Savannah IT Support Firm Explains What IT Augmentation Is
The relentless pace of innovation is putting immense pressure on IT departments. Many teams, already stretched thin, are caught in a revolving door of competing priorities as they wrestle with implementing emerging technology like artificial intelligence while simultaneously working through existing backlogs.
“Most business owners are aware of their teams being overworked. The challenge is often that it’s hard to find people who can lend a hand. Staff augmentation is a possible option in this situation.” – Jeremy Wanamaker, CEO of Complete Network.
One way organizations are addressing this challenge is by leveraging technology staff augmentation services.
Technology staff augmentation is a flexible hiring process where outside IT professionals with a specific skill set join your team to fill talent gaps and help meet project demands.
Unlike outsourcing, which hands over control to a third party, or hiring full-time employees, which requires significant time and financial investment, the staff augmentation model empowers businesses to scale their workforce while maintaining full control over project management and deliverables. In this article, a leading Savannah IT support firm explores the IT staff augmentation model in detail to help you determine whether it's the right fit for your business.
The Benefits of Technology Staff Augmentation
Organizations that buy into staff augmentation services unlock a range of advantages that traditional staffing models fail to deliver. Here are five overlooked benefits:
Explore New Technologies
When companies want to explore new technologies, frameworks, or methodologies, augmented staff can quickly bring specialized expertise to these initiatives. Before making long-term, risky capital investments, hiring an augmented team for project-based work to validate concepts and build proof-of-principle solutions is a better idea.
For instance, say your organization is interested in transitioning from legacy on-prem infrastructure to cloud-based microservices. A qualified partner can help you engage with experienced system architects and DevOps specialists who have successfully guided similar transformations.
Avoid the Pitfalls of Groupthink
Over time internal teams tend to develop shared mental models that can create intellectual blind spots. This is a phenomenon known as groupthink. Staff augmentation serves as an effective antidote to such pitfalls.
External expertise brings valuable diversity of thought to established teams by introducing new viewpoints that challenge conventional thinking. Outsider perspectives can help teams spot inefficiencies that may have become normalized, and propose alternative solutions that might not occur otherwise.
Enhanced Control and Collaboration
Whereas outsourcing transfers project ownership, staff augmentation keeps your project management team in the driver’s seat. Augmented staff members work directly with your in-house team, ensuring better collaboration, faster decision-making, and streamlined communication.
Maintaining direct oversight also fosters more efficient knowledge transfer, since your permanent team is learning best practices and advice from subject matter experts.
Scalable Workforce
Modern businesses need agility to remain competitive. The staff augmentation model allows organizations to scale up or down based on evolving project demands, goals, and objectives.
For instance, an e-commerce SaaS company can temporarily expand its development team during busy shopping seasons to support infrastructure improvements, then scale back after the demand subsides. This high degree of flexibility ensures optimal resource allocation throughout the year.
Cost-Effective Staffing
Staff augmentation is inherently more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees. Businesses pay only for the duration of the engagement, avoiding heavy expenses such as recruitment, salaries, benefits, and upskilling.
Research shows that recruiting a skilled software development professional through traditional channels can take several months and cost thousands of dollars to fill just one position. With staff augmentation, these costs are significantly reduced, freeing up resources for other strategic initiatives.
Staff Augmentation Pricing Models
Decision-makers should understand the various pricing models of staff augmentation and their implications. Here’s an overview of the three most common pricing models you’ll find:
| Fixed Price Model |
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| Time and Materials Model |
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| Monthly Retainer Model |
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Staff Augmentation Process Flow
The staff augmentation hiring process flow involves four key steps: analyzing, talent sourcing, onboarding, and ongoing support.
Step 1 – Analyzing
The hiring process starts with a thorough definition of your project’s goals, requirements, objectives, and specific skills desired. Whether you need software development talent to fill skill gaps, data scientists to design AI/ML models, system engineers to lead digital transformation initiatives, or some other expertise, clearly outlining your ambitions sets the stage for finding the right staffing partner.
Step 2 – Talent Sourcing
Talent sourcing begins with selecting a reputable staffing partner. Look for an established provider with a proven track record of successful placements and access to a deep pool of qualified technical professionals.
The best partners don’t just provide a pipeline of high-quality candidates, but will also furnish strategic guidance on managing augmented IT teams as well as practical advice for establishing effective workflows and scaling in alignment with project timelines.
Step 3 – Onboarding
A well-run onboarding program should create an environment where augmented staff can quickly become productive team members. This is achieved through fostering close collaboration and relationships between key stakeholders and new hires.
Assigning a mentor or buddy can help new staff feel supported and address questions promptly as they start contributing.
Step 4 – Ongoing Support
To improve the odds of success, ongoing support is required throughout the engagement. Organizations can create an environment where augmented staff feel valued and engaged by maintaining open communication channels, conducting regular performance reviews, and proactively addressing challenges as they arise.
Regular assessment of the augmentation initiative’s impact on project outcomes and productivity helps inform long-term planning and potential adjustments to the strategy. Decision-makers should continually evaluate whether there’s a need to continue augmenting staff for ongoing projects or to integrate new technologies and services based on evolving organizational needs.
Staff Augmentation IT Companies
Finding the right staff augmentation partner to supply your team with skilled IT experts can feel like a game of high stakes. And quite frankly, it is. The right partner can inject highly qualified talent with the exact specialized expertise you need to meet your project objectives. On the flip side, the wrong partner can saddle you with underqualified candidates that jeopardize your success.
For this closing section, we’ll guide you through the primary factors to evaluate when choosing a staffing partner.
- Begin by examining the industry expertise and delivery capabilities your potential partner possesses
- Look for partners who demonstrate a deep understanding of your technical domain through
- Understand their hiring process and time-to-fill metrics to gauge how quickly they can deliver qualified talent
- A strong partner should present clear methodologies for both ramping up resources quickly and adjusting team composition as project needs evolve
- Assess the potential partner’s integration approach, particularly their methods for ensuring smooth collaboration between augmented staff and existing teams
- Beyond basic reference checks, investigate their financial health, employee retention rates, and investment in professional development
- Strong partners typically maintain active involvement in technology communities and demonstrate thought leadership in their areas of expertise
- Consider the partner’s technological sophistication, particularly their adoption of modern collaboration tools and project management platforms
- Examine their commercial framework, ensuring it provides transparency in pricing and performance metrics. They should offer flexible engagement models that align with your business objectives while maintaining clear accountability measures and service level agreements
Trusted Staff Augmentation Backed by Expert IT Support in Savannah
We hope you’ve come to understand the many benefits of staff augmentation and what a company should do if it’s struggling to retain quality staff. If you’d like help with bolstering your IT staff, the Complete Network team is here to help. We’ve been helping businesses gain decisive control over their cybersecurity and training requirements for over two decades.
Contact the most trusted IT support provider in Savannah today! We look forward to speaking with you!
