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These days, technology has become an integral part of our life. The result of this is great progress in tech development and an increased demand for IT augmentation specialists. According to Statista, the IT industry bring a profit of $1570 mln by 2027. However, companies now have problems due to the lack of experienced IT workers. Although there are more IT vocations on offer now, there’s still a skill gap. Because of this, PwC even predicts that the US will lose $8.5 billion by 2030. To overcome this, companies apply for staff augmentation services. That’s why our goal is to help people understand all the peculiarities of these services and benefit a lot from them.
What is IT Staff Augmentation?
With the staff augmentation model, companies can hire online coders from around the world to fill skill gaps quickly and without having to go through a long hiring process. This method helps businesses meet their current needs and makes it easy for in-house and online teams to work together.
The 4 Types of IT Staff Augmentation Approaches and Their Importance
- Onshore Augmentation of IT team members
That's what it's called when a company hires extra workers from the same country. Companies hire these kinds of teams to fill in the gaps in their technical staff.
- Nearshore Augmentation of IT professionals
Hire a development team from a nearby country that shares the same time zone. This is called "nearshore augmentation." Staff augmentation companies also make sure the growth process goes smoothly by using the nearshore model.
- Offshore staff augmentation
When companies decide to let employees work from home, they hire staff from other countries. It can be risky to hire an overseas development team, though, if the plan isn't well thought out.
- Dedicated teams
Organizations use this method to hire an online team that will only work on one project. They will bring a lot of skills and knowledge to the project management as a whole.
When Should You Utilize IT Staff Augmentation?
New technologies help businesses be more productive and efficient, but not all businesses have the tools they need. To meet these goals, staff augmentation services become very important. A committed team working from afar can work with the current team to complete the project successfully, giving them access to a wide range of IT experts. Using staff addition can also cut down on the costs that come with taking a long time to hire someone.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of IT Staff Augmentation
First, let’s start with the benefits that you can get:
- Global Talent Access: IT staff augmentation firms from all over the world can be hired by businesses to do specific jobs.
- Cost Savings: Saves time and money by lowering the costs of hiring people.
- Flexibility: Allows changing the size of the team based on needs, with the option to hire coders on a short-term basis.
- Quicker Market Entry: Getting access to a global talent pool speeds up the delivery of projects.
- Reduced Risk: Lowers the risk of getting more workers to work for the company.
As to the cons of increasing IT staff, they are the following:
- Problems with communication: Managing a team of people from around the world who work from home can make it hard to communicate, especially if they speak different languages. Tools like Slack, Google Meet, and Zoom can make it easier for people to talk to each other.
- Control Issues: Giving outside teams control of a project can put data security at risk.
5 Steps to Selecting the Right IT Staff Augmentation Services
If you are thinking about choosing a proper IT staff augmentation service, here are the steps you need to undertake:
- Figure out what you need: Find out exactly what is needed, such as how many tools and skills are required.
- Understand the scope: Set clear jobs, tasks, deadlines, and skills that members of the online team must have.
- Choose the right candidates: Pick the best augmentation staffing from the group that meets the needs that have been set.
- Integration and onboarding: Do a full onboarding process and give online team members the information they need.
- Oversight and management: Keep an eye on the growth process and progress, and give helpful feedback to make things better.
In conclusion
The market for IT support services, like the ones Giraffe Software provides, looks like it will do well in the future. The Grand View Research study says it will be worth $147.2 million by 2028. Staff-augmented services are being used more because of the rise in acceptance of online work after COVID-19 and the rising use of cloud computing, AI, and IoT. As technology has improved, businesses have felt the need to hire developers through staff augmentation companies to fill in skill gaps. It is possible for organizations to finish projects successfully by using these services.
Are you thinking about applying for staff augmentation services, or maybe, you have done this? Share your opinion on this to help others decide.