When Is Staff Augmentation the Right Choice
Almost every business depends on technology, the difference between a failing company and a successful one is mostly dependent on their ability to develop and deliver projects on time and within budget. When it comes to creating and implementing IT solutions, companies have three options:
- Build In-house capabilities
- Hire a staff augmentation service
- Outsource their project entirely
Either of these scenarios could be the right one, it all depends on the company’s resources and how much time they have to complete the task.
Building In-House Capabilities
Large projects can be costly and risky enterprises, especially for company’s whose IT requirements fluctuate constantly.
Building in-house capabilities is a good solution for large organizations who are always building web and mobile applications; it is not the best solution for businesses who have a one-time development project or those who sporadically need IT solutions.
Staff Augmentation
Companies who choose staff augmentation are those who are looking to complement their in-house resources for a short or medium term, usually no longer than a year.
The most significant benefit of this solution is its scalability; companies can increase or reduce the number of staff as required without the commitment, expenses, and liabilities that full-time employees represent.
These are some of the other benefits of staff augmentation
- The company retains complete control over the project and the members of the team being able to monitor the additional resources work daily
- Staff augmentation is the perfect solution for the initial deployment phase of an IT project
- It involves minimum risk, as the company has the final word on which resources it would like to work with.
- Staff augmentation has a positive impact on in-house teams, and none of the members has any reason to feel threatened by the addition of a new member
- Cost effective, because the solution is scalable companies can increase or decrease the staff augmentation resources according to their needs making it easier to stay on budget.
Software Outsourcing
Companies who don’t have the in-house resources to build and implement their IT needs will significantly benefit from outsourcing the project to a software outsourcing company; they will manage the entire project from start to finish.
Because web and mobile applications can be long projects, software outsourcing works best as a long-term solution rather than a short-term solution.
Among the many benefits of software outsourcing we have:
- Minimizes total the total cost of the project in comparison to building in-house capabilities
- There is no time wasted in training and development skills as these are the responsibility of the outsourcer
- The outsourcing company is responsible for adopting, enforcing, and improving best practices
- The company does not need to assign any management staff to oversee the project as the outsourcer will do this
- The outsourcer is responsible for risk management, project failures and delivering results on time.
Selecting the Right Solution for Your Needs
Understanding your company’s needs and the resources, it has available will help in choosing the right solution to ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget.
Staff augmentation may be the perfect solution in some instances, while software outsourcing might be more suitable for others, and in many cases, a hybrid solution is what the project requires.
When searching for a vendor that can make your projects soar, it is essential to look for companies that offer a suite of services instead of just one. As an example, it is far better to work with a company which provides software outsourcing, staff augmentation, and digital production services as Softon ITG does, rather than a firm that only offers staff augmentation services.
The wider the range of services the easier it will be for the consulting firm to adapt to your needs and budget.
