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What is IT Staff Augmentation? and why it might benefit your company.

Unleashing the Power of Augmented Teams.

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to optimize their workforce and maximize productivity.

Staff augmentation has emerged as a strategic approach, offering a dynamic solution to address staffing needs and achieve business objectives with agility.

At Nexton, we specialize in providing top-tier staff augmentation services that empower companies to access a diverse talent pool and expand their capabilities. By seamlessly integrating augmented teams into your organization, you can harness specialized skills and expertise on-demand, allowing you to scale operations, accelerate project timelines, and stay ahead of the competition.

1. The Extraordinary Talent you need to boost your project

When it comes to project success, having the right talent is crucial.

That's where Nexton comes in. We provide access to extraordinary talent that will take your projects to new heights.

With our staff augmentation services, you can bridge skill gaps, enhance productivity, and ensure the success of your endeavors.

Nexton is your trusted partner for staff augmentation solutions. If you're facing staffing challenges and need to enhance your company's capabilities, we're here to help.

Our seamless staff augmentation services enable you to fill critical positions quickly, tap into specialized talent, and propel your company's growth.

 

2. What is Staff Augmentation?

Are you looking to enhance your company's capabilities and achieve your goals efficiently?
 
Discover the power of staff augmentation.
 
By seamlessly integrating additional talent when you need it most, staff augmentation provides the flexibility and expertise to overcome staffing challenges and accelerate your growth.
 
Unveiling the Definition of Staff Augmentation
 
In today's competitive business landscape, companies face unique staffing needs that can hinder their progress. Staff augmentation is a strategic solution that addresses these challenges head-on.

It enables companies to fill critical positions, whether they're difficult to find or required for temporary projects, without the usual time-consuming recruitment processes.

What Staff Augmentation Means for Your Company

Staff augmentation offers a game-changing approach to fueling your company's growth and innovation. By leveraging this solution, your company gains access to a vast pool of skilled software engineers and domain experts, eliminating skill gaps and tapping into specialized knowledge. This allows you to navigate the complexities of the market without compromising on recruitment and onboarding hurdles.

Optimizing Your Company's Potential with Staff Augmentation

Imagine the possibilities of seamlessly blending your in-house team with external professionals who perfectly align with your project needs. With staff augmentation, your company can achieve objectives efficiently while maximizing productivity.

By harnessing the expertise of both internal and external resources, you can focus on your core competencies and drive your company forward.

SA infographic

 

3. How Staff Augmentation Works: Staff Augmentation Services

Are you curious about how staff augmentation can benefit your company?

By understanding the different types of staff augmentation, you can make informed decisions to propel your company's success.

Staff augmentation encompasses three primary types: commodity, skill-based, and highly skilled. Each type serves a unique purpose based on the specific staffing requirements of your company.

Commodity staff augmentation

focuses on urgent staffing needs without requiring highly specialized talent. This type of augmentation typically fulfills positions such as manual labor, factory work, or retail, ensuring your operational tasks are promptly addressed.

Skill-based staff augmentation

involves hiring talent with specific skills, although the required expertise level may not be critical. Examples include basic copywriting, typing, or data entry. Skill-based augmentation allows you to bolster your team with the necessary skills to optimize efficiency and productivity.

highly-skilled staff augmentation

Is the ideal solution for critical roles that demand advanced expertise. This type of augmentation enables you to access professionals with advanced skills in areas like software development and IT. By incorporating highly-skilled individuals into your team, you can tackle complex projects with confidence and precision.

Leveraging IT Staff Augmentation Services

One of the key aspects of staff augmentation is IT staff augmentation. It provides organizations with the flexibility to augment their in-house teams with hourly and/or part-time software engineers. This service supports your software development outsourcing cycle and IT projects on an as-needed basis, ensuring your company has access to top talent without the delays of lengthy sourcing and recruiting processes.

4. Staff Augmentation in Offshore Outsourcing: Understanding the Relationship

Let's explore how staff augmentation fits within the context of outsourcing. 

While staff augmentation can be seen as a form of outsourcing, it differs from the traditional perception of outsourcing where an independent team operates separately to deliver IT projects without the involvement of in-house developers or team members. In staff augmentation, professionals can serve as consultants or actively contribute to end-to-end IT projects.

So, Is Staff Augmentation Outsourcing?

While they are related, staff augmentation and outsourcing are distinct models, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Staff augmentation offers a flexible approach to supplementing your team with external talent when needed. These professionals seamlessly integrate with your in-house team, providing expertise and contributing to project success. Staff augmentation empowers you to optimize your resources and leverage specialized skills without relying solely on outsourcing teams.

On the other hand, outsourcing typically refers to the engagement of an independent team that operates separately from your in-house team. 

Outsourced teams may work on IT projects independently, providing end-to-end solutions or specialized services.

Choosing the Right Model: Staff Augmentation and Outsourcing

Both staff augmentation and outsourcing have their merits, and the choice between the two depends on your specific requirements and objectives. Staff augmentation allows you to retain control over your projects while augmenting your team with external talent to meet evolving needs. It promotes collaboration and knowledge transfer between in-house and augmented team members.

Outsourcing can be an effective solution for companies seeking complete project outsourcing, where external teams take full responsibility for project execution. This model can be advantageous for companies seeking specialized expertise or specific project requirements.

5. Why Staff Augmentation?: Exploring the Pros and Cons

Are you considering staff augmentation for your company? 

Explore the advantages and potential downsides to help you make informed decisions when leveraging staff augmentation services.

Talent: Elevate Your Team's Capacity and Value

Unlock access to exceptional software engineers who seamlessly integrate into your team. Augmenting your workforce with top talent enhances your team's capacity and brings valuable expertise to your projects.

Easy Hiring: Find the Right Skill Sets with Ease

Effortlessly locate and hire professionals with the specific skill sets required for each project. Say goodbye to talent retention worries as staff augmentation simplifies the process of acquiring the expertise you need.

Instant Know-how: Smooth Project Execution and Minimize Downtime

Overcome project roadblocks and minimize downtime with the expertise of an extended team. Staff augmentation provides you with instant access to specialized knowledge, ensuring a smoother project execution.

Flexibility: Scale Your Development Workforce as Needed

Adapt to changing demands by easily adjusting the size of your development workforce. On-demand talent enables you to scale up or down as required, providing the flexibility necessary for successful project delivery.

Who Uses Staff Augmentation?: A Wide Range of Industries

Staff augmentation is a versatile model that finds application across various industries. From R&D to Operations, HR, Finance, and more, companies across industry borders are embracing staff augmentation as a powerful solution. This trend is further reinforced by industry giants like Google, who recognized the importance of augmented staff and acquired Kaggle, a network of freelance/contract data scientists, in 2017.

Considerations: Potential Downsides to Keep in Mind

While staff augmentation offers numerous advantages, it's essential to consider potential downsides. Projects requiring extensive knowledge of company culture and context may experience ramp-up times, requiring careful evaluation of staff augmentation versus dedicated team staffing. Flawed internal processes can impact the effectiveness of outsourced staffing solutions. Additionally, adapting to the workflow of extended teams may require some time for seamless integration

6. Misconceptions Regarding IT Staff Augmentation

In the realm of software development, there are common misconceptions surrounding staff augmentation. Let's address these misunderstandings and shed light on the distinctions between staff augmentation, consulting, and managed services.

Staff Augmentation as Cost Avoidance:

Some business leaders mistakenly view staff augmentation as a means to avoid the costs associated with full-time employees and their benefits. However, this is a misconception. Staff augmentation providers factor in benefit costs when quoting rates to organizations, meaning the cost is still accounted for.

Opting for augmented staff solely to circumvent benefits expenses can lead to higher overall costs compared to hiring full-time employees, which may have been a more suitable solution.

Staff Augmentation Is More Expensive:

Another prevalent misunderstanding is the belief that augmented staff are more costly than equivalent full-time employees. The misconception arises from overlooking employer burdens associated with full-time employees, such as benefits, matching, health insurance, 401K, and ongoing training. In reality, contracting with augmented staff proves to be a cost-effective and reasonable financial choice, considering these factors.

Staff Augmentation vs. Managed Services

The staffing industry's terminology can often become muddled, leading to confusion between staff augmentation and managed services. However, these are distinct approaches.

Staff augmentation focuses on adding talent directly to your in-house team. It involves augmenting your workforce with skilled professionals who contribute to specific projects or tasks. They are typically paid on a time and material basis, aligning with job descriptions and working collaboratively with your team. 

On the other hand, managed services revolve around delivering specific, defined outcomes. This approach entails hiring a contractor or vendor to create an application or complete a project based on predetermined key performance indicators (KPIs). Payment is typically made upon successful project completion.

Staff Augmentation vs. Consulting: Leveraging the Right Solution

It's important to differentiate between staff augmentation and consulting services. While both play significant roles in the software development industry, they offer distinct benefits.

Staff augmentation provides you with direct access to specialized talent, enhancing your team's capabilities and flexibility. It empowers you to complete projects efficiently by integrating external professionals seamlessly into your in-house team.

Consulting services, on the other hand, focus on delivering specific outcomes or providing expert advice. Consultants offer their expertise and strategic guidance to help you overcome challenges, make informed decisions, and achieve your business objectives.

7. Choosing the Perfect Staff Augmentation Model: A Path to Success

When it comes to staff augmentation, selecting the right model is crucial for achieving your organization's goals. Depending on your specific needs, it's essential to weigh your priorities and objectives. Let's explore the steps you can take to ensure success in your staff augmentation endeavors.

1. Partnering with the Right Provider

Before embarking on a partnership, conduct thorough research on the reputation, past work, recruitment process, and expertise of potential providers. Assessing these factors will help you find a reliable and capable partner who aligns with your organization's values and requirements.

2. Identifying the Ideal Outsourcing or Staff Augmentation Model

Conduct an internal assessment to understand your company's experience, capabilities, and weaknesses. With IT staffing services offering customizable solutions, you can find a model that suits your specific needs. Whether you require specialized expertise or a scalable workforce, selecting the right model will set the stage for success.

3. Defining Clear Expectations from the Start

Establish your goals and set clear expectations before commencing any project. Regularly assess the project's status to track progress and make necessary adjustments along the way. Working with a consulting agency can help identify potential gaps and ensure a smooth workflow. The IT staff augmentation team can also provide valuable recommendations based on their expertise.

4. Emphasizing Effective Communication

Effective communication is vital for the success of any project involving IT staffing services. Establish clear channels of communication and create a feedback cycle that encourages open dialogue. Collaborate closely with your project managers to ensure seamless communication and efficient workflows. This fosters a collaborative environment, maximizing the chances of success.

8. Benefits of Hiring Nexton for Staff Augmentation

Nexton offers a range of compelling benefits for companies seeking staff augmentation services. By engaging Nexton's IT staff augmentation services, you gain access to a pool of experienced professionals with deep expertise in their respective fields.

Our team at Nexton carefully matches you with dedicated software developers and engineers who possess the necessary skill sets to successfully complete your projects and achieve your business objectives.

Our Unique Approach: At Nexton, we believe in the power of human-centered recruitment. We understand that recruiting is a human-centered activity, where the human touch is critical in coaching candidates and finding the best opportunities for each person. While we leverage AI in various aspects of the recruitment process, such as generating messages, creating job descriptions, personalizing recruiting messages, and inbound resume classification, we recognize that human judgment and interaction are invaluable.

Thorough Recruitment Process: One of the key advantages of partnering with Nexton is our thorough recruitment process. We ensure that only the most qualified and talented individuals become part of your team. We utilize AI to help address challenges, such as technical and language barriers, through AI-based challenge scoring and correction. This ensures that you receive top-notch professionals who are well-equipped to contribute to your projects.

Flexible Engagement Options: At Nexton, we understand that different clients have specific preferences. We offer flexible payment options, including monthly payments to avoid placement fees. We also provide the option for an extended trial period, allowing you to evaluate candidates through our "try before you buy" option. Additionally, we accommodate clients who prefer fixed-term contracts with the option to renew.

Transparent Collaboration: Transparency is a differentiating factor for Nexton compared to other staff augmentation providers. We believe in maintaining full oversight and effective communication throughout the entire project duration. With Nexton, you'll never be left in the dark, as you and your project managers have complete visibility and control over the process.

Enhanced Talent Engagement: Nexton provides a dedicated Talent Relations team who offers continuous support to the talent throughout their experience with your organization. They resolve conflicts, conduct performance reviews, and ensure motivation. We also offer additional benefits to enhance talent engagement, measured through our engagement dashboard, providing you with valuable insights into the satisfaction and productivity of your augmented team.

Simplified Process and Clear Invoicing: Nexton takes care of legal compliance and payments, simplifying the process for clients. You will receive a clear invoice from Nexton (USA) and make payments accordingly. Our fee structure is transparent, eliminating ambiguity found in traditional staff augmentation models. With Nexton, you know exactly what you are paying for, and we are committed to sourcing the best talent rather than the cheapest.

Experience the Nexton Difference: At Nexton, we are redefining staff augmentation, offering a unique and superior approach. Our model goes beyond traditional practices, combining human expertise with AI-powered solutions. We invite you to experience the difference and unlock the full potential of staff augmentation with Nexton.

9. Understanding Staff Augmentation Contractors and Contracts

Staff augmentation has become a popular solution for businesses seeking specialized talent without the long-term commitments of traditional hiring.

Staff augmentation contractors are skilled professionals engaged on a temporary basis to fill specific roles within projects or teams. They bring expertise, collaborate with existing employees, and contribute to project success.

Staff augmentation contracts are the foundation of the working relationship between the hiring company and the staff augmentation provider. Here are the key aspects of such contracts:

  1. CPI Adjustment: Fees in staff augmentation contracts are typically adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus a spread. This allows for fair compensation and helps the provider cover inflation-related cost increases.

  2. Payment Terms: Prompt payment is crucial for staff augmentation providers to meet their obligations. While clients may request extended payment terms, alternative arrangements like larger payment terms with a deposit fee or invoicing in advance can strike a balance.

  3. Termination Clause: Termination clauses define notice periods and procedures for ending a Statement of Work (SOW). Providers often prefer a 30-day notice period to handle terminations effectively and protect their interests regarding payment obligations and contractor claims.

  4. Automatic Renewal: Automatic renewal provisions determine whether contracts renew automatically. Staff augmentation providers can consider excluding this provision, depending on individual agreements and client needs.

  5. Trial Period: Trial periods allow clients to assess contractor suitability. However, pre-notice obligations are common to ensure a reasonable transition. Eliminating pre-notice obligations may limit the ability to attract highly qualified talent.

  6. Intellectual Property (IP): IP rights govern ownership of work produced by contractors. Staff augmentation contracts typically include clauses where contractors assign inventions and collaborate to secure IP rights. Clients retain ownership of project-related work and associated intellectual property.

  7. Non-Solicitation: Non-solicitation clauses prohibit clients from directly hiring contractors outside agreed terms, protecting the provider's interests.

Understanding these aspects of staff augmentation contracts ensures a transparent and mutually beneficial working relationship between businesses and staff augmentation providers.




TALK TO AN EXPERT

Diego
Sternberg

Founder & CEO

Diego is a Stanford GSB graduate with a passion for breaking down borders and connecting technical talent with purposeful startups around the world