As of 2021, the scarcity of qualified employees globally has reached 40 million, and it is still rising. According to research conducted by Korn Ferry, there may not be sufficient workers available by the year 2030 to fill more than 85 million positions since not enough people would possess the required skill sets.
As a result of the rise of the digital environment, programmers have climbed to the top of the labor market. As a result of the epidemic and the lockdowns, our dependence on technology for doing chores that are part of our daily routines, such as buying groceries and making reservations online, has increased. Consequently, there is now a significant need for software engineers who can develop custom software solutions.
What Is Staff Augmentation?
One of the types of outsourcing, known as staff augmentation, enables you to extend your current team’s capabilities, either permanent or temporary, by using qualified technological resources. Your in-house team may benefit from adding augmented developers or other professionals on a contract basis to address any knowledge or skill gaps. It is important to assess current staff capabilities and identify gaps in knowledge or expertise before bringing in more specialists.
In-house Team, Project-Based Outsourcing vs. Staff Augmentation
Making an initial decision on the business model to use for outsourcing is not a simple task. In this situation, there is no “one-size-fits-all” alternative available since you will need to take into consideration a variety of factors, including the following:
- The cost for the software development.
- Technical skills as well as requirements for the project
- Time-to-market speed and deadlines
Staff augmentation
You will have greater control over the overall development process and the expanded team if you choose to go with staff augmentation. You will be in charge of selecting the candidates, managing the software development processes, and leading the team, and you won’t need to be concerned about the difficulties associated with administrative and organizational responsibilities.
Project-based outsourcing
Through project-based outsourcing, you can have all parts of software development taken care of for you, from the organization of a team to the management of processes. Additionally, there is no need to have in-house technical skills or to spend time working with a remote development team. On the other hand, when consumers use project-based outsourcing, they often have no idea who is engaged in their project, what developers are currently working on, or which choices are made at any given time throughout the software development process.
In-house development team
If you hire a staff to work under your roof, you will have complete control over the project. As a general rule, an in-house team will have the same values as your organization and will care more about the project result.
However, putting together an in-house team involves a major expenditure of money and time. When a business is simply working on one project, employing in-house experts can take a risk that isn’t warranted if the business isn’t focused on technology or software development.
Challenges of Staff Augmentation
Time and language barriers
Communication could become difficult because your staff augmentation partner may be situated in any part of the globe. Because the great majority of people working in IT are proficient in English, the issue of a language barrier has become a thing of the past. Despite this, one of the most typical communication-related challenges while augmenting the development team is dealing with the time differences.
In order to resolve these widespread communication problems, Orangesoft has implemented a number of different solutions. For example, because of the advantageous positioning of our hubs in Eastern Europe, we have office hours that overlap, which makes it easier for us to communicate with one another. This approach has evolved into a pretty standard technique used by other businesses operating within the market.
Concerns about security
When you augment your IT team, you share information with a third party and integrate them into your internal processes. A customer’s data is the primary focus of the security team’s attention since it is vulnerable to compromise.
As a software development agency, we conduct regular security audits to eliminate any potential threats and hazards. At Orangesoft, we ensure your complete safety by following all of the security protocols and signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
Tech competence and skills
In case your augmented team’s performance is not up to your expectations, it is important to reevaluate your development team and your tech leaders. Most of the time, vendors are not responsible for assigning a project manager, managing the development processes, or taking responsibility for the effectiveness of their staff efficiency.
Staff Augmentation with Orangesoft
Orangesoft is not limited to providing just project-based outsourcing services; rather, we provide a full cycle of app development services.
In addition, we provide adaptable IT staff augmentation services that may be performed for any number of professionals you need. You have the option to hire our IT specialists, such as software developers, UI/UX designers, quality assurance engineers, program managers, and business analysts. Choosing to empower your team with Orangsoft, you will have access to highly competent tech specialists who will focus their attention only on the product you are developing.
Our augmented specialists will become essential members of your development team, and you will take care of managing all of the vital aspects of the project, such as planning, supervision, and other significant activities. Because you will be the one to manage your IT professionals, they will feel that they are an integral part of your core team. In case a problem emerges that requires you or your enhanced team to address it, an Account Manager will assist you in facilitating the discussion process.
When you hire Orangesoft for staff augmentation, you’ll go through the following steps:
Examining your initial request
After receiving your request for staff augmentation services, our company’s IT managers and BAs will thoroughly analyze it. Before you request these solutions, there are certain fundamental inquiries that you will need to think about, including the following:
How many different types of experts do you require for the staff augmentation project?
What level of specialist do you need? Junior, middle, or senior?
When exactly should the necessary specialists begin their work?
When is the deadline for your project?
Is it a new or ongoing project?
In order to analyze your request and develop an original team augmentation plan, our managers will require sixteen business hours. After that, we will arrange a call with you or a member of your company to go over all the requirements.
Choosing the experts
Once we have studied the needs and requirements of your project and signed a non-disclosure agreement, we can begin searching for professionals with the required skills and expertise. Then, within the next two business days, we will give you our first CVs.
Conducting interviews with technical experts
Once you approve the CVs, we will set up interviews with qualified professionals. Interviews of this kind often have two parts: the first is with the chief technology officer (CTO), and the second is with the chief executive officer (CEO) or product owner. No matter how many people you interview for a job, you will only have to pay for the individuals who are hired.
Signing a contract
After we finish all the interviews, we sign a contract and get started with the staff augmentation project. After everything has been reviewed and accepted, you will be able to include the chosen professionals in your workflows and development processes. In addition to this, we will appoint an Account Manager who will collaborate with your engineers and assist you in developing a fruitful working relationship with the members of your augmented team.