The corporate environment is highly dynamic owing to ever-changing business/project needs. This fact is especially true for firms in the IT industry, with each software project requiring unique coding skill sets.
Now, if an IT company were to hire new full-time programmers, skilled in various coding technologies, every time a project with unique technical requirements arises, it would cost the company a lot of money in many ways like:
Paying monthly salaries, allowances, and incentives to full-time programmers would definitely cost an IT company a lot more money than contracting skilled resources who don’t need to be paid allowances or incentives. Just the contract quote or the hourly rates in the case of freelance developers need to be borne by the IT company, which will certainly be less than full-time programmers’ salaries, allowances, and incentives.
If a new project does not need a full-time programmer’s coding skill sets, that programmer will still have to be paid monthly salaries and allowances even though he is not being utilized by the IT company. This is definitely a wasteful expenditure for the IT company. Even if there are a few under-utilized or unutilized resources, it will drain a significant amount of the IT company’s money.
In Resource Augmentation, the contracted skilled resources can be expanded or cut down in accordance with the dynamic project requirements. If an IT company (or any other organization for that matter) were to do this with its permanent employees, it would lead to massive strikes, defamation, and lawsuits filed by the employees. The entire reputation and operationality of the IT firm would be in jeopardy.
IT staff augmentation is a service that provides businesses with additional IT resources on a temporary or contract basis. This can be helpful for businesses that need to scale up their IT team quickly or need access to specialized skills that they do not have in-house.
Hence, IT companies and many other companies prefer to avail staff augmentation services from reputed service providers instead of hiring full-time coders for their interim project needs these days. This practice enhances the operational efficiency and the profit margins of IT firms while cutting down on their unnecessary expenditures.
IT augmentation services have proven to be beneficial to IT firms as well as programmers thus creating a win-win situation for both parties.
IT firms need not pay dedicated salaries, allowances, and incentives to the contracted resources. Just the contract cost/quote or hourly charges in the case of freelance programmers need to be borne by them, which will be a lot less than paying full-time developers their salaries, allowances, and incentives.
The question of under-utilization or wastage of skilled resources does not arise as the developers are contracted as per the temporary project requirements. Upon successful completion of the project, the expenditure for the IT company ends. It need not continue paying salaries and allowances until the next project arrives as it is in the case of hiring full-time developers.
Even the leased developer team can be expanded on curtailed according to the changing project requirements. There is no commitment to continue employing or paying any developer. That’s a big relief for IT firms, which can now concentrate on correctly executing their ephemeral projects.
Last but not least, the contracted resources can work and coordinate from any geographical location. They need not come to the company’s location/office as they are not employees of the company. So, the IT companies can look for skilled resources from any corner of the globe.
Here are some additional benefits of using IT staff augmentation services:
Any developer (freelance or contracted) can look to hone his skill sets in one or a few coding technologies and work on temporary projects for various organizations.
Full-time developers working for various IT firms are often required to painstakingly learn a wide array of new coding technologies to make them usable in new projects.
Not many people can perfect themselves in many coding technologies. Sometimes, the programmers who have just learnt new coding technologies make big mistakes in the outsourced projects, which will lead to loss of time, money, and reputation for the IT companies.
Last but not least, the employees of the IT staff augmentation service provider firm can also grow in the company, depending on the number of projects they have completed successfully. The contracted resources (usually freshers in the industry) can add weightage in their resume this way and look to jump to reputed IT organizations and earn more or become entrepreneurs themselves in the near future.
If an IT firm has to contract skilled resources for its evanescent project needs from a staff augmentation service provider, there are quite a lot of procedures and formalities to be followed, which are stated below.
The IT company and the Resource Augmentation (RA) service provider get to know about each other and interact with each other via an official website forum. The two companies fix an official date and time for project requirement discussions.
The IT firm states its project requirements to the RA service provider. The RA service provider firm will check if it has the required skilled resources to meet the project requirements of the IT firm. If it has the required skilled resources, then a business contract is signed between the two parties.
The next step in the IT staff augmentation process is for the RA service provider to onboard the new team members. This includes providing them with training on the IT firm's systems and processes. The RA service provider will also work with the IT firm to ensure that the new team members are integrated into the team and are able to contribute effectively.
Various project parameters like the client’s (IT company) functional requirements, the project’s deadline, the project’s quote, and miscellaneous requirements will be mentioned in the contract. It is the duty of the RA service provider organization to meet or exceed all of the parameters mentioned in the contract.
The client company also reserves the right to expand or shrink its contracted (augmented) workforce and also to cancel the project midway in case it is not satisfied or there is a change of plans or business requirements. The RA service provider firm has to read and thoroughly understand the T&Cs of the contract before signing it.
The employees of the RA service provider firm have to ensure that they understand all of their client’s project requirements thoroughly and execute the project to the t. They should hold regular meetings with their client and discuss the progress of the project to avoid ambiguity for their client and to eradicate the chances of failure of the project.
The client may also come up with additional project requirements or modify their stated requirements during the course of the execution of the project. All of those changes must be incorporated into the project by the staff augmentation services company.
The confidentiality of the client’s project details must be maintained by the staff augmentation services company throughout the project and even after the successful completion of the project lest the client’s business will be affected and the client could file a lawsuit against the RA firm.
Last but not least, the project must be completed to the client’s satisfaction on or before the given deadline to preserve the integrity and the reputation of the RA service provider company.
Successfully completed projects are like medals or certificates for the RA service provider organization. They can portray their clients’ positive reviews on their official website to enhance their popularity and reputation and also to gain more clients in the future.
Upon successful completion of the project, the IT company will pay the RA service provider company the quoted amount in the contract.
This payment may even be done in full before the commencement of the project, after signing the contract or the IT company may pay some advance amount before the commencement of the project and settle the due amount after the successful completion of the project. It is entirely up to the negotiating firms how they wish to make and receive payments for the project.
IT staff augmentation services have the following noteworthy benefits
Companies can fulfill their interim project requirements without hiring new full-time developers who need to be paid salaries, incentives, and allowances, which is much costlier than contracting skilled developers.
The size of the contracted team can be expanded or reduced dynamically, depending on the project requirements. There is no commitment on behalf of the client company to hire or pay the contracted resources permanently. This convenience will enable the efficient and cost-effective execution of the project by the IT firm.
The contracted skilled resources can even work and coordinate with the client’s team remotely. They need not come to the client’s office location as they are not employees of the client company. This way, IT companies can search for skilled resources to satisfy their project requirements even globally. They will not be restricted to searching for skilled resources in any geographical region.
Since the skilled human resources are contracted only based on the project’s needs, there is no under utilization or wastage of developers unlike in the case of hiring full-time developers.
The chances of programmers making big mistakes in the client’s project are wafer-thin as the RA service provider firm first checks if it can meet its client’s project requirements with its skilled programmers before signing the contract with the IT firm.
The RA firm’s employees are not forced to learn new coding technologies just to satisfy some temporary project requirements. RA firms often have a standard set of coding technologies, they offer assistance in.
If new coding skills are required for the project, then at best the RA firm may hire new developers with the required skill sets.
The only possible con of team augmentation services is that the IT company’s staff may take some more time to gel (efficient coordination) with the contracted team in comparison to mingling with and coordinating with their own new employees hired for the project.
Clearly the merits or RA service far outnumber the demerits of RA services. Hence, availing staff augmentation to managed services from reputed service providers is always desirable for IT firms as well as organizations in other sectors.
IT staff augmentation services can be a cost-effective way to get the skills you need to meet your business goals. By hiring temporary or contract staff, you can avoid the high costs of hiring and training full-time employees. You can also scale your team up or down as needed, which can help you save money during periods of low activity.
The IT staff augmentation process can be smooth and efficient if you work with a reputable provider. The provider will work with you to understand your needs and match you with the right resources. They will also handle all of the administrative tasks, such as onboarding and payroll, so you can focus on your business.
Staff augmentation can help your business grow and scale by providing you with the resources you need to take on new projects and meet increasing demand. By hiring temporary or contract staff, you can quickly ramp up your team without having to commit to long-term contracts. This can give you the flexibility you need to stay ahead of the competition.
If your IT organization needs some skilled developers for its upcoming project, do not hesitate to contact us. We are a renowned staff augmentation service provider who have done many successful projects for our clients.
The exhilarated reviews we have received from our clients are proof of our outstanding work and highly skilled staff. We will treat your project requirements as our own and deliver to you the best possible product or results. We guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed with our work as we have become pros in providing excellent RA services.
Managing Director