IT Staff Augmentation: Extending Teams from Startups to Enterprises

“IT staff augmentation uses outside professionals on a temporary or permanent basis to perfectly augment your organisation’s needs.”

This article resolves your questions about IT staff augmentation and helps decision-makers overcome hiring challenges with long-lasting, reliable solutions.

By 2030, tech employment is expected to reach 9 million positions, compared to 8 million in 2020. Plus, there’s a need to replace staff due to resignations and retirements, estimated to be around 580,000 per year. As a result, 6.8 million tech jobs must be filled this decade in the US. However, the US currently produces approximately 65,000 students with computer science degrees annually. Therefore, IT Staff Augmentation is one of the most value-driven and cost-effective solutions for companies in the future.

If you’re thinking more about IT Staff Augmentation, here is some detailed information to help you get started.

The Growing Demand for IT Staff Augmentation

IT staff augmentation is turning out to be a necessary solution for businesses due to the increasing shortage of talent and ever-increasing demand for specialized technology skills. Companies are finding it difficult to recruit in-house teams with the required skills, especially in emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity. Augmentation gives a quick way to fill the skill gaps and sustain business continuity.

Who Uses IT Staff Augmentation Services?

IT staff augmentations services are used by many software companies across the US. It is ideal for businesses with engineers working for them but needs a specific team of programmers to develop another part of the project. It is also used by companies who want flexible labour to gain a competitive advantage – to increase their speed to market, be agile from a skills point of view, or ensure smooth project deliveries.

IT Staff Augmentation in a Post-Pandemic World

The shift towards remote work and global digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic changed the staffing perspective for companies. In addition, IT staff augmentation service providers can offer flexibility from anywhere in the world. Employees and contractors come from different regions and time zones, with diverse perspectives and skills that companies can reap benefits from.

How Does IT Staff Augmentation Work?

The client chooses a vendor to expand their in-house team, and the vendor discusses the details with the client. Once the requirements are precise, the vendor sends appropriate CVs to the client for consideration. The selected candidates then pass the interview with the CTO, CEO, or product owners and sign the contract if things go well. It is followed by onboarding, wherein we plan, train new members, and set up the key processes and tools. During the team stabilization period, all functions are streamlined, and operations are at full capacity with scaling per demand. The entire process is completed much faster by an IT Staff Augmentation company than by an in-house HR team.

At Digicode, we’re an agile programming and SCRUM-oriented company and use Jira to control work assignments, follow progress, track bugs and handle issues. We can also work effectively in multiple time zones with our KPIs and deadlines and offer online stand-ups, weekly meetings, and sprint meetings for the entire project team

What are the Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation Services?

IT staff augmentation offers a flexible and effective mechanism to boost recruiting efficiency for software companies and opens new hiring opportunities. The top benefits include:

1. Saves Time and Money – Since your in-house resources aren’t spending hours or weeks in hiring, it reduces operating costs and helps increase profits.
2. Widens your Resource Talent Pool – Since you’re not limited to hiring local talent or in-house skills, you get access to world-class talent from other markets, thus helping you deliver better on your projects.
3. Reduces the Dependence on the Internal Teams – Since you will be delegating the tasks to external resources, it reduces your dependence on the internal employees. For IT staff augmentation companies, business matters and thus, they control the quality of services they provide. This professionalism and dedication can be challenging to expect from internal employees.
4. Lowers the Management Burden – Since the number of hiring tasks performed within the organization is reduced, the management can focus on business growth and concentrate on the core business areas.
5. Enables Flexibility & Adaptability – If you don’t want to maintain a large in-house staff and create a complex corporate structure, IT staff augmentation helps reorganize your business and optimizes operating costs. You can always increase or decrease resources as per your project requirements.

With practical expertise in IT staff augmentation services, Digicode is more than a solution provider – a technology consultant, business partner and trusted advisor.

When to Consider IT Staff Augmentation Services as a Solution?

IT staff augmentation services work best when you already have an in-house team and want to temporarily expand it with people, expertise, or both. Consider the solutions when:

• You want to grow your team fast
• You want professionals with high-level skills for your project
• You want to ensure better communication with the team
• You have a tech-savvy manager by your side
• You want to enhance the productivity of your project

Difference Between IT Staff Augmentation and Software Development Outsourcing

Outsourcing encompasses various models, out of which staff augmentation is one solution. Outsourcing is commonly associated with turnkey software development wherein clients hire complete teams for end-to-end development, following all stages of SDLC. Also, outsourcing includes other options like onshoring, nearshoring and offshoring.

While both seek to use resources and minimize staffing costs efficiently, IT staff augmentation is all about integrating outside specialists into your organization. Outsourcing transfers certain functions and often whole business processes to a subcontractor.

How to choose an IT Staff Augmentation Partner?

IT staff augmentation partners don’t provide pay-and-receive services. Instead, they build long-term relationships to grow, develop and transform the product into a genuine partnership. In this process, choosing the wrong technical partner without the necessary skills and expertise can risk your go-to-market time or result in a non-working partner.

The best way to choose an IT staff augmentation partner is through recommendations, listings, or Google. However, from our experience, the top method has always been word of mouth, as it’s the most proven way to find a trusted partner.

Is IT staff augmentation services more expensive than an in-house professional?

No. The cost of hiring a senior developer in North America ranges from $190,000 to $280,000. Plus, the ongoing overhead costs of onboarding and offboarding team members and high turnover rates can rapidly increase expenses. According to a Deloitte report, one bad hire costs around 52 days and over $4000. So, you spend a lot of money trying to find the right person for the job.

On the other hand, the cost of software development staff augmentation is much more affordable and profitable than in-house employees. In addition, if you choose a technical contractor from another region, the costs decrease significantly.

Digicode is a reliable provider of custom fintech software development, enterprise application development services, UI/UX design, technology modernization, and Microsoft ERP software implementation services that recognizes the importance of a productive, stable, and happy engineering team and thus, we invest in long-term relationships with clients and employees. With an eNPS score of 78, 43 points above the industry standard, we also minimize churn and deliver incredible benefits and learning opportunities at every stage.