Having a team of temporary professionals who can dedicate their focus to your project can be an ideal scenario. Such an arrangement reduces expenses and helps fill the skill gap in your existing team.
This outsourcing model, well-known as IT staff augmentation, has become quite popular. Today, the staff augmentation service is a USD 92 billion market. Due to the several benefits of this working model, this module has the potential to witness an exponential rise.
If you are a company or enterprise looking to hire IT staff augmentation services, there are plenty of options in the market. However, you need to choose the best vendors to experience the best impact of staff augmentation.
This blog helps you identify the facets of a good IT staff augmentation partner. After understanding each aspect, you can choose a suitable vendor and improve the chances of corporate success profoundly.
Table of Contents
Why Prefer an IT Staff Augmentation Partner?
Before you understand the skills of a reliable staff augmentation partner, it is essential to know the significance of this service. You might be investing time and financial resources to strengthen your in-house IT team.
However, a staff or team augmentation alternative can prove an excellent decision. How?
Here are some of the crucial facets and pointers to note:
In IT staff augmentation, a vendor provides skilled professionals to join your in-house team.
You do not need to onboard a full-time employee in this service.
It is possible to hire talent as per your project requirements.
You can access a global pool of professional and talented individuals through an authentic staff augmentation partner.
Notably, the team augmentation vendor takes care of all the sourcing requirements. As a result, you and your team do not require to conduct a thorough process of hiring full-time employees.
These main reasons are sufficient to prefer IT staff augmentation services for your company.
Different Job Roles Available in IT Staff Augmentation
As a business, you should leverage the skills of diverse professionals to complete technical projects. The dynamic user requirements and evolution of software technologies prompt the requirement of various technicians.
Proper staff augmentation consulting includes consideration of different job roles to complete your team. Here are some of the most in-demand profiles that a reliable vendor can provide
Software Developers
Professional staff augmentation companies understand intricate project requirements. So, they can offer your team the following main types of developers:
Front-end developers
Backend developers
The former professionals handle user-side elements like interface and application aesthetics. Whereas the latter work on server-side logic, database integration, and other technicalities.
So, while choosing a staff augmentation partner, ensure the vendor has a readily available team of developers to boost your in-house group.
Data Manager
This IT staff augmentation profile is crucial for analyzing, storing, and managing data within your organization. Proper assessment of big data can prove essential to track vital metrics and boost your work productivity.
Data Managers or Specialists are in charge of handling reports and offering suggestions for efficient data utility. So, most staff augmentation partners have such professionals as part of their associations.
Software Designers
Your website’s aesthetic appeal and convenience have become crucial to retaining customers. In addition, an exemplary user interface and experience can generate leads for your business.
So, as a company, you can choose dependable IT staff augmentation services to bolster your team with UI and UX designers. These experts cater to your website or portal’s navigation, look, color theme, flow, and other visual aspects.
Designers are thus integral to a comprehensive IT staff augmentation service. Notably, you can receive these professionals as per requirement or as part of your vendor’s augmentation package. So, discuss the relevancy of these experts for your project before finalizing a deal.
Quality Assurance Specialist
QA specialists are responsible for conducting tests to evaluate the features and performance of a specific software or product. They are vital for custom app development and can create critical source codes for the same.
Notably, such a professional is responsible for maintaining product integrity throughout the lifecycle. Reputed IT staff augmentation companies can supply your team with this expertise without any delay.
Must-have Skills of a Trustworthy IT Staff Augmentation Partner
By now, you are familiar with the significance of a staff augmentation vendor. In addition, you are aware of the main profiles of technicians that such companies can provide.
Now, you need to move to the most essential step – identifying the necessary skills of a dependable vendor. This section puts forth vital pointers that can help you choose the most suitable IT staff augmentation services.
1. Proficiency in Using Different Programming Languages
Staff augmentation can be a comprehensive service. However, in most cases, this hiring module relates to the core IT domain. In this sector, programming and web development are two crucial aspects.
So, a reliable IT staff augmentation partner should have professionals skilled in the following programming languages:
C++ and C#
Python
Java
Golang
JavaScript
The use of such languages is vital throughout a product’s development cycle. So, a team augmentation organization can provide you with dedicated developers that are proficient in using these tools.
2. Thorough Knowledge of Software Development
Customized software has become prominent in today’s era. Such web applications align with your brand’s identity and help generate leads through adequate services and features.
A dependable staff augmentation partner should have technicians who can work on the following:
Front-end development
Backend development
Mobile app development
Custom web app development
Web portal development
Notably, skilled professionals are adept in using frameworks like Flutter, which support cross-platform development capabilities. So, always discuss whether the team augmentation partner has a portfolio of various software development projects.
A good experience developing web applications that can work on different platforms is crucial when choosing such vendors.
3. High Emphasis on Cybersecurity
Recently, there were over 300,000 reported cases of phishing in the US alone. Other cybercrimes like personal data breaches, credit card frauds, identity theft, and others follow suit.
This statistic is sufficient for any business to think of installing robust cybersecurity measures. Such installations protect user data, thereby making your brand reliable. With staff augmentation, you can add cybersecurity experts to the existing in-house team.
A skillful professional with network and application security knowledge will contribute to developing a safe website or application. So, discuss aspects like security frameworks and understanding of intrusion detection systems. Remember, a skillful IT staff augmentation partner should be well-versed in concepts like firewalls, virtual private networks, penetration testing, and others.
4. Good Command of Soft Skills
It can be tempting to check the technical skills of a staff augmentation partner. After all, you want to create a fool-proof project that does not have many bugs or issues.
However, in addition to technical proficiency, you should also investigate the communication aspect. Your vendor’s professionals should be team players capable of working in a collaborative environment. This way, working efficiency improves drastically.
Here are some of the essential primary skills you should observe in the professionals of a team augmentation company:
Communication
Time management
Adaptability
Collaborative approach
Problem-solving attitude
Responsibility
The employees of a staff augmentation firm become temporary additions to your in-house team. So, they must possess all or most of these traits for fluent project execution.
5. Scalability of the Staff Augmentation Partner
IT staff augmentation services are popular for their ability to meet client requirements. A reliable vendor is skillful in understanding the need of your project.
So, a good software development partner can scale the team depending on the progress of your ongoing project. Such partners should be able to meet your business’s fluctuating demands without delay.
Scalability is thus an essential element that you should consider while choosing IT staff augmentation services. Furthermore, you should check the pool of qualified candidates available at the vendor’s organization.
How to Verify the Comprehensiveness of a Staff Augmentation Partner?
Awareness of the IT staff augmentation partner’s top skills is crucial to making an informed decision. However, to verify the authenticity of a potential vendor, you should be prompt in completing three main steps:
Thorough research: Shortlist potential team augmentation vendors after evaluating various online and offline sources. Ensure to check the website, case studies, client testimonials, and ratings of the available vendors
Discuss transparency: Is the potential vendor honest and clear about the team augmentation requirements? You can formulate questions that revolve around this main query. Guage the response of the vendor’s team and make the right decision
Assess the cultural values: The team augmentation staff members should align with your company’s core values. You can explore the official website of a potential vendor to understand the vision of the organization
Overall, such simple background checks can prove vital in deciding an appropriate staff augmentation partner.
In a Nutshell
An IT staff augmentation partner has the potential to boost your in-house team drastically. However, you need to identify specific skills to choose the most suitable vendor.
First, gauge the technical competency of the professionals in the staff augmentation vendor’s team. You can discuss aspects like command over programming language, knowledge of custom web development, cybersecurity, and other measures.
Next, you should also focus on the team augmentation partner’s effective communication and soft skills. Asking direct questions and conducting routine background checks are simple steps to assess the potential vendor’s reliability.
Contact our dedicated team if you need an experienced staff augmentation consulting partner. We offer seamless services like offshore software development and a flexible team augmentation model to assist several businesses.
Responsible for developing and managing web presence, Sarah has been associated with eLuminous Technologies for 7+ years. Strategic and innovative with a passion for Content Marketing and enhancing brand awareness. Administered all business marketing operations and advertisement campaigns that eventually increased web traffic. She works under the motto “Think like a Publisher, not a Marketer.”
