Time and again, most organizations or companies fall short of resources for a certain vital project or need to compensate for the absence of a skillset in their workforce. While there are several ways to fill those skill gaps, burdening employees with extra workload should never be on the list.
So what are the most efficient and sought-after approaches to overcome these challenges? The primary solutions used by many top institutes are staff augmentation or project outsourcing.
Each of the methods has its benefits and challenges in the IT world. However, making a choice between staff augmentation vs. project outsourcing is a matter of convenience.
So which method works best for your business? Let’s find out.
What Does Staff Augmentation Mean?
Staff augmentation refers to staffing up your team with temporary workers or professionals or can be considered as plugging in additional resources and skills to your existing team. Think of it as a virtual extension of your in-house team where you can outsource developers any time you need them. Hence the term staff augmentation is often replaced with team expansion.
Most IT businesses vary in terms of the workload and project depending on the industry. So it is essential to determine a fixed budget for your business concerning a well-defined project scope. Predetermining the budget can help you understand what kind of staff expansion you are looking for.
Remember that even if you choose the traditional method of in-house hiring to make your workforce more resourceful, you will have to go through the entire recruiting and training process of the fresh tech talent. While it is not a significant issue for dedicated groups, if you have a time crunch, it will only add up to your workload.
What Does Project Outsourcing Mean?
Project outsourcing is when you hire an entire team of developers or programmers to work on a specific project outside your organization. The team will consist of their very own manager so all the work will be handled by them entirely.
In project outsourcing, you can get the majority of the software solutions like data analysis, design, planning and managing the project, user experience design, assured quality, web development, etc. Hence, you can call project outsourcing a much larger association than a simple staff augmentation.
As a result, most vendors work on a larger incentive to ensure they deliver guaranteed results rather than a few recent employees. Additionally, most outsourcing associations tend to have long-term business partnerships with software firms rather than just being a service provider.
Staff Augmentation vs. Project Outsourcing: Key Features
Now that you know exactly what project outsourcing and staff augmentation are, let’s look at some of their key characteristics, which may make all the difference for your company.
Key Features of Staff Augmentation
1. Flexibility and Scalability
With staff augmentation, your technical team can easily adjust to the augmented employees and start working on the ongoing project ensuring all the demands are met. The best part about staff augmentation is that you do not have to stress about making long-term commitments to employees and can adjust them according to project requirements.
2. Access to Specialized Skills
Corporations may obtain individuals with specialized knowledge that might not be present internally by reaching out to a worldwide talent pool. For short-term assignments needing specialized talents, this is very helpful.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
By deploying temporary labor, businesses can reduce the costs associated with hiring, onboarding, and training full-time personnel. Additionally, by using this methodology, the financial risks associated with underutilization and employee turnover are decreased.
4. Speed of Hiring
Projects can proceed more smoothly when specialists are brought on board quickly thanks to staff augmentation. The hiring process is significantly shortened by staffing organizations, who typically have pre-screened individuals ready to go.
5. Control and Management
Unlike traditional outsourcing, where project management may be handled by a third-party provider, staff augmentation allows businesses to retain direct control over their augmented staff. This ensures alignment with company standards, goals, and culture.
7. Risk Mitigation
Through the use of temporary labor to cover specific skill shortages, businesses can reduce the risk of project delays and quality problems. The requisite knowledge that augmented workers may offer will guarantee the project’s success.
Key Features of Project Outsourcing
1. Resource Optimization
Outsourcing allows businesses to optimize their internal resources by allocating them to more critical tasks. This ensures that the most valuable assets of the company are utilized effectively.
2. Access to Global Talent
About 80% of businesses around the world extend towards project outsourcing at some point or the other. One of the primary reasons for this is the large global talent pool that is accessible through it. Businesses might benefit from specialist professionals’ knowledge and experience that might not be accessible locally.
3. Focus on Core Competencies
By outsourcing non-core functions, businesses can focus on their core activities and strategic goals. This helps in enhancing overall productivity and efficiency.
4. Speed to Market
By utilizing outside teams’ skills, outsourcing allows projects to be completed more quickly. This gives businesses a competitive edge by speeding up the time to market for new goods and services.
5. Opportunities For Continuous Enhancement
Using industry best practices and innovations to improve project outcomes and operational efficiencies, outsourcing partners frequently bring a culture of continuous improvement to the table.
6. Enhanced Quality and Performance
By outsourcing to specialized providers, companies can benefit from high-quality deliverables and improved performance metrics. These providers have the expertise and focus needed to maintain high standards.
Staff Augmentation vs. Project Outsourcing: Challenges
By now, you must have decided to choose staff augmentation or project outsourcing for your business. However, it is essential to look at the challenges that each method brings to the table.
Challenges in Staff Augmentation
1. Struggles in Long-term Growth
If you are looking for a long-term team with constant growth and results, stuff augmentation might not be the best choice for you. Staff augmentation only offers temporary assistance to your organization for a particular project, the developers you hire will not stay with your organization for a certain period, rather until the project is finished or until they wish to continue.
2. Lack of Control Over Augmented Employees
A common misconception that several business owners have is that the employees you hire in staff augmentation, work for you solely. That is never the case as they might have other projects or work to focus on as well. As a result these employees also might be unable to commit their 100% to your organization all the time.
3. Inconsistent Quality
Any development team relies heavily on consistency, whether it is about quality or practices. However, augmented employees might rotate sometimes depending on their commitments. So this might result in the reeducation of new employees.
Nevertheless, what if the new replacements fail to deliver the same results or do not match up to the standards of your work quality? This can cause misalignment in the project and the quality of your deliverables might suffer ultimately.
Challenges in Project Outsourcing
1. Incurring Hidden Expenses
A common viewpoint of project outsourcing is that it is cost-effective. While that is true, some vendors can be sly when it comes to revealing all the expenses. Sometimes organizations sign contracts and costs, which appear to be affordable but later discover the hidden or additional costs from vendors.
However, this situation is easily avoidable just by proper research. Also, be aware of vendors who try to sell deals that seem too good to be true. It is better to choose a vendor that maintains client trust and transparency.
2. Lack of Alignment With Developers
Since the developers or engineers you hire are not part of your organization, they are unaware of the values, goals, and mission of your organization. So you need to brief them thoroughly with the quality of work you expect from the outsourced team.
Staff Augmentation vs. Project Outsourcing: Which is The Best Choice For You?
Businesses frequently struggle to decide between project outsourcing and staff augmentation. Both approaches have special advantages and meet various organizational objectives. Making an informed choice might be aided by being aware of the main distinctions.
Staff Augmentation: Offers Flexibility and Control
Staff augmentation involves bringing in temporary professionals to fill skill gaps or meet project demands. It’s ideal for when you need:
- Temporary Expertise: For short-term projects requiring specialized skills.
- Direct Management: Retain control over your team and processes.
- Seamless Integration: Professionals work within your existing team and systems.
Project Outsourcing: Efficiency and Expertise
Project outsourcing means handing over entire projects to external experts. It’s best when you need:
- Comprehensive Solutions: External teams manage the entire project.
- Specialized Knowledge: Access advanced skills and technologies.
- Cost Efficiency: Save on operational and resource costs.
Choosing The Right Approach Between Staff Augmentation vs. Project Outsourcing
It’s critical to weigh the advantages of each strategy against your objectives when choosing between project outsourcing and staff augmentation for your software development needs.
Staff Augmentation with Scalevista
Scalevista’s staff augmentation services allow you to temporarily expand your team with skilled professionals in custom software development, mobile development, Salesforce, web development, cloud integration, and API management. This approach is ideal if you:
- Need Flexibility: Quickly scale your team up or down based on project demands.
- Maintain Control: Keep direct oversight of the development process.
- Integrate Seamlessly: Augmented staff work alongside your existing team, ensuring smooth collaboration.
Project Outsourcing with Scalevista
Alternatively, Scalevista offers comprehensive project outsourcing services. They manage the entire development lifecycle, leveraging their expertise to deliver high-quality results. This option is best if you:
- Seek Efficiency: Let external experts handle all aspects of the project.
- Access Specialized Skills: Utilize advanced technologies and methodologies.
- Reduce Costs: Lower your operational and resource expenses.
Conclusion
Choose staff augmentation if you need temporary, specialized skills and prefer direct control over your projects.
If you want a hassle-free, completely managed group of people to work on your project with significant experience in your required niche, consider project outsourcing. Partner with Scalevista so that we assess your project requirements, ensure timely resource availability, and practice the desired level of involvement to help you make the best decision for your company.