What is a staff augmentation service?

In the last few years, along with technology development, more and more companies, especially from the IT sector, have been facilitating their needs for specialized skills. Traditional staffing methods are now behind staff augmentation. Anyone who has been ever involved in a time-sensitive project with large financial investments knows how important the experienced and skilled team is. However, developing in-house capabilities to complete a project might be both costly and risky. On top of that, nowadays very few companies have static IT needs which brings us again to staff augmentation. What is the staff augmentation service? Is it something your company could benefit from? If so, what are the key benefits?

What is staff augmentation? 

Outsourcing teams to get the job done has been a growing trend thanks to the quick communication guaranteed by the Internet. In 2019, the global market size of outsourced services has been estimated at over 92 billion dollars. Staff augmentation is one of the types of outsourcing, similar but not the same as hiring remote teams.

In theory, staff augmentation means just the allocation of some additional technical resources. Such resources are hired as overseas development extensions on the company’s in-house development teams. Putting it simply, it’s hiring a contractor with certain skills and knowledge instead of a permanent employee. You are free to choose candidates that fully fit your requirements and, what is a great advantage, either cut or further extend your augmented team whenever you need to. The whole process is as simple as hiring temporary workers or contractors.

For more information about staff augmentation and in-house development read one of our related articles:

• In-House Development – Advantages and Disadvantages

Example: suppose you have a special project. It requires another five employees but the project will only last 4-6 months. Hiring permanent employees is not an option as it would be necessary to fire them once the project is completed. When you just need to expand your team for a defined time span, you may definitely benefit from a seamless staff augmentation service. There are many staff augmentation companies out there so all the behind-the-scenes of recruiting are handled for you.

Is staff augmentation a popular solution?

Staff augmentation is a service that is becoming more and more popular among the different models of outsourced work. It is offered by international companies you probably wouldn’t think of at first, like Accenture, PwC, and Deloitte. The IT sector isn’t different in that regard: IBM and the companies under its umbrella, e.g. LGS, have been providing outsourcing services for years – including staff augmentation configuration. These big players recognized the growing need and the benefit of offering their clients highly talented specialists on a short-term lease. Staff augmentation model of hiring is considered to be one of the key changes in a way people think about labor in the next decade.

Is staff augmentation service right for you?

Staff augmentation service is often used in the IT and software engineering industries. There are many cases or projects you can utilize staff augmentation service in. The most popular cases are the following:

1. You want to develop a new feature of the product – even if you already have a great team working on your product in the office, you may still need more tech professionals. Sometimes you don’t have a chance to find such experts on your local market or the stack of professionals that you want to hire is rare. Staff augmentation service is perfect for companies hiring professionals from other locations.
2. You are hit with unexpected success – sometimes businesses take off in one night, especially in the digital spaces. You may find yourself in a position where keeping your business continuity is a struggle. Additional staff hired for a limited amount of time can take care of the new situation or support the team in their duties.  
3. You start a new project that requires specialized skills your current employees don’t have. If you need some extra bodies to handle project implementation and train up your staff, augmentation is the answer.
4. One of your key employees has announced plans for a long-term absence (maternity leave, illness recovery, etc.) and you need temporary cover to plug the skills gap.
5. You already cooperate with an outsourcing company but you feel it’s not enough. You don’t communicate with the experts directly which makes them people outside the team. Outsourcing is much worse for remote team integration because it doesn’t create a common goal. 
6. You are planning to expand your team permanently but you are not sure if you have enough need. In order to test a larger staff before making direct hires, you can use staff augmentation service.

Key benefits of staff augmentation

Staff augmentation might be highly beneficial for a developing company. First of all, such a solution enables you to cut costs. Hiring full-time employees for the purpose of working on a specific project is usually expensive. Staff augmentation allows you to avoid expenses associated with salaries, benefits and other costs of hiring full-time employees. You don’t have to worry about office space, workstations, etc. You only pay a fee to the vendor. Then, they take care of arranging everything. The second thing is that staff augmentation enables you to scale your business faster – you cut down costs but still hire top talents for your projects. Also, a level of productivity is higher because your new developers are only focused on a single project, unlike e.g. outsourcing teams who manage several projects simultaneously. It can also help you keep up your business continuity when additional workload hits you out of the blue. Finally, staff augmentation gives you more control over short-term projects and temporary employees who only work a set amount of hours. You get the best talents at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time expert.

Final thoughts 

Having the right team is crucial if you want your projects to be successful. This is why staff augmentation services have been more and more popular especially in the IT industry where companies need to quickly add some new members of the teams who are just right for the job. 

Staff augmentation service at BinarApps

Are you wondering what is the best model for your business? Our staff augmentation services are a cost-effective and reliable way to increase your productivity and scale up your business, as well as cut some costs. Our skilled and experienced team of professionals is ready to help you bring your company to the next level. Do not hesitate to contact BinarApps representatives – the first consultation is free of charge.