choose the services that help you for the same.

3. Need for better communication

   Are you looking for staff augmentation services with clearly designed communication protocols? Then you need to choose the augmentation model having clearly defined communication objectives. Because communication is also required for better flow of operations in a business.

4. Project-specific need

   Some companies need employees who can serve all the needs of the project. Nothing matters other than these. Then those companies should go for the staff augmentation model that offers you project-specific staff members.

   Other than these, you must always carry out a staff augmentation company before availing their services. You must check their track record and then choose the company based on your requirements.

   People often get confused between Staff augmentation and project outsourcing. So are they the same or different? Suppose, you want to give the entire burden of the project to an outsourcing company. Then it is called project outsourcing. But when you provide your existing teams with additional staff members in the form of useful resources, it is termed as out staffing or staff augmentation.

   There is another term called Dedicated team. So is there any interconnection between staff augmentation and a dedicated team? Well, there is no connection but definitely a distinction between them.

   With staff augmentation models, you have to limit the skill sets you want from the augmented employees. But when you ask for a dedicated team from any outsourcing company, you are always plated with employees with different skill sets.

   So now you are all set to move forward to the process of staff augmentation. The first step is to choose a perfect staff augmentation company that further includes a variety of steps mentioned below.

   

Steps to choose a staff augmentation company or partner

1. Firstly, find out whether it is any skill or manpower that your company lacks.
2. Then you need to decide whether your requirements are long-term or short-term.
3. Decide whether the onshore or offshore outsourcing company is suitable for you.
4. Then make a list of at least 5 outstaffing companies in different locations your company is comfortable with.
5. Then make a detailed research of each of the companies. You can check their reviews, testimonials, their social media updates, and so on.
6. After shortlisting the companies, you need to go for a detailed discussion with these companies. After finalising the company, you can start the further process by signing a contract.

If you are still confused about when the staff augmentation model is right for you, watch the answer below:

• When your company needs to save your money.
• When you are in search of new employees at an affordable salary
• When your project requires some sort of specialisation.
• When you require to test the product before releasing it.

Apart from these facilities, this model is cost-effective too as it has no permanent implications but has many temporary benefits.

Why augment your team with SolGuruz?

1. Start knowing your needs

   We always first welcome your needs and demands. We first understand the need and requirements thoroughly and analyse them deeply.

2. Fix the meeting with the employees

   We help you hire employees for your team conducting the interview and providing all the technical support.

3. Support till the end

   We offer end-to-end support even after your project gets over. Other than these, you should choose us because we have many years of experience in handling your projects.

   Are you looking for a company to augment your team with any staff augmentation company? Then SolGuruz can be a great choice to make but do not go blind, understand the reasons.

Conclusion

So we have given our best efforts to give you an idea of the whole staff augmentation scenario. So whenever you are going to hold the hands of outstaffing companies, it is better to go through this blog for a one-stop solution to employee augmentation. In case of any queries or confusion, we are always here and happy to help!

If you want to create a custom software solution that meets all of your needs, we can assist you. SolGuruz is a top mobile app and web development company having top mobile app developers and top web developers who can assist you at any stage of mobile app development. What are you waiting for? Reach out to our experts and see your app idea turn into reality.

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