Comprehensive Guide for Software Development Staff Augmentation
Skill shortage is a real issue in the IT landscape, and organizations scramble to deliver projects of top-notch quality and within specified deadlines with their in-house development team. In fact, in the States, employers could only hire 6 for every 10 open tech positions in 2019. Besides the time-to-fill for software developers can reach up to 100 days with onboarding and notice periods.
What if your company can’t wait 3 months to add a software developer to your team and you need the specialized skills of experienced developers right now in your in-house team? That’s where software development staff augmentation kicks in. With organizations facing a severe technology talent deficit, technology staff augmentation has become the key to accessing quick talent without setting up a full-fledged permanent in-house team.
What is software development staff augmentation? Well, here’s everything you need to know about the process, including how the staff augmentation model works and how you can plan for a successful software staff augmentation.
A Brief Overview
If we have to start from the basics, staff augmentation is an agile outsourcing strategy that aids companies in hiring tech talent globally and managing their augmentation team directly. This model of hiring external contractors has many advantages over conventional hiring, as software development staff augmentation can support cost savings, access to a vast talent tool, and scale resources up or down based on project requirements.
With software development staff augmentation, skilled professionals or developers can be hired as part-time or full-time contractors based on their technical expertise and the company’s needs, so businesses can access global tech talent with minimal hiring and hourly payments to support their project progress.
Staff Augmentation Showdown: Software vs. IT vs. Technology
Although the terms software staff augmentation, IT staff augmentation, and technology staff augmentation are often used interchangeably, they have slight differences when it comes to their area of focus:
Software Staff Augmentation
As we have already discussed previously, software staff augmentation involves hiring external talent or software developers to help companies meet their development goals.
IT Staff Augmentation
On the other hand, IT staff augmentation involves hiring contractors. However, it includes a wide range of IT roles, including network administrators, cybersecurity experts, system analysts, database administrators, etc. who can work as an extension to your existing team.
Technology Staff Augmentation
This is a rather broad, or dare we say the broadest term that includes an external development team, IT roles, and different technology-related positions.
Significance of Software Development Staff Augmentation
With the aid of a software staff augmentation company, businesses can adapt quickly to changing project requirements, and tap into the necessary skills they don’t have in their existing team. However, if we have to highlight the advantages of software development staff augmentation as a process, here are some pointers you can consider-
Cost-efficiency
Hiring an external development team can reduce overhead costs, as compared to hiring in-house employees. As the staff augmentation model typically pays on an hourly basis, businesses can work with a staff augmentation company and pay for the time they actually require for specific projects.
Besides, conventional hiring processes for a development team can be time-consuming and expensive. However, with software development staff augmentation, businesses can reduce costs associated with recruitment, training, and infrastructure, which allows them to allocate resources more effectively.
Access to a Global Talent Pool
Working with a staff augmentation company provides businesses the potential to tap into a global network of developers who bring in specialized skills that might be scarce in your in-house team or local talent pool. Having access to worldwide talent who can work as an extension of your in-house team can also ensure that your company has access to the latest technologies and methodologies.
Flexibility and Scalability
The augmented team or staff you get through staff augmentation can be scaled up or down based on your project needs, and this flexibility can be beneficial for your company especially if it deals with fluctuating workloads or undertakes short-term projects that require specific expertise.
Speed to Market
The development process isn’t a one-day work. It requires hours of coding, creativity, and sometimes frequent edits from clients to alter the project according to certain criteria. Software development can be tricky and time-intensive, and at times, your in-house team can fall short of the skills or efficiency to complete projects within time.
However, with staff augmentation, you can have access to experienced professionals who can help accelerate the software development process and bring products to market faster, so you have a competitive edge with the best possible development team.
Focus on Core Competencies
Businesses that opt for staff augmentation to hire professionals or a seasoned development team that can work on non-core activities have more time.
Using this time, they can focus on their core competencies and strategic initiatives, instead of hiring new talent or software development every other day. This can help to enhance overall productivity and innovation, as project managers and individuals in administrative positions have more time on their hands.
Risk Mitigation
Hiring an external software development team with staff augmentation can help mitigate the risks associated with hiring in-house employees, such as hiring an under-skilled employee or risking a poor work culture.
When you hire external talent or contractors on an hourly basis, you can find specialized skills without the commitment of hiring a full-time employee.
Key Steps in Implementing Staff Augmentation
If you are prioritizing staff augmentation for your software development needs, managed services can come in handy. Several staff augmentation services can aid you with your software development. However, to kick things off and help you get started, here’s a breakdown of how technical staff augmentation works for organizations-
Identify Skill Gaps and Requirements
Start your software development staff augmentation by assessing the capabilities of your existing teams and identifying the skills and expertise needed for the project. When you are analyzing the roles, responsibilities, and skillset you need in your existing teams, don’t forget the technical requirements.
Select the Right Augmentation Partner
The next step is to find the right partner for staff augmentation services that has a proven track record in your industry. While choosing managed services, try evaluating their expertise, recruitment processes, and ability to provide the required talent that can act as an extension of your dedicated team.
Onboarding and Integration
Most businesses don’t realize this, but effective onboarding is essential for integrating the augmented staff into your dedicated team. You can provide them with all the necessary tools, access, and information during this phase to facilitate a smooth transition and align their specialized skills with your project goals.
Set Up Clear Communication Channels
In addition, when you are seeking staff augmentation services, your business and key members of your organization like the project manager need to maintain open and transparent communication with the new team members
Plan regular meetings, updates, and feedback sessions to make project management easy. In addition, also keep the terms of your agreement with the concerned staff augmentation services clear to avoid any conflicts in the long run.
Monitor Performance and Provide Feedback
Overseeing what your internal development team is working on and providing feedback isn’t tough. However, when it comes to an external software development team, you must have a structured feedback loop to ensure effortless project management.
Continuously monitor the performance of the external software development team and provide constructive feedback. By doing so, you can rest assured that new people with specialized skills don’t get lost in the noise of your dedicated team and they work without cutting corners to meet and exceed project demands.
Best Practices for Successful Staff Augmentation
If you look at your previous projects and think you could have done so much better by selecting an outsourcing mode and allocating work to external dedicated teams, here are some best practices for staff augmentation that you cannot miss:
- Set clear objectives, deliverables, and timelines for the augmented team to prevent miscommunications or skill gaps.
- Ensure all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities to avoid ambiguity during your software team augmentation.
- Provide training and development opportunities for the external team to enhance their skills and stay updated with industry trends.
- Encourage collaboration between in-house and augmented teams, using collaboration tools and fostering a culture of inclusivity and teamwork.
- Use project management and collaboration tools to streamline project development, make team management easy, and enhance communication within your outsourcing model.
- Implement robust data security measures and ensure compliance with relevant regulations, especially when working with remote teams to protect sensitive information.
Use Metrics
Adding team members to your technical team is never easy. Especially when you are hiring highly skilled professionals during the staff augmentation process to fill specific skill gaps, challenges may arise.
Irrespective of the team size, or the team members in your nearshore software development, although outsourcing an entire project to external tech teams can be a cost-effective solution, you need to measure the success of the staff augmentation process if you want it to perform better than conventional hiring model.
There are several metrics you can deploy to analyze the service quality and gain valuable insights into how the overall process is working. Some of them are listed as follows:
Performance Metrics
Based on your project requirements, and the number of augmented team members, track key performance indicators (KPIs), such as project completion rates, bug resolution times, and code quality, so you can measure the success of your external dev team.
Feedback and Evaluation
When you assess the efficiency and work quality of your full-time employees, why not do the same for your global talent pool? By closely analyzing your project requirements, try collecting feedback from your in-house development teams and identifying areas for improvement.
ROI Analysis
For specific projects, conduct a return on investment (ROI) analysis to determine the financial benefits of staff augmentation. Compare the costs saved through reduced hiring and training expenses against the value delivered by the augmented staff.
Employee Satisfaction
Measure the satisfaction levels of both full-time employees and the augmented team because high satisfaction levels indicate successful integration of software team augmentation and effective collaboration.
Ready for the Change?
Need more information, or looking for team augmentation for your upcoming IT projects? Contact the team of professionals at NLINEAXIS for software development outsourcing.
As a leading outsourcing company with software engineers, designers, developers, and structured software development teams, the firm can work relentlessly and efficiently to fulfill your project demands within the pre-specified timeline. Reach out now for a personalized quote!
