The ultimate guide to remote IT staff augmentation

Modern software teams follow Agile models, which requires teams to be adaptable and embrace change whenever it occurs. But this means that staffing requirements can also change at any time. 

Consequently, companies need to deal with onboarding new employees, briefing new staff members, staff training, and more. And sometimes, companies will need to reduce the team size by letting go of some employees.

Fortunately, companies can avoid such recruitment challenges by working with an IT staff augmentation company. 

What exactly is remote staff augmentation?

Remote staff augmentation involves hiring an employee or a team through a third party. These employees will work on the required project on a contract basis. Staff augmentation companies can save businesses a lot of time and money and reduce the risks of hiring staff directly. The main benefit here is that companies can quickly get the resources and skills they need to get the project done properly. 

Moreover, the pandemic has shown many companies that remote work can form an integral part of their processes since it can bring success for both employees and employers. Additionally, companies across the globe can work with people beyond their country’s borders and get access to specific skill sets for particular roles on a team. 

Benefits of hiring a reliable staff augmentation company

Remote staff augmentation is a cost-effective and flexible strategy that can help your business access scarce skills whenever you need them.

Benefits of hiring a reliable staff augmentation company:

1. Access to a large talent pool 

Remote staff augmentation can provide your business with a team of experts without you having to source, screen, and hire candidates. You can hire one employee for a specific role or a team of professionals with varying skills. If a software development firm is looking to boost its workforce and resources, remote staff augmentation is an ideal solution. 

2. Only pay for what you need

By working with a staff augmentation company, you’ll only pay for what you need. As a result, if you don’t want to hire someone on a full-time basis, you can draw up an agreement with your staff augmentation vendor stating exactly how many team members you need and for how long. 

3. Helps you save time

When working with a staff augmentation company, you only need to provide information on what you require and pay the hired team or staff member. As a result, you don’t need to spend precious time and money on recruitment, onboarding, and training. Consequently, staff augmentation is a great solution if you’re looking for extra employees for a specific project or short-term experiment.

Staff augmentation gives your company increased agility and flexibility to respond to operational and market needs.

4. Retain control over crucial projects

Staff augmentation doesn’t require you to outsource the entire project to an external team or company. Instead, you hire only the staff members required to finish a particular project. This way, your in-house team works alongside the outsourced staff members. Therefore, you have complete control over how the project is executed, and you can ensure it meets your company’s requirements and standards. Additionally, you can choose to hire someone to manage quality assurance or assign the role to an in-house team member.

5. Increased productivity

Staff augmentation lets you assign additional workloads and complex tasks to the outsourced team. This way, your in-house team won’t burn out and everyone can work on tasks they excel at. 

Staff augmentation models and how to choose the right one

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Staff augmentation models you can choose from:

Traditional staffing providers: These agencies provide companies with temporary staff members from different industries. Trading staffing providers are a great solution if you’re looking for additional employees for a low-skill project.

Boutique staffing agencies: These agencies focus on finding specialized or skilled team members for specific short-term projects. 

Vendor staffing providers: Vendor staff providers provide large-scale staffing programs. This service is great for companies that are looking for a cost-effective solution that can scale their teams quickly. 

Online platforms: Online platforms provide businesses with freelancers and independent workers. These platforms are suitable for companies that aren’t looking for specialists but want a cost-effective alternative to traditional hiring processes. 

On-demand talent platforms: These platforms give companies instant access to top talent. It’s a great option for companies that are looking to hire a remote employee quickly. 

Not sure what staff augmentation model to go for?

Consider hiring a staff augmentation consultant!

If you’re struggling to choose a specific model, a staff augmentation consultant can guide you through the hiring process and ensure your company’s data and interests are protected throughout the entire process. 

What is the difference between staff augmentation and outsourcing?

Outsourcing and staff augmentation are often used interchangeably, but these two hiring strategies have significant differences.

Outsourcing requires businesses to completely hand over a particular project to an external team. As a result, the external team has full control over the project and has to deal with the bottlenecks and risks associated with it. Outsourcing can also lead to security risks, reduced quality control, changing deadlines, and more.

On the other hand, staff augmentation gives companies the workforce and resources they need to finish a project. In this case, the external team works with the in-house team and company standards and timelines are maintained.

Staff augmentation concerns and how to overcome them

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Staff augmentation provides businesses with many benefits. However, it does have a few challenges. 

Here, we’ll provide you with a few solutions to help you achieve the best results:

1. Poor English and communication skills

When you hire team members from staff augmentation, there is a chance that the employees will communicate differently or have different first languages.

But not to worry – this isn’t an obstacle to having the best outcome. Many top companies across the globe work alongside remote employees and they see amazing results!

Here’s how you can do the same:

  • Do comprehensive research on the staff augmentation company you want to hire.. Read their reviews and website information to determine their expertise and  experience.
  • Communicate with your staff augmentation supplier and tell them exactly what roles, skills, and expertise you need. An experienced staff augmentation company will provide you with communicative experts and top talent that can help you get the job done properly. 

2. Time zone differences 

We know what you’re thinking:

How can you work with people who start their work day when you’ve already clocked out?

How can you resolve urgent issues when your team members aren’t available when you need them?

Here’s how:

  • Once again, communicate with your staff augmentation supplier and stipulate your working hours. An experienced supplier will provide you with suitable team members who can work with your schedule and working hours. 
  • Turn time zone differences into your company’s strength. For example, let’s imagine that you’ve hired external customer support agents to work alongside your in-house team. If there’s an urgent customer query that needs to be resolved late at night, one of the available agents can resolve the issue immediately.
  • Host daily team meetings with the external and in-house teams. This way, you can stay in touch with everyone and ensure everyone is aware of the goals and tasks for the week. 

Partner with us for remote IT staff augmentation

If you’re looking to hire a temporary software development team, project managers, quality assurance managers, or customer service teams, visit the Giga IT website today.

We’re a professional IT staff augmentation company offering custom software development services. We will get you the best candidates to complete your mobile software development or financial software development project. 

Now more than ever, it’s crucial to have the most productive team members with the right expertise and worth ethic to complete projects successfully.

Moreover, as your business grows, you’ll need to add new team members to balance workloads, boost productivity, and enhance creativity.  

And while you could hire employees directly, the recruitment process can be incredibly time-consuming and expensive. Fortunately, you can rely on Giga IT’s staff augmentation services to boost your organization’s workforce and productivity and scale projects and growth.

Other reasons why you should hire Giga IT:

  • Improved productivity: By working alongside Giga IT’s tech professionals, you will be able to deliver the quality software solutions you need in a shorter amount of time.
  • We can start immediately: We can assemble the expert team you need quickly. This way, you can get started on your project right away and meet deadlines with ease.
  • Instant responses: Our delivery centers are in Latin America, so we’re always in the same time zone as the US. This way, you won’t need to wait for responses!
  • Reduce strain on your HR team: If you need additional team members for a short-term project, there’s often no need to hire a full-time in-house staff member. Traditional recruitment processes are also quite costly and can eat into your staffing budget. Moreover, if a candidate doesn’t work out, you are back where you started. When you work with us, we’ll help you find the perfect candidates quickly. This way, you can get your project started and have the best minds get the job done!
  • Expertise: Our cross-functional team will help you get your project done. So whether you need a project manager, software development services, or a quality assurance expert, we’ve got you covered. 

Contact us today to have the best results with our remote staff augmentation company!