Is Staff Augmentation Better Than Outsourcing?

What Is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation involves the introduction of highly-skilled individuals to supplement the already existing team of yours in order to accomplish a certain project or for a certain period of time. This is not done by employing these people on a permanent basis but only temporarily.

With IT staff augmentation, you get developers, designers, testers, or other specialists working under your direction, you still run the project, assign the tasks, and manage communication day to day. It works well when you need specific expertise on short notice without the time and cost of a full hiring process.

What Is Outsourcing?

Outsourcing of IT refers to the transfer of responsibility for certain IT-related tasks or projects to an external agency and not performing them internally.

That can mean software development, testing, maintenance, cloud services, technical support, or other technology work, the provider takes it on and runs with it.

Unlike staff augmentation, the outsourcing provider typically owns delivery of the project or service, not just the staffing. This is why it works well for situations where you need certain expertise without having to manage all the technical aspects involved.

Outsourcing vs. Staff Augmentation: Key Differences

While both models help businesses access external talent, they differ in how teams are managed, projects are delivered, and costs are structured. 

In short, staff augmentation vs outsourcing differences mainly involve control and responsibility. When comparing staff augmentation vs outsourcing cost, businesses should consider not just the price but also project complexity, timeline, management requirements, and long-term needs. 

Staff Augmentation vs Outsourcing Cost

It is important to take into consideration the way work will be organized, the manager of the team, as well as the level of responsibility that the external vendor is ready to accept. Staff augmentation is usually based on the pricing of the resources, skill set, and time spent on working on a particular task. This type of service is recommended to companies that are likely to experience changes in the number of tasks or the size of their teams throughout the project completion period.

Outsourcing services are usually priced based on the project, scope of work, milestone or service performed by the external company. The thing is that usually the vendor is responsible for the management of the project, project delivery, project management, and quality assurance.

When calculating costs associated with both methods, it is necessary to take into account factors other than the price quote provided. Staff augmentation allows a business to better control the expenses if the company has an efficient project management system. At the same time, the internal team will have to manage the external specialists.

Therefore, staff augmentation vs outsourcing cost must be considered depending on the length of the project, its complexity, necessary expertise, management ability, and scope of the project. The option of using staff augmentation would be more appropriate in case there is a need to have specific skill and control over the costs, whereas outsourcing would be more effective if predictable delivery and less internal management is needed.

The choice does not always depend on which approach is cheaper in terms of hourly rate or even project cost. The choice will depend on your business.

When Should You Choose Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation becomes more beneficial when the company requires quick deployment of competent professionals without increasing its full-time personnel. It can be useful especially when you have to:

Address skills shortages: Hire specialists in the technologies where your in-house team is lacking.

Scale up or down: Adjust the number of team members according to project demands.

Deal with deadlines: Include seasoned professionals into an existing team without any lengthy hiring procedures.

Exercise control: Manage tasks, communications, and project decisions yourself.

Address temporary needs: Get extra talent without hiring anyone permanently.

Thus, in general, staff augmentation best fits those companies that require flexibility, specialized expertise, and control over their teams.

When Should You Choose Outsourcing?

However, outsourcing is the way to go when a company prefers an external party to perform an entire project or particular IT-related task. This approach may work well in situations where you need to:

Complete a project: Have an experienced firm take care of both development and implementation.

Lessen internal tasks: Outsource difficult technical tasks to an outside firm.

Benefit from specialized skills: Partner with experts without employing them full-time.

Have definite project requirements: Outsource to an outside team with project deadlines in place.

In general, outsourcing makes sense when you wish to involve yourself in less management and more responsibility on the side of the service provider.

Staff Augmentation vs. Outsourcing: Which Is Better for Your Business?

It all comes down to the situation. The most appropriate one depends upon the extent of your work, budget, schedule, and control. Staff augmentation services for IT can provide a convenient solution when you are looking for hiring a flexible solution to bring in some qualified experts. IT Resource Augmentation and Technical Staff Augmentation will help you bridge the skills gap by managing the projects yourself.

In case you need someone external to manage the entire project from its beginning until its completion, then outsourcing might be a better decision. In case you have more control issues, then staff augmentation will be a better solution for you.

Can You Combine Staff Augmentation and Outsourcing?

Indeed, businesses can use both Staff Augmentation and Outsourcing at once if separate project parts call for separate methods of delivery. In such a way, the company can keep control over certain processes and delegate certain projects or tasks to another organization.

For instance, a company can outsource the implementation of Salesforce, but use staff augmentation to boost the capabilities of its internal CRM team. Augmented personnel will be able to collaborate with the company's employees, handle certain technical issues, and have better control over daily concerns.

It may be beneficial for a business that needs a special kind of knowledge, but does not want to give the whole project to another organization. For instance, companies can Hire Salesforce Developers to add to their internal team, but outsource such services as testing, migration, maintenance, or integration.

Hybrid strategy could provide the following benefits:

Greater flexibility: Involve experts from areas in which your company lacks the skills while outsourcing the clearly defined process.

Greater control: Make sure that the strategic decisions and key processes are performed by your own team.

Expert knowledge: Work with the experts who possess skills in a particular technology or platform.

Proper allocation of resources: Allocate internal and external teams depending on project priorities.

Flexibility in terms of scalability: Scale up or down the use of external teams depending on the project needs.

The secret lies in defining responsibilities, communication process, deliverables, and ownership in advance. In an appropriate format, a combination of both can help organizations to benefit from the flexibility of external teams while ensuring some control over important project aspects.

Conclusion

Whether to opt for staff augmentation or outsourcing comes down to your business requirements, budget, timeframe, and control considerations. “Staff Augmentation vs Outsourcing” does not try to prove that there is one option better than the other, but tries to find out which model is best for your business. For those businesses requiring skills, flexibility, and control of the team, staff augmentation may be considered a suitable option. Dean Infotech is here to help businesses leverage IT skills and form flexible teams according to their requirements.