IT Staff Augmentation vs Offshore Development: The Better Model?
One of the emerging trends in today’s business world is the exponential increase in the number of global teams. While this practice isn’t necessarily new or modern, it has become increasingly popular in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. With businesses across the world being forced to operate remotely, the concept of working with a global workforce is no longer the bogeyman it once used to be.
And today, this acceptance has manifested itself in the form of many working models: including outsourcing, staff augmentation, and offshoring. In this piece, we compare two popular models that have gained momentum in the software industry — IT staff augmentation and offshore development. While these two phrases are often used interchangeably, there are some differentiating characteristics of each model, which we’ll cover in this blog.
IT staff augmentation — a flexible outsourcing strategy
Staff augmentation is a model where businesses evaluate their existing staff and determine the additional skills required to bring a specific project to fruition. They can then hire external employees with specialised skills on a temporary basis to augment the existing capacity of their organisation. This allows them to deliver projects on time, in compliance with their business objectives.
Staff augmentation has become increasingly popular in the IT industry because of the acute shortage of specialised tech talent. In fact, according to research conducted by Manpower Group, 54% of companies globally reported skill shortages in 2020.
In such a scenario, the demand for IT professionals such as QA engineers, programmers, Machine Learning experts, and UX designers is at an all-time high. And so, by implementing the staff augmentation model, organisations can leverage existing resources as well as outsourced contract workers to hire the skilled IT talent they need to keep their business afloat.
When to use IT staff augmentation
1. To increase capacity to meet a sudden demand
Let’s assume that you are the CTO of a successful security company specialising in building state-of-the-art, easy-to-install home security systems. And because of a series of break-ins in your city, there has been a sudden, unprecedented spike in demand for your products and services. So you need to increase your capacity, and you need to do it quickly. In such a scenario, hiring a team for a few weeks is the best solution. This is where IT staff augmentation can prove to be beneficial.
2. To access skills for one-off projects
You might have a stellar local development team at your disposal — one that is more than capable of delivering software within stipulated deadlines. However, sometimes, your business might take on a project that requires specialised skills that your existing team might not have. In such cases, IT staff augmentation allows you to plug skilled developers into your existing team to contribute towards completing the project.
3. To stay ahead of the competition
In some cases, businesses can leverage IT staff augmentation to stay ahead of the curve. For example, if your company wants to get a new product to the market before your competitor does or launch a new feature on your website on a priority basis, you can hire flexible workers on a contract basis who can deliver quickly through the staff augmentation model.
Read the full article at: https://thescalers.com/it-staff-augmentation-vs-offshore-development-the-better-model/
