Despite being one of the most common staffing solutions – particularly in the IT world – that has emerged within the last few years or so, expanding a company’s capacity through staff augmentation still produces quite a few questions.
Common questions of which we have heard before; common questions that we have answered before. So common, in fact, that we’ve decided to share some of these with you to bring greater light to some of the obscurities.
Let’s look at some of these common questions connected to staff augmentation.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and fixed price?
First of all, fixed price is a type of model in which there is a forecasted budget and established timelines, and these would typically work best for short-term projects. The fixed price model is typically used more often for outsourcing specific software development. However, it is a typical model for staff augmentation that presupposes fixed hourly rates of developers.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and managed services?
Common managed services include data backups, cloud transformation, system management, data warehouse, data storage, and network security. Managed services are typically used by enterprises while staff augmentation is more of a body shop approach that is used by product development companies.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and time and material work?
Time and material work is one of the more popular outsourcing models and types of payment contracts right now. Time and material work seems to fit best when a company knows that their requirements are expected to change, so they need regular reporting on project progress, as they attempt to balance the time spent and quality given. The time and material model is good for longer-term projects.
Is it important to have a highly detailed job description?
A fully detailed job description is perhaps one of the most important aspects in the entire outsourcing process. It sets the foundations for the rest of the job ad. The description helps set the contours for what type of worker they want to hire. It also helps to set the right questions for the candidates.
A detailed job description is the ideal funnel in which to find the right person at a faster pace – without having to check and ask for additional inputs. It would take a handful of days to compile a fully detailed description with the staff aug agency to ensure that time is not wasted during the development stage figuring out new responsibilities.
What are the specifics of the staff augmentation model?
The staff augmentation model provides plenty of promising opportunities for businesses of all shapes and sizes. But for all these businesses, acquiring the right resources for exactly what a business needs is the essence of the model.
Imagine, for example, that there is a company that needs a specific technology – such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud – to build particular features for a digital product. The issue is that this is a skill set that is not possessed by any member of the team. And the learning curve is steep, which would severely delay the project. In this case, the company should search for experts wherever they’re located to find the digital solutions that are required.
But one key to understanding their particular conundrum is that they only require a skill set in Salesforce Commerce Cloud for the short term, until the launching of the project. Staff augmentation fits the needs of a company for the specific amount of time that is needed.
What are the other benefits of staff augmentation?
Implementing staff augmentation means a fast hiring process, a well-organized onboarding process, and high retention rates. These are the typical benefits that come along with working with augmented staff.
In terms of recruitment, it tends to take a few weeks to find the right people for the job. Compare this to a typical hiring process of a full-time employee that tends to take a couple of months.
In terms of cost, the multinational Deloitte calculated that a bad hire would typically cost $4,000 and 52 days.
And finally, in terms of onboarding, it holds a benefit that is more generally tied to the software industry. The benefit is connected to the articulation of the requirements, goals, and overall flow of the project. The truth is that many if not most recruiting partners are not too well read on IT-related words and terms like Agile, PM models, SDLC, etc. That’s why partnering with a software company will ensure they get each and every aspect of what goes into making a successful project.
PS: ArganoStudios is one of the world’s leading digital product & experience experts. Contact us to see how we can work together.
