If you are part of a startup culture and hold a position that makes you a key decision-maker, you must undoubtedly have heard of ‘staff augmentation’ and ‘team augmentation models’ being thrown about.
Or you’re more than familiar with the concept of team augmentation services and might already be planning to experiment with the benefits of team augmentation.
Either way, it’s important to cover the basics before you take the plunge, so let’s break it down into simple steps.
In this blog, we will delve into what team augmentation is, take a peek at different team augmentation models, and understand the benefits of team augmentation for tech startups. Read on to develop more effective business strategies and make better hiring decisions!
Why Do Businesses Need Team Augmentation?
Here’s the truth:
Software development is no easy feat if you are trying to produce stellar products that can change your end user’s life and revolutionize the digital world.
To develop products that have the capability to lead in your chosen domain or market, you will have to make sure that you invest in the latest technology.
And, of course, investing in technology also means investing in skilled resources who are adept at handling that technology and wielding it the right way to create software product magic.
This is especially true today because we live in an advanced era with a technological environment that changes rapidly. And while technology comes with huge advantages for your product development process, it also poses a serious risk you need to address: finding skilled professionals to handle evolving technology.
So, What Exactly Is Team Augmentation?
Staff augmentation, or resource augmentation, is simply the process of hiring seasoned experts for the dynamic needs of your business for a short period of time until those needs are met.
Team augmentation services enable software development companies worldwide to meet any technical demands outside their core skill set by adding specialised staff on demand.
Team augmentation strategies ask something that you need to consider if you are a startup that is trying to launch a new product with the help of the latest technologies under the guidance of expert professionals while also keeping your operational costs on the lower end.
Benefits of Team Augmentation for Tech Startups
Now that you have a basic understanding of what team augmentation is let us dive into some of the numerous benefits that go hand in hand with staff augmentation strategies. If you decide to invest your time and efforts into a cooperative IT staff augmentation model, you can:
- Eliminate the Hassles of Lengthy Recruitment Processes
Anyone familiar with the whole process of IT resource recruitment can vouch for the fact that it is no cakewalk.
There are numerous factors that you need to consider, multiple rounds of interviews that you need to conduct, and countless resumes that you have to flip through before you can find a candidate that fits the bill. And that is if you get lucky!
And even though there are hundreds of thousands of skilled specialists in different IT domains worldwide, it is hard to weed them out from the mediocre talent pool. And, especially if you’re a startup, you cannot afford bad hires.
On the other hand, if you build your team carefully and slowly, your startup will not grow at the pace it’s meant to and might stay stagnant while your competition ploughs ahead.
Staff augmentation helps you find the right skill set for your business requirements and onward them quickly and efficiently. This strategy ensures you have time on your side when it comes to the end to end recruitment process.
- Have Work Flexibility with Around-the-Clock Resources
The beauty of a startup is that it is always growing, both in terms of business requirements and consumer expectations. And as demands grow, your startup will need to scale up and your support team will have to rise to the challenge.
However, there are only 24 hours a day, a simple fact that might limit your in-house resources from keeping up with the leaps and strides you take as a business.
Also, if you try to build teams internally every time an urgent skill requirement arises, you will take on very expensive risks.
Staff augmentation is a great strategy when you need specific skill sets for short amounts of time to keep up with the latest technological advancements in your industry. You can dip into a global pool of expert resources at any given time to fill the expertise gaps your business faces.
Yet another way staff augmentation helps you stay competitive in your industry is by enabling you to set up a work environment where there is resource availability around the clock, without the stress that accompanies such flexible working schedules.
Your employees will be able to enjoy as many holidays and vacation days as necessary without their absence taking a toll on the overall progress of your business.
- Streamline and Manage Your Projects More Efficiently
Even if you have a great vision and a solid business plan, your team will ultimately drive your startup’s success. So, by helping your team perform at their best, you’re helping your vision come to life much faster.
Staff augmentation lets you utilize your in-house team and your external resources in a collaborative capacity, which in turn helps you get the best of both worlds! Since staff augmentation service providers let you access highly trained professionals, it will be easy to integrate them with your existing team.
Staff augmentation brings in more than skill; it brings in speed too!
You can speed up your processes and meet deadlines much quicker if you implement staff augmentation. Think about all the time you can save thanks to the low learning curves and quick bug fixes!
Overall, you will be able to streamline your projects and manage them more effectively than before by taking advantage of both your in-house staff and your hired experts. This is because your project will be fully controlled by you even though its requirements will be met by your full team.
- Get More of the Best Resources at Comparatively Lower Costs
Another benefit of staff augmentation practices is the amount of money you can save regarding resource acquisition and retention.
A startup will have to make multiple investments in strategies like digital marketing, for example, to keep two steps ahead of its competition and trimming any excess fat when it comes to expenditure can go a long way.
Implementing staff augmentation will save the costs associated with hiring and training new personnel, especially when considering short-term projects.
Since you are not making a full-time contractual commitment to these outsourced employees, you will also be able to eliminate additional expenses that your in-house staff expects, such as health insurance, free healthcare, end-of-year bonuses, milestone incentives and even technological hardware, among others.
- Boost Your In-House Team’s Capabilities Through Collaborative Upskilling
You can also see staff augmentation as a continuous learning process for your in-house team as your team members will explore different domains and learn from the specialist you hire.
Your employees will be able to add new skills to their repertoire of current capabilities and hone their skills alongside industry experts. They will also pick up a tip or three about working together in a collaborative workspace.
This is especially important as technology is evolving rapidly and the skill set you had last year might be redundant by next year if you do not upskill to keep up with changing technology. Your team knows this, so they will thank you for the opportunity to grow and keep up with the times.
- Avoid Team Scaling Risks to Meet Unexpected Contingencies
What is one thing that sets startups apart from established enterprises?
Their dynamic work culture, of course. Working at a startup is not a 9-to-5 job, and almost everyone wears multiple hats to ensure the smooth functioning of the business.
So, it won’t be a surprise that startups may sometimes find themselves short-staffed and working extremely long hours.
You might also find that unexpected but unavoidable tasks pop up more often than not, putting a strain on your existing in-house resources.
This can have a detrimental effect on the overall morale of your team, especially if they are over and pressed to meet urgent deadlines. Staff augmentation can certainly come as a blessing in such situations!
It can alleviate the risks that come with unexpected circumstances and changing requirements that your in-house staff may not be able to handle. The IT specialists you bring as part of a staff augmentation process can take some of the burdens off your team members and help them work more productively and happily.
- Avoid Long-Term Commitments for Short-Term Needs
As you’re already aware, few businesses have static needs that are never subject to change. And, in a startup environment, everything is dynamic, especially the business needs that evolve as you gain a deeper understanding of your audience and their expectations.
So, what do you do every time your technology requirement changes? It’s not feasible to replace your team or keep adding to it every time a new need arises!
The good news is that you don’t need to buy the cow to get the milk! You can apply the same principle with staff augmentation strategies.
Staff augmentation allows you to hire new employees who are part-time or full-time on a long-term or short-term basis. The choice rests with you!
You can get your new staff trained and onboarded quickly if you’re willing to pay a little extra for training specialists. So, you will get all the benefits of long-term in-house staff without all the commitments and strings that come with it.
- Innovate and Execute Faster to Scale Up Quicker
Innovation is the cornerstone of success and this is especially true when it comes to startups.
It is not uncommon to have brilliant ideas flying around in a startup environment; trouble comes when it is time to execute these ideas, which could be due to several reasons, such as a lack of quality technical support or a shortage of resources.
It may also be that some ideas face bottlenecks due to a lack of fresh perspectives. These problems can easily be remedied if you implement staff augmentation strategies.
This is because there is no hard and fast rule that says IT staff augmentation should center around hiring only technical experts and specialists. You can also hire creative people, good managers, and even business analysts, who will all have their own ideas to contribute.
In fact, if you’re planning to build a growth team to boost your startup success, then staff augmentation is easily the best route you can take! With the extra hands on deck, you’ll be able to brainstorm more effectively and quickly bring your innovations to life.
How Can NeoITO Help You with Staff Augmentation?
NeoITO has garnered a stellar reputation as one of the most trusted staff augmentation companies in the USA, and with good reason! We have trained highly skilled IT solutions experts to help you fill the gaps you might face in technical expertise regarding the latest in technology and coding languages.
So, whether you need to augment your in-house team with new resources or you need to launch a new project manned by expert professionals for a short-term period, we’ve got your back.
We can also assist you with the consultation required for efficient resource management and ensure that you optimize your staffing and technologies.
In a nutshell, we’ll be able to guide you through the end-to-end process of IT staff augmentation and can help your business keep up with the constant evolution in digital technology. Contact us now and get a free consultation.
FAQ
What is technology staff augmentation?
Technology staff augmentation, also known as IT staff augmentation, is a process optimisation strategy which involves outsourcing certain aspects of your development process externally to skilled technical resources as and when the need arises. It can either be a temporary solution or a permanent fix depending on the types of projects you handle and the unique resource requirement of your business.
This strategy is popular because it helps you find the best candidates for your technical requirements from a large pool of global talent, quickly and at comparatively low costs. Another added perk is that you do not have to commit to long term contracts with the resources you hire as part of your resource augmentation process nor provide them with the usual perks that accompany your contractual obligations with in-house staff.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and managed services?
While both staff augmentation and managed services essentially provide you with the same solutions for your resource requirements there is one basic difference that sets them apart.
If you choose to go for a staff augmentation model, you’ll notice that the only service commitment you will get from the resources that you hire will be in terms of the hours of work that they put in towards the project that you hire them for.
A managed services model, however, puts more accountability on the staff augmentation service provider. They are contractually obligated to take on all the risks associated with meeting the service commitment such as resource allocation, resource management, and end-to-end staff augmentation implementation and consultation.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and consulting?
Consulting Services will only provide you with the strategies and roadmaps that I required to help you to complete your IT development project. These services should be considered when you have a project that requires planning and project management coordination, in addition to different types of specialists.
Meanwhile, IT staff augmentation is most suitable for projects that you want to handle on a smaller scale with the help of specialised staff that are more likely to be temporary than permanent.
What is a staff augmentation project?
Put simply, staff augmentation is a highly efficient Outsourcing strategy that will enable you to to assign temporary skilled resources to a project as a response to your business requirements and objectives. Staff augmentation projects will require you to first understand the capabilities of your existing in-house staff thoroughly so that you’ll get a better idea of what skill sets you should look for externally in order to augment your overall team.
Essentially, you can see staff augmentation as a cooperative model where inhouse and external resources work together towards a unified goal, for a predetermined period of time.
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