Staff augmentation has rightfully gained its reputation as an efficient, flexible, and affordable outsourcing strategy, that assists businesses in getting closer to their objectives. At the same time, the last few years have seen a growing interest expressed by companies of all shapes and sizes, towards this business strategy, that is a real lifesaver in today’s world, which is marked by the rapid rate of technological advancement.

However, companies may still have some unanswered questions on the topic of staff augmentation, which we’re hoping to cover in the following. So let’s start by clarifying the meaning of this concept and how it works, and we’ll go from there.

1. What is staff augmentation?

The outsourcing strategy that we have set out to analyse, gives us an idea about how it works, simply through its name. In this sense, staff augmentation means that contracting businesses get to augment their in-house team, with the help of specialized companies, that will be taking care of the process of recruitment, and everything that derives from it. Vendors employ experts that possess the right skills, according to the client’s needs, on either a short or long-term basis, while hiring businesses retain full control and manage their remote employees directly.

2. What are the benefits of staff augmentation?

IT staff augmentation offers many advantages, among which the most appealing ones that catch the eye of contracting businesses, refer to flexibility, scalability, transparency, and full control. Companies that acquire staff augmentation services have the opportunity to tap into new talent pools, work with experienced specialists, add or remove remote experts, depending on their necessities, and avoid costs occasioned by permanent employment, office rentals and maintenance, or equipment acquisition. On top of all this, this solution allows internal employees to concentrate more on essential activities, while remote specialists relieve them of the heavy workload that they might be dealing with.

3. What are the risks of staff augmentation?

This business strategy, as in the case of other solutions, comes bundled with risks or disadvantages as well. Communication issues, time-zone-related trouble or legal problems may all arise during the implementation of the staff augmentation strategy. And it doesn’t stop there; given that specialists will only work temporarily on your project, it is likely that they will not be as invested and dedicated, as a permanent employee would be. Moreover, since collaboration with your vendor ceases upon the final line of code, written by your remote developer, partnerships between contracting parties can only go so far, in terms of trust and depth.

4. When should I choose staff augmentation?

Every new business strategy that you wish to implement, must be well considered. On that note, before taking the plunge, and starting to search for companies that offer staff augmentation services, you must conduct an analysis of your business’ current situation, to see what areas need improvement. Establish what your skill gaps are, and communicate your requirements clearly, once you have decided upon your vendor. In terms of “when” to choose staff augmentation, such moments should coincide with having tight deadlines, that you cannot meet, overworked employees, or complex projects, that you find difficult to complete without extra sets of hands, with specific skill sets.

5. How is staff augmentation going to help my company?

Staff augmentation is a solution to many problems that companies have to face throughout their journey towards their goals. Whether it is skill gaps that they have to overcome, or meeting impossible deadlines, this business strategy will get companies operating in various domains, out of trouble. Staff augmentation allows hiring businesses to tap into talent pools that are otherwise out of reach, and add the technical skills that they are in dire need of. Thus, this solution will help your company successfully carry out even the most complex projects, in a timely manner, and, on the other hand, will relieve overworked employees of non-essential activities, giving them the space and time they need, in order to focus on core operations, or come up with innovative ideas.

Conclusion

Staff augmentation is one of the most popular outsourcing strategies for a reason; it is a flexible, cost efficient solution, that companies have found to be most efficient in times of need. Questions regarding the way that it works, advantages and drawbacks, or when and how this practice can benefit one’s business, have surely crossed the minds of those interested in acquiring staff augmentation services numerous times, and have received an answer in the above written text. However, there are still questions that have yet to be replied to, and that will be given the proper attention in another text that will follow.

Staff Augmentation with TechTalent

Backed by 350+ IT consultants, over 250 delivered Agile projects, and over 10 years of creating successful project teams for customers in various industries, TechTalent is the go-to company when deciding to resort to staff augmentation.