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Which Is Better: The Managed Services Model or Staff Augmentation?

Everywhere you look these days, there are staff shortages. Companies are struggling more than ever to find, attract and retain good people. The higher the skill level required, the more difficult it is to fill a position.

But we still need people with the right skills to get the job done.

The solution might lie in nontraditional options like outsourcing, and there are several options here. You could hire freelancers or subcontractors, or you could explore options like a managed services model or staff augmentation, which might be easier to integrate into your team. Here’s more about what staff augmentation and managed services are, and what each one offers.

What Is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is a lot more like traditional hiring, in that you are simply hiring contract workers for the duration of a specific project. They work for you, like a traditional employee, in that you give them orders and instructions, have meetings with them, and so on, but they usually work remotely. So, you don’t have to worry about benefits, finding a cubicle, or any other administrative and practical problems.

Those things can all take time and cost money. So, the staff augmentation model helps you to cut the red tape and hit the ground running faster.

Since you are hiring for a specific project, for a particular role, you can also focus only on the skills you really need. You don’t need to worry about culture fit either, since the person or people you choose won’t be a permanent part of your team. So technical competency can be the primary factor in every decision.

Staff Augmentation Pros

Faster hiring time – since you are not hiring for the long term, you can focus only on the skills and experience you need for the project you are working on

Hire the skills you need right now – if you are working on a project that needs a specific skill set now and different ones later, you can hire the people you need when you need them

No long term commitments – you don’t need to hire people for the long term, so you don’t need to deal with long term contract will commitments

Cost benefits – as you aren’t hiring permanent employees, even if their salary is higher than what you would normally spend, you would any spend for a short amount of time, and this can save cost

Easy to manage – structure your team exactly as you want them to work, and have them report directly to the supervisor in charge of their role

Negotiate rates and terms of employment directly with the people you

No office politics – stop augmentation keeps office politics out of the way, since your short term employees have no vested interest in the day to day operations of your business

Staff Augmentation Cons

Monitoring is a priority – not only do you need to set tasks and expectations, but you will also need to follow up to ensure that they are all met, unlike full-time employees, your short-term workers have no long-term incentive to perform.

You still have to manage the process – managing people takes time and effort, and when you go with self-managed staff augmentation, there’s no one else to do that for you – so you will have to be quite hands-on.

Adjust the process as you go – it is unlikely that you will find the perfect way to manage an augmented team the first time you try it, so be sure to review and adjust from time to time.

More Control, More Responsibility

Staff augmentation gives you a level of control similar to having employees on-site in your office, with cost and administration benefits. However, you still have full responsibility for giving those temporary workers tasks and projects to work on, and for measuring productivity and quality of work.

So, while you will save some longer-term administration time and hassle, you still have a fair amount of day-to-day hands-on management to do.

What Are Managed Services?

Managed services are much more like what you would normally expect when hiring a subcontractor or service vendor. You provide them with an outline of what you need to be done, and they use their own resources and employees to get it done.

You don’t control the hiring process, or how and when tasks get assigned or completed. You simply get the results you need when you need them.

Pros of Managed Services

Time-saving – you won’t have to spend time managing employees, making sure that they get the job done, or following up on tasks – all of those things are done by the managed service provider

Overall control – even though you are outsourcing management and production to someone, you still have overall control, and the final say about the quality of work you receive

No day to day management concerns – you don’t have to deal with employee problems, days off, team conflict, or any of the other day to day things that can slow life down when you’re managing a team

Growth and access to skills – instead of having to grow your own team with highly skilled (and expensive) employees, you can get access to all the skills you need to make your vision reality – but only when you need them!

Cons of Managed Services

It’s up to you to find the right vendor – not all vendors offer the same level of service, or are as reliable – so you will have to read reviews, ask for references and do your due diligence before you sign any deals

Additional costs – you are paying for convenience when you use managed services instead of staff augmentation, so you can expect to pay higher rates

Less control – you might be able to set the final deliverables and project deadline, but much of the control of how the project is done is out of your hands

Fewer Headaches, Less Control

Managed services can give you access to all the skills you need quickly and easily, but you will have less control over how and when things get done. You probably won’t work directly with the technical people doing the work either, so you will need to work through the vendor’s management team to get things done.

It can also take longer to do things this way, as managed services vendors will have other clients that they will need to assign resources to, so your project might not get their full attention.

Should You Choose Managed Services or Staff Augmentation?

That depends entirely on what your expectations and capabilities are.

If you have sufficient technical people who can set clear tasks and goals for employees hired for staff augmentation, then this could be a good way to get your project done cost-effectively. You will need to set up and run your own project update meetings and manage your remote team the same way you would employees in your office.

If you lack the skills or time to do those kinds of hands-on management, then managed services from a good vendor are probably a better idea.

If you still aren’t sure, explore both possibilities. Find out what kind of freelancers and contract employees there are out there, what they charge, and what you would need to do to facilitate their work. At the same time, get prices on your project from managed services companies.

Remember that in both cases, pricing and information will be based on the brief you provide, so if the scope of the project changes over time, so would the costs and project timeline.

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BigCommerce Development Services

Widely accepted as the best eCommerce platform for increasing sales, Bigcommerce allows traders to create outstanding online shops which can engage customers and give them the best shopping experience.

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https://www.sigmasolve.com/ai-and-ml-development/

Document analysis

Through our range of document analysis solutions, we’re able to assist in extracting data from printed materials like books, legal documents, and more. Our document analysis solutions can therefore help you capture more data, far quicker and easier than ever before which, in turn, translates into deeper insights into your business’s performance and processes.

Fraud Detection

Nowadays, online fraud and cybercrime are becoming increasingly prevalent, and can expose businesses to severe risks. Our fraud detection solutions help you identify possible cases of online fraud and cybercrime.

They’re able to do this by identifying patterns in data and providing alerts when something is out of place. Based on these alerts, you can then take remedying action.

Forecasting

Our innovative forecasting and predictive analytics solutions let you see into the future. With these solutions, we’re able to develop custom models for your business that give you insights into your customers, what they want, and how their needs evolve. When you’re able to do this, you’ll be able to meet your customers’ needs better and take advantage of emerging opportunities in a competitive market.

Text to Speech

By utilizing our range of text to speech solutions, you’ll be able to make your web and mobile applications more accessible. It also has a range of other use cases from customer service to automated voice reminders for customers. Ultimately, with our text to speech solutions, you’ll be able to make your customer experience more engaging, and serve your customers better.

Enterprise Search

Our range of Enterprise Search solutions is an invaluable tool when it comes to knowledge and content management. It not only allows businesses to organize and categorize data, but also to enable searches that allow anyone within the business to find the information they need in an instant.

It’s able to do this by using natural language processing that enables users to formulate questions in natural language and get the exact results that match their query. In turn, this makes your business more efficient and your employees more productive.

Image & Video

With our image and video analytics solutions, you’ll be able to identify and label objects, people, vehicles, faces, and more in videos and images. This allows you to extract valuable insights from images and video content which, in turn, can shape the decisions you make and the strategies you implement to improve your customer journey.

Translations

Translations can be invaluable, especially if you serve customers from around the world or from different localities. With our translation solutions, you’ll be able to integrate real-time translation capability into your application and translate a variety of languages, which means you’ll be able to deliver stellar customer experiences to your customers, no matter where they are or what language they speak.

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Everything You Need to Know About Staff Augmentation

The staff augmentation model is a fantastic alternative for IT organizations looking to save on expenses while increasing production and efficiency. Before you use this model, you must first understand what it entails, what it can be used for, what the benefits are, and how to work effectively with augmented teams.

We’ll break down the notion of staff augmentation services and look at how it affects startups, corporations, and IT operations in this guide.

Everything You Need to Know About Staff Augmentation

Let’s start by breaking down what staff augmentation actually means.

What is Staff Augmentation?

The tremendous expansion in the usage of contingent employees across businesses throughout the world is one of the most significant developments in today’s corporate world. This isn’t necessarily a modern practice, either. It all started when administrators were loaned across organizational lines to temporarily cover duties due to vacations, sickness, and other reasons. Today, contingent employment may take several forms, the most prevalent of which is staff augmentation. The deployment of temporary outside people to increase your organization’s capability is known as staff augmentation.

Staff augmentation is a form of HR outsourcing approach that allows a firm to temporarily augment its workers by adding staff to its team based on the expertise necessary for a project. IT staff augmentation is a remote hiring model that allows a company to assemble a team of skilled IT professionals (including software developers, web developers, software testers, and other IT professionals) to perform specific tasks and fill staffing gaps on projects in accordance with current business objectives. Staff augmentation services are managed by an IT partner in this situation, who also offers formal employment, insurance, and tax services to remote workers.

Staff Augmentation Use Cases

There are several instances in which firms use employee augmentation. One scenario where it can be used is when capacity needs to be increased. To meet a temporary rise in work, businesses will hire more people via staff augmentation. Project management, increases in customer demand, and other types of labor and demands fall under this category. Staff augmentation can act as a bridge to supply capacity while a permanent team is being built.

Another use case for staff augmentation is when specialized skills are required. Staff augmentation can be effective for out-of-house specialist skills that are only needed for a short period of time.

Staff augmentation can be employed for both tactical and strategic goals. As a strategy to achieve a competitive edge and accelerate speed to market, startups can adopt this technique to construct an organization or team employing 100% flexible workers.

How Does Staff Augmentation Work?

Staff augmentation is a form of outsourcing process of service provided by a third-party organization via contract to supplement the current on-premise team’s expertise and abilities. This strategy involves assessing current employee abilities and identifying which skills are required for the specific project in question.

These resources are hired directly by the vendor, which eliminates the expense and risk of creating new full-time personnel. Remote employees employed through a staffing firm, on the other hand, are committed to only one project at a time.

Basically, an organization leader will contact a staff augmentation firm and work with them to develop the right team to outsource for the project. Depending on the firm you work with, staff augmentation might be very hands-on or very hands-off for a more outsourced, “set it and forget it” approach in which the external team will take care of your tasks and deliver on a deadline. It’s quite simple.

Types of Staff Augmentation

Staff augmentation recruiting may be divided into two categories. There are both short-term and long-term options:

When there is a short-term requirement for specialists (engineers, developers, testers, etc.) or when in-house specialists are unavailable, short-term staff augmentation services are employed.

Long-term staff augmentation services are utilized in lengthier projects when a talent gap has to be filled, operating expenses need to be minimized, or hiring an in-house employee is unfeasible or problematic.

Staffing may be split into three categories:

Skilled: when a certain skill set is required but the degree of those skills is not crucial.

Very Skilled: When you require professionals with extremely sophisticated talents that can only be acquired via extensive training and experience. In the outsourcing industry, corporations frequently seek this form of workforce augmentation.

Commodity: When you need a dependable workforce but don’t require them to have a certain skill set, you use commodity staff augmentation.

The Benefits of Staff Augmentation

While both staff augmentation and project outsourcing can be advantageous in some instances, the former is frequently most effective for project-based organizations that are in a state of perpetual flux.

One benefit of staff augmentation is the option to merely pay for what you require. Staff augmentation helps firms to save money over time. This innovative concept allows you to engage temporary staff, meaning you do not have to employ full-time personnel which can be incredibly pricey. You only pay for what you require for the time you require it.

Another benefit of staff expansion is saving time. With staff augmentation, you may also save your business executives a lot of time. To hire full-time personnel, it takes time to produce job listings, interview individuals, and complete the necessary paperwork. With it, you can eliminate time spent recruiting new personnel.

One of the most significant advantages of staff augmentation is the opportunity to manage your in-house employees while leaving the administration of your outsourced employees to the staffing business. You are effectively entrusting your work to strangers when you outsource your job to a third party. However, staff augmentation allows you to pick a temporary team to work with. You decide who will lead the project and what will be prioritized.

For more Detail: https://www.sigmasolve.com/how-staff-augmentation-works/

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Blockchain Development Services | sigma Solve

This includes increasing the efficiency, transparency, immutability and security of processes. This is why the past decade has seen such a surge in the use of blockchain, which promises to deliver just that.

A blockchain is a distributed database shared among the nodes of a computer network. Information is verified and stored in a digital format, and cannot be changed without altering the whole network. As such, it guarantees the security and fidelity of data, generating trust without the need for a third party.

About Blockchain Development Services

Blockchains gained popularity for their application in cryptocurrency systems but have recently seen a surge of applications in various industries. Enterprises are now utilizing the advantages of blockchain to streamline their business processes and improve security and transparency.

At Sigma Solve, we are at the forefront of this revolution. Our team of blockchain experts has aided businesses across all sectors to adopt this new technology that will help improve the efficiency of their operations. You do not want to be left out when everybody else has moved to the next technological leap.

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Wild Coffee Marketing and Sigma Solve Announce Strategic Partnership

Alignment brings full strategy, digital storytelling and tech solution capabilities to clients

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Nov 2, 2021) — Wild Coffee Marketing and Sigma Solve are pleased to announce a strategic partnership agreement that enhances the capabilities of each firm. The partnership will augment each company’s service offerings: Wild Coffee’s vision-led consulting services with marketing strategy, design and concept workshops and Sigma Solve’s leading technology services with app, website development and suite of software solutions.

“This is a natural and powerful partnership for our companies,” says Amy Anderson, co-founder of Wild Coffee. “We have collaborated for four years on large-scale projects and have built an integrated, holistic approach in how we leverage the expertise of our teams. Sigma Solve’s ability to engineer digital products and platforms helps put clients on the best path for success while providing us with the ability to offer a full range of services.”

“Wild Coffee’s strategy and deep ability for brand storytelling through content and design gives us an impactful advantage adding value to our client base,” says Biren Zaverchand, co-founder of Sigma Solve. “We’ve not only collaborated on projects, but also partnered on growth strategies and new business development. This alliance of shared resources makes us both stronger and more competitive in the business landscape.”

As strategic partners, Wild Coffee and Sigma Solve created a blended team of diverse skill sets to take on projects as an integrated holistic team as part of this venture. Deeper capabilities within each company in core areas of expertise will help transform capabilities for digital storytelling that deliver business results.

Wild Coffee Marketing

Wild Coffee is a team of thinkers and doers. Working as an extension of a client’s team positioned in the c-suite, Wild Coffee brings business-first strategies to brand partners along with concept, content, creative development and UX/UI design. We bring together a diverse group of talented thought leaders with unique perspectives, skill sets, and passions.

About Sigma Solve Inc

Sigma Solve is a leading provider of enterprise software solutions, mobile applications, content management systems, and customer relationship management software. Sigma Solve has over a decade of experience in providing exceptional technology solutions to clients across the globe in various industries such as Manufacturing, Retail, eCommerce, Real Estate, Education, Government, and more. Whether you are looking to develop a sophisticated eCommerce shopping engine, a CRM integration, or a staff augmentation with our experts in .NET, Java, Php, Python, or React.js, our dedicated team of developers and programmers will work with you to set up a platform that aligns with your business goals.

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How To Scale Your Business Quickly (Augmentation Vs. Recruiting)

Many successful companies experience growing pains. That comes with the territory. There is a special anxiety that comes from important projects as they start to gain momentum. That anxiety is compounded when management recognizes that these projects will need extra staff, not necessarily for completion, but for a faster time to market. Business and innovation move quickly, and those companies that can’t keep up find themselves at the back of the pack.

One of the benefits that many companies have seen in light of Covid is that work no longer needs to be done “in-house.” Quite the opposite: the idea of there being a “house” has become incredibly flexible. With operations moving to remote work structures, the idea of additional staffing has also become more flexible. Success can be achieved through remote operations if the proper structures are put in place to succeed. Consequently, the question that many businesses ask themselves when faced with the issue of scaling, is: is it more beneficial to go with direct hires or will staff augmentation provide the solutions to help them get to the finish line that much faster?

Direct hiring is the more traditional route for growing any team within the company. If the company has a successful development team, direct hiring is a potentially beneficial choice. The team will have the structure in place, and the experience necessary, to recruit and evaluate new hires at a rate that is fast enough to stave off a loss of momentum. However, if a company does not have the development structure in place to meet the needs of the new hiring strategy, or if the company is moving at such a fast pace with one project or multiple projects simultaneously, then it would better serve the company to consider staff augmentation. Staff augmentation should be considered if:

The company’s team is proving too small for the project at hand, or if the project seems to be branching into multiple tracks that would be better served with additional hires,

If the work and development demands of product development are increasing and there isn’t the appropriate staff in the immediate area to bring in as additional work force,

The idea of quick scale up or scale down on any project is attractive from a flexibility point-of-view. Augmented staffing allows for that flexibility.

The first step to healthy, fast, and effective scaling via augmented staffing is to develop a corporate strategy that serves all levels of project development.

Start by creating a modular staffing model

Different elements of the company may grow at different speeds and in different directions simultaneously. One area of your company—or one project—may be growing at a faster speed than the others and, therefore, need an influx of new talent to help maximize the necessary output. Other areas might not need extra help as immediately. By differentiating the needs of the company and strategizing around a modular model, companies will have greater flexibility to respond quickly and effectively when needing to scale up or scale down project teams.

Maximize the value and effectiveness of contract staff

In working with a staffing partner regarding the specifics of augmented staffing, it is important to keep in mind that these temporary contract hires can serve the specific needs of a company during quick growth or fast project completion schedules. Augmented staff can be hired for a wide range of talent specialties and technical fields. Focused hiring on maximized effectiveness reduces the stress on the in-house talent while increasing the potential for project success both quickly and effectively.

Ensure that your contract staffing is connected to the company’s culture and branding

As the company grows, it is important to keep an eye on maintaining the corporate culture and employment brand that brought the company success in the first place. Companies need to work closely with recruiters to ensure that the culture and company brand are at the forefront of communication. Additionally, steps must be taken through the period of engagement to solidify these ideas with the augments staffing personnel.

Work closely with a reputable and effective recruiter

Make sure that the recruiter has a good reputation in the industry and a low rate of attrition—the industry standard is 10-15%. Additionally, make sure that the vendor has many recruiters so that there is the possibility to find more or alternative talent quickly and effectively.

There might be disadvantages in augmented staffing if the proper approach is not considered in advance.

Long-term projects may be difficult to develop, and consequently become sluggish, with contracted hires. The solution is to move forward with a reputable vendor who can service the company’s staffing needs in both an on-going and flexible manner,

Ensuring that the augmented staff has the proper training may prove time consuming which can be exactly the opposite effect that the hire was supposed to have. Again, therefore communication with a vendor at the outset if of the utmost importance.

Augmented staff will lack the company culture. Here is where time and strategy pay off, however, if a company has a structure in place that helps to introduce these new hires to the culture and the brand,

There might be workflow and communication issues. In-house teams are used to each other’s workflow habits, communication techniques, and general corporate rhythms. New hires—particularly when those hires are augmented and remote—may have a harder time adapting to the established patterns. The company needs to do the necessary preparatory work with the vendor to make certain that there is little momentum lost in bringing in the new staff.

With all those considerations, is augmented staffing better and faster than regular recruiting for companies that want to scale quickly? Speed is certainly the primary advantage. While it might be problematic for a company to attempt an augmented staffing strategy on their own, by developing a relationship with a reputable vendor, a company can be almost guaranteed that it will be able to scale up or down with remarkable speed. Here are some of the other benefits of augmented staffing:

Flexibility is key. Companies during fast growth are often unaware of their needs beyond the short-term scope of specific projects. With augmented staffing, companies are afforded the flexibility of increasing or decreasing their staff at a relatively rapid rate depending on the needs during any period.

No long-term contracts or additional benefit costs. The only contract will be with the vendor, with the specifics of terms and duration dictated at the outset. There is no fear of long-term contracts with employees that would have to be honored in the event of down scaling. Also, the company will not have to pay the additional expenses that come with employee benefits and insurance.

Lower costs with no loss of quality. Staff augmentation is an affordable alternative that tends to be far less costly than direct hiring. This savings is especially true when considering taxes and other costs directly associated with direct hires.

Recruiting is left in the hands of people who recruit for a living. If the company doesn’t have a recruiting or development team in place, too much time and effort can be wasted as they try to get up to speed, canvasing and assessing the right talents for projects. With qualified vendors, the talent is already in place, evaluated and ready to go.

The company stays in charge. With augmented staffing, the project is not outsourced to a third party. Everything stays under the corporate roof as specialized talent is brought in to work on the necessary projects. Strategizing with a vendor allows for full communication of the needs and the expectations of the company, leaving little room for variation or disappointment.

As the tech industry continues to grow at an amazing pace, future staffing issues should be considered, and strategies adopted. While direct hiring offers a solution for more long-term issues that might arise, companies need to consider the benefits that augmented staffing can provide speed, flexibility, consistency, and control. Once the decision is made to pursue augmented staffing, there are additional steps that need to be taken, including the search for reputable vendors and the consideration of the legal aspects of the vendor-client relationship. But those considerations have many road maps in place by those who have already traveled the road to success. The most important element is remembering that speed and flexibility allow companies to move quickly. That consideration should always be first and foremost.

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Sigma Solve Expands Digital Transformation Expertise in Partnership with Liferay

Sigma Solve and Liferay announced today that they have formed a strategic partnership, adding Liferay DXP to Sigma Solve’s service portfolio. This partnership will enhance Sigma Solve’s offerings by engaging B2B, B2C, and B2E user experiences leveraging “Best of Breed” technologies. Providing these experiences will be an important cornerstone of Sigma Solve’s continued growth in the coming years.

Sigma Solve is a technology consulting and software development company that guides clients’ vision for digitization, sales growth, system integration and business process automation. Liferay DXP will provide a feature-rich platform that puts integrated digital capabilities and innovation in the hands of businesses across a wide range of industries in North America. Sigma Solve’s ethos of digitally-transforming businesses coincides perfectly with Liferay’s DXP platform.

“We are pleased to partner with Liferay to help solve real challenges for B2B companies,” said Prerak Parikh, Co-Founder and CTO of Sigma Solve. “We chose Liferay because their open-source platform provides the perfect palette for businesses to build their digital presence. Sigma Solve is excited to use Liferay DXP to help more businesses succeed in this digital-first world.”

Liferay provides a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) that businesses can utilize to build a full-featured integrated digital businesses, incorporating application security, integration across all channels, content management, ecommerce, social tools, intranets, and more.

For Liferay, the partnership will further expand their North American partner ecosystem with another industry expert in Sigma Solve.

About Sigma Solve

Sigma Solve is a technology consulting & software development company that helps and guides clients’ vision for digitization, sales growth, system integration & business process automation. Sigma Solve, Inc.’s team of over 200 developers has been serving clients in the USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia & Middle East for the past 15 years. Sigma Solve was recently named to the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the US.

www.sigmasolve.comSigma Solve, Inc.Kent Nelsonknelson@sigmasolve.net+1 678 807 7994

About Liferay

Liferay makes software that helps companies create digital experiences on web, mobile and connected devices. Our platform is open source, which makes it more reliable, innovative and secure. We try to leave a positive mark on the world through business and technology. Thousands of organizations in financial services, healthcare, government, insurance, retail, manufacturing and multiple other industries use Liferay.

Reference: https://www.sigmasolve.com/sigma-solve-expands-digital-transformation-expertise-in-partnership-with-liferay/

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Top five benefits of the staff augmentation model for your business

Today, the demand for IT specialists and qualified software developers is more significant than ever before. And while demand had steadily been growing over the past two decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the pace exponentially.

The world has gone through a series of intermittent lockdowns for the past couple of years, resulting in an already digital-first age becoming even more digital. As a result, many consumer-facing businesses that hadn’t already adapted to the Internet era were suddenly facing an imminent existential threat — leaving most of them scrambling to build up an Internet presence.

And even without the pandemic, the digital transformation of most companies was entirely inevitable — COVID-19 only managed to speed up the process. What this means for the IT industry is an unprecedented demand for experts with valuable experience, top-notch skills, and reasonable rates.

These conditions have proven to be an excellent breeding ground for more flexible staffing solutions. Among these, the staff augmentation model has become quite popular. And if you’re unsure how it can help you quickly grow your business, don’t worry — we’ll explain all about what staff augmentation means, what made it so popular recently, and how it stacks up against traditional project outsourcing.

Benefits of staff augmentation models1. Cost-effectiveness

While hiring new full-time employees for a particular project is also a viable option, it means more energy, money, and time spent on the process of onboarding the employee — plus, you often have no need for them after the end of the particular project.

Instead, staff augmentation allows your organization to include new experts in your team on a short-term basis. In the process, you circumvent many of the costs that come with benefits and salaries for internal employees, and you get the option of hiring on a per-project basis.

2. You can find the exact skillsets your company needs

Temporary staff is the perfect option for short-term projects, and that’s just what staff augmentation gives you. Plus, you have the chance to precisely fill the skill gaps your internal team currently has. Through the staff augmentation model, your company can analyze the exact fields of expertise or skills its internal team lacks and then find the appropriate temporary staff for your project — while also keeping costs down in the process.

3. Scaling is quicker

If you need an affordable way to scale your staff in the short term, staff augmentation is the ideal option. You can recruit top talent that’s suitable for your specific projects while also reducing costs — allowing you to scale up or down without hiring too many costly full-time employees at once.

In today’s dynamic business landscape, the workload of many organizations changes quickly — and staff augmentation is the quickest and most efficient response to that phenomenon. It allows you to take on more business without hiring more people right away or reducing the quality of your work.

4. It puts you in control of the process

While staff augmentation is certainly a type of outsourcing, it results in organizations and companies having a lot more control over the experience and skills they expect from their temporary staff. You can easily monitor the work done by temporary hires because they’ll probably be working together with your full-time staff.

This eliminates one of the biggest disadvantages to complete outsourcing — the lack of easy oversight and access to individual staff members. You can uphold the fidelity, confidentiality, and quality of your projects and affect the work done on the project in real-time.

5. You get an unbiased opinion

Often enough, internal teams start suffering from tunnel vision — especially if they’ve been working on a specific project for a long time. And the temporary staff you get through the staff augmentation model can be just the external “set of eyes” you need to make sure you and your team aren’t making any mistakes due to company biases. A fresh point of view can easily point out issues and recommend improvements that permanent staff might not notice because they’re so absorbed in their own work.

for more detail: benefits of the staff augmentation

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5 benefits of the staff augmentation model for your business

Today, the demand for IT specialists and qualified software developers is more significant than ever before. And while demand had steadily been growing over the past two decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the pace exponentially.

The world has gone through a series of intermittent lockdowns for the past couple of years, resulting in an already digital-first age becoming even more digital. As a result, many consumer-facing businesses that hadn’t already adapted to the Internet era were suddenly facing an imminent existential threat — leaving most of them scrambling to build up an Internet presence.

And even without the pandemic, the digital transformation of most companies was entirely inevitable — COVID-19 only managed to speed up the process. What this means for the IT industry is an unprecedented demand for experts with valuable experience, top-notch skills, and reasonable rates.

These conditions have proven to be an excellent breeding ground for more flexible staffing solutions. Among these, the staff augmentation model has become quite popular. And if you’re unsure how it can help you quickly grow your business, don’t worry — we’ll explain all about what staff augmentation means, what made it so popular recently, and how it stacks up against traditional project outsourcing.

What does staff augmentation mean?

So, let’s begin with the basics — what is staff augmentation in the first place? It’s a type of outsourcing service routinely used for IT projects. It extracts the most value from your internal team and external expertise by combining the two on the same project. Moreover, the solution is quite cost-effective because it starts with an internal analysis of your existing staff and their capabilities — or rather, the capabilities they lack.

Then, the staff augmentation model allows you to hire the experts that fill your internal team’s gaps. You can manage them directly and decide how long you need their services. However, staff augmentation is usually performed on a per-project basis instead of a long-term indefinite situation.

When you’re facing a staffing shortage, this method lets you quickly find and recruit the right people to help you complete the specific project. That way, you can still use your internal capabilities while also temporarily filling in your in-house team with highly experienced IT specialists.

These out staffers aren’t a separate outsourced team that requires additional management — instead, they become an integral part of your internal team and cooperate with existing personnel, usually for shorter periods. In essence, the staff augmentation model combines the expertise that comes with staff outsourcing and the convenience of having an internal team.

Crucially, the solution is excellent at reducing project implementation, payroll, and recruitment expenses. Plus, it’s a lot more scalable compared to strictly hiring in-house. By design, terminating this kind of partnership is orders of magnitude more straightforward than terminating an internal employee — so you can decrease or expand your team according to the dynamic needs of your business growth strategy.

Plus, shifting all of the staff management responsibilities to the IT outstaffing company lets you minimize procedural formalities with employment and HR. You can focus on your product or the core services of your business rather than worrying about the minutiae.

What’s the difference between project outsourcing and staff augmentation?

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On a superficial level, staff augmentation may seem quite similar to the project outsourcing model. After all, the point of both is to minimize staff expenses, use resources more efficiently, and optimize taxes — but the way they go about it is quite different.

While outsourcing sees you transfer complete functions of your business to an external subcontractor, staff augmentation means integrating outside IT specialists into your company’s internal teams and processes — but without having to go through all of the expenses and paperwork that goes with hiring a long-term employee internally.

Let’s say, for instance, that your company’s website desperately needs a UX makeover — after all, the online experience has become central to any company’s sales and marketing strategies due to the rising importance of digital channels.

However, you may not have an experienced, stellar UX designer on your team. You may want to hire one yourself — but on the other hand, what if you really only need them for this particular project and not for the day-to-day operations of your company?

In that case, hiring a UX designer through the staff augmentation model is the perfect solution. The designer (and perhaps other supplemental experts) will come in, remodel your website, and then once the project is finished successfully — just leave. No additional expenses in the future — it’s as simple as that.

On the other hand, let’s say that a car manufacturer wants to develop some sort of multimedia software for their vehicles. If they don’t have an IT department of their own, they’d have a hard time developing this software internally — so the company outsources the entire development process to an IT company that has sufficient expertise and resources.

Both types of services involve subcontractors that solve specific tasks, but staff augmentation sees them integrated into your internal team, while strict outsourcing is used when you don’t really have an internal team.

Benefits of staff augmentation models

below you can show some benefits of staff augmentation.

1. Cost-effectiveness

While hiring new full-time employees for a particular project is also a viable option, it means more energy, money, and time spent on the process of onboarding the employee — plus, you often have no need for them after the end of the particular project.

Instead, staff augmentation allows your organization to include new experts in your team on a short-term basis. In the process, you circumvent many of the costs that come with benefits and salaries for internal employees, and you get the option of hiring on a per-project basis.

2. You can find the exact skill sets your company needs

Temporary staff is the perfect option for short-term projects, and that’s just what staff augmentation gives you. Plus, you have the chance to precisely fill the skill gaps your internal team currently has. Through the staff augmentation model, your company can analyze the exact fields of expertise or skills its internal team lacks and then find the appropriate temporary staff for your project — while also keeping costs down in the process.

3. Scaling is quicker

If you need an affordable way to scale your staff in the short term, staff augmentation is the ideal option. You can recruit top talent that’s suitable for your specific projects while also reducing costs — allowing you to scale up or down without hiring too many costly full-time employees at once.

In today’s dynamic business landscape, the workload of many organizations changes quickly — and staff augmentation is the quickest and most efficient response to that phenomenon. It allows you to take on more business without hiring more people right away or reducing the quality of your work.

For More detail: Top five benefits of the staff augmentation model

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How To Scale Your Business Quickly (Augmentation Vs. Recruiting)

Many successful companies experience growing pains. That comes with the territory. There is a special anxiety that comes from important projects as they start to gain momentum. That anxiety is compounded when management recognizes that these projects will need extra staff, not necessarily for completion, but for a faster time to market. Business and innovation move quickly, and those companies that can’t keep up find themselves at the back of the pack.

One of the benefits that many companies have seen in light of Covid is that work no longer needs to be done “in-house.” Quite the opposite: the idea of there being a “house” has become incredibly flexible. With operations moving to remote work structures, the idea of additional staffing has also become more flexible. Success can be achieved through remote operations if the proper structures are put in place to succeed. Consequently, the question that many businesses ask themselves when faced with the issue of scaling, is: is it more beneficial to go with direct hires or will staff augmentation provide the solutions to help them get to the finish line that much faster?

Direct hiring is the more traditional route for growing any team within the company. If the company has a successful development team, direct hiring is a potentially beneficial choice. The team will have the structure in place, and the experience necessary, to recruit and evaluate new hires at a rate that is fast enough to stave off a loss of momentum. However, if a company does not have the development structure in place to meet the needs of the new hiring strategy, or if the company is moving at such a fast pace with one project or multiple projects simultaneously, then it would better serve the company to consider staff augmentation. Staff augmentation should be considered if:

The company’s team is proving too small for the project at hand, or if the project seems to be branching into multiple tracks that would be better served with additional hires,

If the work and development demands of product development are increasing and there isn’t the appropriate staff in the immediate area to bring in as additional work force,

The idea of quick scale up or scale down on any project is attractive from a flexibility point-of-view. Augmented staffing allows for that flexibility.

The first step to healthy, fast, and effective scaling via augmented staffing is to develop a corporate strategy that serves all levels of project development.

Start by creating a modular staffing model

Different elements of the company may grow at different speeds and in different directions simultaneously. One area of your company—or one project—may be growing at a faster speed than the others and, therefore, need an influx of new talent to help maximize the necessary output. Other areas might not need extra help as immediately. By differentiating the needs of the company and strategizing around a modular model, companies will have greater flexibility to respond quickly and effectively when needing to scale up or scale down project teams.

Maximize the value and effectiveness of contract staff

In working with a staffing partner regarding the specifics of augmented staffing, it is important to keep in mind that these temporary contract hires can serve the specific needs of a company during quick growth or fast project completion schedules. Augmented staff can be hired for a wide range of talent specialties and technical fields. Focused hiring on maximized effectiveness reduces the stress on the in-house talent while increasing the potential for project success both quickly and effectively.

Ensure that your contract staffing is connected to the company’s culture and branding

As the company grows, it is important to keep an eye on maintaining the corporate culture and employment brand that brought the company success in the first place. Companies need to work closely with recruiters to ensure that the culture and company brand are at the forefront of communication. Additionally, steps must be taken through the period of engagement to solidify these ideas with the augments staffing personnel.

Work closely with a reputable and effective recruiter

Make sure that the recruiter has a good reputation in the industry and a low rate of attrition—the industry standard is 10-15%. Additionally, make sure that the vendor has many recruiters so that there is the possibility to find more or alternative talent quickly and effectively.

There might be disadvantages in augmented staffing if the proper approach is not considered in advance.

Long-term projects may be difficult to develop, and consequently become sluggish, with contracted hires. The solution is to move forward with a reputable vendor who can service the company’s staffing needs in both an on-going and flexible manner,

Ensuring that the augmented staff has the proper training may prove time consuming which can be exactly the opposite effect that the hire was supposed to have. Again, therefore communication with a vendor at the outset if of the utmost importance.

Augmented staff will lack the company culture. Here is where time and strategy pay off, however, if a company has a structure in place that helps to introduce these new hires to the culture and the brand,

There might be workflow and communication issues. In-house teams are used to each other’s workflow habits, communication techniques, and general corporate rhythms. New hires—particularly when those hires are augmented and remote—may have a harder time adapting to the established patterns. The company needs to do the necessary preparatory work with the vendor to make certain that there is little momentum lost in bringing in the new staff.

With all those considerations, is augmented staffing better and faster than regular recruiting for companies that want to scale quickly? Speed is certainly the primary advantage. While it might be problematic for a company to attempt an augmented staffing strategy on their own, by developing a relationship with a reputable vendor, a company can be almost guaranteed that it will be able to scale up or down with remarkable speed. Here are some of the other benefits of augmented staffing:

Flexibility is key. Companies during fast growth are often unaware of their needs beyond the short-term scope of specific projects. With augmented staffing, companies are afforded the flexibility of increasing or decreasing their staff at a relatively rapid rate depending on the needs during any period.

No long-term contracts or additional benefit costs. The only contract will be with the vendor, with the specifics of terms and duration dictated at the outset. There is no fear of long-term contracts with employees that would have to be honored in the event of down scaling. Also, the company will not have to pay the additional expenses that come with employee benefits and insurance.

Lower costs with no loss of quality. Staff augmentation is an affordable alternative that tends to be far less costly than direct hiring. This savings is especially true when considering taxes and other costs directly associated with direct hires.

Recruiting is left in the hands of people who recruit for a living. If the company doesn’t have a recruiting or development team in place, too much time and effort can be wasted as they try to get up to speed, canvasing and assessing the right talents for projects. With qualified vendors, the talent is already in place, evaluated and ready to go.

The company stays in charge. With augmented staffing, the project is not outsourced to a third party. Everything stays under the corporate roof as specialized talent is brought in to work on the necessary projects. Strategizing with a vendor allows for full communication of the needs and the expectations of the company, leaving little room for variation or disappointment.

As the tech industry continues to grow at an amazing pace, future staffing issues should be considered, and strategies adopted. While direct hiring offers a solution for more long-term issues that might arise, companies need to consider the benefits that augmented staffing can provide speed, flexibility, consistency, and control. Once the decision is made to pursue augmented staffing, there are additional steps that need to be taken, including the search for reputable vendors and the consideration of the legal aspects of the vendor-client relationship. But those considerations have many road maps in place by those who have already traveled the road to success. The most important element is remembering that speed and flexibility allow companies to move quickly. That consideration should always be first and foremost.

Scale your company quickly with our Staff Augmentation service.

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Augmentation vs. Outsourcing

Sometimes, corporate IT departments need technical staffing services to speed up their projects. The firms may opt for outsourcing engagement models. Two such models are staff augmentation and project outsourcing.

This article compares the two techniques and provides more information about using them. Staff Augmentation Staff augmentation hires professionals on a short-term basis. The augmented staff may join the project development whenever you need their skills. You may also employ the augmented staff to complement your in-house IT team. Indicators for Augmenting Your Project Staff augmentation may be the best option if you need extra expertise. The technique lets you be in charge of the implementation process. In this case, you oversee the hiring and vetting of the augmented staff. You also ensure that the augmented staff aligns with your in-house development team. Types of Staff Augmentation 1. Commodity augmentation This type of augmentation does not involve any specific skill set. The technique is common among manual labor and basic factory or warehouse work. 2. Skill-based augmentation Skill-based augmentation does not consider the skill level of workers. The technique is suitable for clerical, data processing, transcription, and copywriting work. 3. Highly-skilled augmentation Highly-skilled augmentation selects staff with advanced skills and significant training and experience. The skill level matters and is critical to the selection process. Highly-skilled augmentation is suitable for software engineering, contract law, and brand design tasks. Augmentation Services: There are many types of augmentation services. But choosing the best service depends on the specific needs of your company. The following are the different types of augmented staffing providers: 1. Traditional providers Traditional providers are better suited for non-critical projects. You can find such providers on TEKsystems, Experis, and Adecco sites. 2. Master vendor providers Master vendors provide significant scale commodity augmented services. The vendors include Manpower, Kelly, Aerotek, and Randstad. 3. Specialized/boutique and consulting firm providers These vendors provide skilled and skill-based augmented services. Examples include PointB, Patina, and Solutions. 4. Gig platforms Gig platforms are online platforms that provide instant access to independent workers. The platforms offer fast and flexible commodity skill-based augmentation. An example of a gig platform is Freelancer.com. 5. On-demand talent platforms On-demand platforms provide the curated and highly-skilled talent. These sites include BTG and Toptal. 6. Direct independent relationships Direct independent relationships refer to the independent contractors whom a company augments. These workers are better suited for skill-based jobs. Examples of direct independent relationships sites include TalentNet and WorkMarket. Pros and cons The benefits of staff augmentation include: Augmentation reduces the cost of hiring and onboarding new staff. You only pay for the actual hours the augmented team spends on your project. Augmentation allows you to find the most suitable professionals for your project. The technique offers seasonal and flexible employment schemes for external teams. The augmented staff may be from any geographical location. The augmented team works with your in-house IT team. Staff augmentation ensures in-house management and eliminates the need for external project managers. Cons Staff augmentation presents extra costs as the project expands while retaining internal management. Interacting and mixing with augmented staff may cause the in-house team to lose focus. In this case, there is no job separation between your team and the augmented team. Companies may incur training costs for the augmented staff members. Staff augmentation may be difficult to scale if the project’s scope changes. Outsourcing Project outsourcing involves paying for specific, prearranged outcomes. You also give up direct control over your project. The outsourced vendor works with an external team to complete the project. Meanwhile, you can focus on in-house development tasks. Indicators for Outsourcing Your Project Various factors may prompt you to outsource

your IT project. These factors include: 1. Lack of in-house developers and tech expertise Outsourcing delegates IT tasks to an external team. Your in-house team can focus on other prioritized jobs, speeding up business processes. 2. Carryovers and failed deadlines Scaling or adding a separate team may enable your project team to meet deadlines. 3. Need to optimize costs Outsourcing involves finding an experienced external manager w. The outsourcer will help you avoid administration, recruitment, and human resource overhead. 4. Difficulty augmenting the right talent and tackling complex projects Outsourcing provides a vast talent pool. You can select the outsourcer who will benefit your project more. Outsourced vendors also have access to experienced teams and potential workforce. Pros and cons of outsourcing an IT project The benefits of outsourcing an IT project are: Outsourced project managers handle the whole process. Outsourcing requires little to no training. But if your company uses legacy or proprietary systems, you may incur training costs. An outsourced team works with fixed deadlines. Your company will likely deliver its projects on time. Outsourced projects are more scalable. Outsourcing reduces management costs since the vendor handles the outsourced workers. Outsourcing is a cost-efficient way of improving your company’s technical skills. Workforce turnover does not also affect the project’s progress. Cons Outsourcing hands over most of the project’s control to the outsourced vendor. This way, you will have less control over the project’s execution. It may also be challenging to integrate the outsourced project with internal systems. In this case, you must ensure that your business aligns with the outsourced team. Outsourced vendors may also be less inclined to take on smaller projects. Staff augmentation vs. outsourcing The comparison of the pros and cons of both staffing techniques include: 1. Responsibilities and costs The augmented service provider handles the recruitment and employment of workers. The vendor is also responsible for the project’s well-being. Those who outsource their projects benefit more from the technique. The model increases employee commitment and task prioritization. 2. Work and organizational culture Outsourced projects have a better work atmosphere and organizational culture. Developers can create unique work environments that focus on knowledge exchange and cooperation. Engineers working in an augmented model may not identify with the third parties. They are likely to work for other organizations when the current project is complete. 3. Project management In the staff augmentation model, the outsourcer handles project management. An experienced in-house software development team also works on the project. This team discovers an efficient way of handling and building a partnership portfolio. Outsourcing a project means that the company has to hire an external team. The vendor establishes a single point of contact that conveniences the buyer. The vendor also takes over the entire management liability of the project. 4. Vendor relationship All successful businesses depend on mutual trust and understanding. Outsourcing a project creates a direct and permanent partnership. Staff augmentation creates a shallower partnership that focuses on providing a skilled workforce. The partnership terminates upon the project’s completion. 5. Cooperation kick-off Staff augmentation requires less kick-off time than outsourcing the entire project. The outsourcer finds the right workforce and technical experience needed for the project. The outsourcer also determines the project’s scope and functionalities. The in-house software team assembles a dedicated team for each project. The team scales the project according to the current user needs. 6. Internal IT policy Outsourcing projects creates a shortage of in-house developers. You may also end up in a loop where you cannot use past augmented staff. You need to find new developers and introduce them to their knowledge

and experience. For this reason, project outsourcing creates an unnecessary, tiresome loop. 7. Insights and knowledge Augmented developers do not know previous products, business experience, or industry insights. You cannot expect these developers to be as active as your in-house development team. Each outsourced project should be unique and personalized. The outsourced vendor creates a team that implements your project fast. The team can dig deeper into your organizational knowledge to know your actual needs. Which one should you select—Augmentation or Outsourcing? The suitable technology staffing method might not be obvious. You have to consider various factors to come up with the best model. These factors include: The anticipated staffing requirements. This factor may stem from projected business growth or contraction. Your company’s technical skills. If your employees do not have the required skill set, you must outsource the project. The company’s IT and personnel budgets. Limited budgets may limit your selection to staff augmentation. Your competitor’s position in the global competition. The project’s deadline and speed are needed to market it. You may also want to consider the individual staffing models and what they have to offer. Staff augmentation provides a flexible solution that integrates in-house and external technical expertise. The model works best for existing projects and lets you take control of each project step. IT project outsourcing lets you give up direct control of your project. This technique works best for new projects. You can also opt for project outsourcing if you lack in-house expertise. Outsourcing will help you cut costs. Your in-house programmers will also have more time to work on essential tasks. Conclusion You can integrate augmentation and outsourcing or opt for individual techniques. Either way, select an experienced vendor who can solve your current staffing challenges. After all, the goal is to make your company more competitive and as efficient as possible. Learn More about Sigma Solve’s Staff Augmentation Service.

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What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is a growing trend in the global staffing industry. But what is it exactly and how can it be used to help staff your business? That’s exactly what we will be discussing today. Staff augmentation can help businesses achieve increased scalability, target specific skill sets, save time, and even money.

In today’s article we’ll be discussing…

What is staff augmentation?

How does staff augmentation work?

Staff augmentation vs. managed service

Staff augmentation vs. independent contractors

Staff augmentation models

The benefits of staff augmentation

Are there any downsides to staff augmentation?

Staff augmentation best practices

What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is a type of outsourcing that helps companies onboard additional talent quickly. Typically, a company will get in touch with a staff augmentation provider. The staff augmentation provider will have a database of team members with specific skills that can be outsourced to fill any skill gaps in your company. Once a candidate has been found that meets the necessary requirements, they can be onboarded onto an existing team as an augmented worker as needed.

How does Staff Augmentation Work?

As just mentioned, augmented workers are managed by staff augmentation providers and these providers have in-house teams of specialists that companies can outsource according to their needs at that moment in time. For example, if they need an additional person on the development team for a particular project or to meet a targeted business goal.

Once a potential on-board has been found, the recruiting company will interview the candidate and bring on their new team member. This is not like a regular hire and the augmented worker is not a full-time employee. The staff augmentation provider will continue to manage and support their augmented staff during their deployment.

Staff Augmentation Vs. Managed Service

You may be thinking that this sounds a lot like a managed service provider but whilst it’s true that there are some similarities, it’s important not to confuse these two different staffing approaches. The principal difference between augmented and managed services is that a managed services are designed to deliver a specific deliverable or project. Augmented services, on the other hand, provide individuals to fill a particular role for a particular period of time.

Let’s consider two examples.

Example 1: Managed Services

An IT company wants to develop a new application that will improve customer retention for their client. This company should look to a managed services provider who will deliver the project in return for renumeration upon completion of the project.

Example 2: Augmented Services

An IT company is in the process of developing a new application but is short of skilled coders. This company should look to an augmented services provider who will provide specialist talent to fill that role in return for hourly renumeration.

Staff augmentation vs independent contractors

Augmented staff are also sometimes confused with employing independent contractors (e.g., freelancers). Again, there is a key difference here. When you hire a freelancer, you are responsible for the management and renumeration of that individual.

When you hire from an augmentation provider, there is a ‘middle man’, so to speak. The augmentation provider will manage the talent (this can save organizations a lot of time and hassle) and in return for this service you will pay the provider an agreed fee for their services.

Staff Augmentation Models

If you decide to use staff augmentation to hire new talent, there are a few different augmentation models you can choose from. Different augmentation providers specialize in different types of talent, so it’s important to consider what you are looking for carefully before striking a deal.

1. Commodity-based staff augmentation

The first type of staff augmentation service is commodity-based staff augmentation. These services provide high-quality but non-specialized workers. If you need to onboard workers but don’t need them to have a specific skillset then a commodity-based staff augmentation service is perfect. The workers on their database will have the necessary skills to fulfil roles in factories, warehouses, retail, manual jobs, and events.

2. Skill-based staff augmentation

Skill-based staff augmentation services provide skill-specific, but not highly specialized talent. Companies looking to hire someone to fulfil clerical work, copywriting, transcriptions, data processing, or other office-based tasks can source skilled individuals from these service providers.

3. Specialized staff augmentation

Specialized staff augmentation is about delivering hires with advanced skill sets. Talent at these agencies will be highly trained in their respective fields, whether that be law, software engineering, marketing etc., Companies looking to bring on a specialist to fulfil a specific role (writing lines of code, for example) can look to specialized staff augmentation services to find the best people.

The Benefits of Staff Augmentation

Employing augmented staff to meet your company’s needs can be highly effective. More and more businesses are benefitting from this system, saving time and money in the process. Let’s take a look at some of the top benefits that businesses can gain from staff augmentation services.

1. Reduced recruitment time

Recruiting full-time contracted staff is a lengthy and resource heavy process. Everything from preparing an advert for the vacancy to interviewing to onboarding is a feat in itself. Hiring through staff augmentation means that all of these responsibilities go to the augmentation service provider, meaning that you’ll be able to onboard your new hire quickly and easily.

2. Access to the best talent

Another benefit of using augmentation services is that you won’t have to scour your networks in want of high-quality talent. Your augmentation company will have a database of highly skilled individuals ready to go and will only recommend individuals with relevant skills and experience. Plus, since many of these hires can be made remotely, you’ll automatically have access to a far wider pool of expert individuals across the globe.

3. Specialized skill sets

One of the most advantageous aspects of staff augmentation is the flexibility it affords organizations. Say you’re looking for someone with a specific skill that you only need for a small part of an ongoing project. Because staff augmentation works on a per-project basis, you’ll be able to hire an individual with the relevant skills for that task without having to take them on full-time.

4. More flexibility and scalability

Staff augmentation makes it super easy to scale your teams up and down as needed. Instead of hiring full-time staff to fulfil the requirements of a single project (only to have to lay them off once the project is completed), teams can hire specialized employees for set-periods of time with everyone on the same page about the nature of the arrangement.

5. Quality on a budget

Finally, staff augmentation means that you get the best of both worlds – expert skills without breaking the bank. Paying full-time staff is expensive – especially if you factor in all the additional benefits contracted employees require. Augmented staff cost businesses much less but still provide highly skilled, expert work at the end of the day.

Are There any Downsides to Staff Augmentation?

There’s no doubt that staff augmentation comes with some great benefits. But that’s not to say that it is right for everyone and every project. You’ll need to think carefully about whether hiring augmented staff is suitable for your individual team needs. For example, augmented staff may not be suitable for projects that require a high level of institutional knowledge, or for long-term projects that require ongoing expertise.

Staff Augmentation Best Practices

Thinking about trying out staff augmentation for yourself? Companies looking to bring in fresh talent on a short-term basis have a lot to gain from augmented staff. Below you’ll be able to find some best practices that will help you onboard augmented hired most effectively.

Identify the specific skills you need

Before reaching out to a staff augmentation provider, make sure that you and your team are clear about the specific skills and expertise you are looking for in your potential hire. Conduct an analysis of your team and identify any skill gaps that need filling for your particular project requirements. By doing this you are far more likely to pick a suitable skill-specific match from your service provider’s database of talent.

Choose the right service provider

Remember the staff augmentation models we discussed earlier in the article? Before partnering with a staff augmentation company, make sure to do some research. There are many vendors out there offering different levels of service. Make sure that your vendor meets your requirements. Think about the type of individual you wish to hire (e.g., do they need to be highly specialized?) and consider all the technicalities of the arrangement including price, contract, and support.

Communication is key

Last, but not least make sure to keep up communications, both with your new hire and their respective augmentation vendor. Your new hire might not be a permanent member of the team but it is essential that they are equipped with all the support and information they need to work alongside your full-time employees happily and effectively. This is what produces the best results, after all.

Ready to augment your workforce?

Hiring new talent through staff augmentation is a great way to satisfy the short-term needs of a project and bring in the best talent for the job. By partnering with a staff augmentation service, you’ll save time and money whilst gaining access to a global pool of talent.

[sigmasolve]

Augmentation vs. Outsourcing

Sometimes, corporate IT departments need technical staffing services to speed up their projects. The firms may opt for outsourcing engagement models. Two such models are staff augmentation and project outsourcing.

This article compares the two techniques and provides more information about using them.

Staff Augmentation

Staff augmentation hires professionals on a short-term basis. The augmented staff may join the project development whenever you need their skills. You may also employ the augmented staff to complement your in-house IT team.

Indicators for Augmenting Your Project

Staff augmentation may be the best option if you need extra expertise. The technique lets you be in charge of the implementation process. In this case, you oversee the hiring and vetting of the augmented staff. You also ensure that the augmented staff aligns with your in-house development team.

Types of Staff Augmentation1. Commodity augmentation

This type of augmentation does not involve any specific skill set. The technique is common among manual labor and basic factory or warehouse work.

2. Skill-based augmentation

Skill-based augmentation does not consider the skill level of workers. The technique is suitable for clerical, data processing, transcription, and copywriting work.

3. Highly-skilled augmentation

Highly-skilled augmentation selects staff with advanced skills and significant training and experience. The skill level matters and is critical to the selection process. Highly-skilled augmentation is suitable for software engineering, contract law, and brand design tasks.

There are many types of augmentation services. But choosing the best service depends on the specific needs of your company.

The following are the different types of augmented staffing providers:

1. Traditional providers

Traditional providers are better suited for non-critical projects. You can find such providers on TEKsystems, Experis, and Adecco sites.

2. Master vendor providers

Master vendors provide significant scale commodity augmented services. The vendors include Manpower, Kelly, Aerotek, and Randstad.

3. Specialized/boutique and consulting firm providers

These vendors provide skilled and skill-based augmented services. Examples include PointB, Patina, and Solutions.

4. Gig platforms

Gig platforms are online platforms that provide instant access to independent workers. The platforms offer fast and flexible commodity skill-based augmentation. An example of a gig platform is Freelancer.com.

5. On-demand talent platforms

On-demand platforms provide the curated and highly-skilled talent. These sites include BTG and Toptal.

6. Direct independent relationships

Direct independent relationships refer to the independent contractors whom a company augments. These workers are better suited for skill-based jobs. Examples of direct independent relationships sites include TalentNet and WorkMarket.

Pros and consThe benefits of staff augmentation include:

Augmentation reduces the cost of hiring and onboarding new staff. You only pay for the actual hours the augmented team spends on your project.

Augmentation allows you to find the most suitable professionals for your project. The technique offers seasonal and flexible employment schemes for external teams. The augmented staff may be from any geographical location.

The augmented team works with your in-house IT team. Staff augmentation ensures in-house management and eliminates the need for external project managers.

Cons

Staff augmentation presents extra costs as the project expands while retaining internal management.

Interacting and mixing with augmented staff may cause the in-house team to lose focus. In this case, there is no job separation between your team and the augmented team.

Companies may incur training costs for the augmented staff members.

Staff augmentation may be difficult to scale if the project’s scope changes.

Outsourcing

Project outsourcing involves paying for specific, prearranged outcomes. You also give up direct control over your project. The outsourced vendor works with an external team to complete the project. Meanwhile, you can focus on in-house development tasks.

Indicators for Outsourcing Your Project

Various factors may prompt you to outsource your IT project. These factors include:

1. Lack of in-house developers and tech expertise

Outsourcing delegates IT tasks to an external team. Your in-house team can focus on other prioritized jobs, speeding up business processes.

2. Carryovers and failed deadlines

Scaling or adding a separate team may enable your project team to meet deadlines.

3. Need to optimize costs

Outsourcing involves finding an experienced external manager w. The outsourcer will help you avoid administration, recruitment, and human resource overhead.

4. Difficulty augmenting the right talent and tackling complex projects

Outsourcing provides a vast talent pool. You can select the outsourcer who will benefit your project more. Outsourced vendors also have access to experienced teams and potential workforce.

Pros and cons of outsourcing an IT projectThe benefits of outsourcing an IT project are:

Outsourced project managers handle the whole process.

Outsourcing requires little to no training. But if your company uses legacy or proprietary systems, you may incur training costs.

An outsourced team works with fixed deadlines. Your company will likely deliver its projects on time.

Outsourced projects are more scalable.

Outsourcing reduces management costs since the vendor handles the outsourced workers.

Outsourcing is a cost-efficient way of improving your company’s technical skills. Workforce turnover does not also affect the project’s progress.

Cons

Outsourcing hands over most of the project’s control to the outsourced vendor. This way, you will have less control over the project’s execution.

It may also be challenging to integrate the outsourced project with internal systems. In this case, you must ensure that your business aligns with the outsourced team.

Outsourced vendors may also be less inclined to take on smaller projects.

Staff augmentation vs. outsourcing

The comparison of the pros and cons of both staffing techniques include:

1. Responsibilities and costs

The augmented service provider handles the recruitment and employment of workers. The vendor is also responsible for the project’s well-being.

Those who outsource their projects benefit more from the technique. The model increases employee commitment and task prioritization.

2. Work and organizational culture

Outsourced projects have a better work atmosphere and organizational culture. Developers can create unique work environments that focus on knowledge exchange and cooperation. Engineers working in an augmented model may not identify with the third parties. They are likely to work for other organizations when the current project is complete.

3. Project management

In the staff augmentation model, the outsourcer handles project management. An experienced in-house software development team also works on the project. This team discovers an efficient way of handling and building a partnership portfolio.

Outsourcing a project means that the company has to hire an external team. The vendor establishes a single point of contact that conveniences the buyer. The vendor also takes over the entire management liability of the project.

4. Vendor relationship

All successful businesses depend on mutual trust and understanding. Outsourcing a project creates a direct and permanent partnership.

Staff augmentation creates a shallower partnership that focuses on providing a skilled workforce. The partnership terminates upon the project’s completion.

5. Cooperation kick-off

Staff augmentation requires less kick-off time than outsourcing the entire project. The outsourcer finds the right workforce and technical experience needed for the project. The outsourcer also determines the project’s scope and functionalities.

The in-house software team assembles a dedicated team for each project. The team scales the project according to the current user needs.

6. Internal IT policy

Outsourcing projects creates a shortage of in-house developers. You may also end up in a loop where you cannot use past augmented staff. You need to find new developers and introduce them to their knowledge and experience. For this reason, project outsourcing creates an unnecessary, tiresome loop.

7. Insights and knowledge

Augmented developers do not know previous products, business experience, or industry insights. You cannot expect these developers to be as active as your in-house development team.

Each outsourced project should be unique and personalized. The outsourced vendor creates a team that implements your project fast. The team can dig deeper into your organizational knowledge to know your actual needs.

Which one should you select—Augmentation or Outsourcing?

The suitable technology staffing method might not be obvious. You have to consider various factors to come up with the best model.

These factors include:

The anticipated staffing requirements. This factor may stem from projected business growth or contraction.

Your company’s technical skills. If your employees do not have the required skill set, you must outsource the project.

The company’s IT and personnel budgets. Limited budgets may limit your selection to staff augmentation.

Your competitor’s position in the global competition.

The project’s deadline and speed are needed to market it.

You may also want to consider the individual staffing models and what they have to offer. Staff augmentation provides a flexible solution that integrates in-house and external technical expertise. The model works best for existing projects and lets you take control of each project step.

IT project outsourcing lets you give up direct control of your project. This technique works best for new projects.

You can also opt for project outsourcing if you lack in-house expertise. Outsourcing will help you cut costs. Your in-house programmers will also have more time to work on essential tasks.

Conclusion

You can integrate augmentation and outsourcing or opt for individual techniques. Either way, select an experienced vendor who can solve your current staffing challenges. After all, the goal is to make your company more competitive and as efficient as possible.

Learn More about Sigma Solve’s Staff Augmentation Service.

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Sigma Solve Expands Digital Transformation Expertise in Partnership with Liferay

Sigma Solve and Liferay announced today that they have formed a strategic partnership, adding Liferay DXP to Sigma Solve’s service portfolio. This partnership will enhance Sigma Solve’s offerings by engaging B2B, B2C, and B2E user experiences leveraging “Best of Breed” technologies. Providing these experiences will be an important cornerstone of Sigma Solve’s continued growth in the coming years.

Sigma Solve is a technology consulting and software development company that guides clients’ vision for digitization, sales growth, system integration and business process automation. Liferay DXP will provide a feature-rich platform that puts integrated digital capabilities and innovation in the hands of businesses across a wide range of industries in North America. Sigma Solve’s ethos of digitally-transforming businesses coincides perfectly with Liferay’s DXP platform.

“We are pleased to partner with Liferay to help solve real challenges for B2B companies,” said Prerak Parikh, Co-Founder and CTO of Sigma Solve. “We chose Liferay because their open-source platform provides the perfect palette for businesses to build their digital presence. Sigma Solve is excited to use Liferay DXP to help more businesses succeed in this digital-first world.”

Liferay provides a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) that businesses can utilize to build a full-featured integrated digital businesses, incorporating application security, integration across all channels, content management, ecommerce, social tools, intranets, and more.

For Liferay, the partnership will further expand their North American partner ecosystem with another industry expert in Sigma Solve.

About Sigma Solve Sigma Solve is a technology consulting & software development company that helps and guides clients’ vision for digitization, sales growth, system integration & business process automation. Sigma Solve, Inc.’s team of over 200 developers has been serving clients in the USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia & Middle East for the past 15 years. Sigma Solve was recently named to the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the US.www.sigmasolve.com Sigma Solve, Inc. Kent Nelson knelson@sigmasolve.net +1 678 807 7994 About Liferay Liferay makes software that helps companies create digital experiences on web, mobile and connected devices. Our platform is open source, which makes it more reliable, innovative and secure. We try to leave a positive mark on the world through business and technology. Thousands of organizations in financial services, healthcare, government, insurance, retail, manufacturing and multiple other industries use Liferay.

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Wild Coffee Marketing and Sigma Solve Announce Strategic Partnership

Alignment brings full strategy, digital storytelling and tech solution capabilities to clients

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Nov 2, 2021) — Wild Coffee Marketing and Sigma Solve are pleased to announce a strategic partnership agreement that enhances the capabilities of each firm. The partnership will augment each company’s service offerings: Wild Coffee’s vision-led consulting services with marketing strategy, design and concept workshops and Sigma Solve’s leading technology services with app, website development and suite of software solutions. “This is a natural and powerful partnership for our companies,” says Amy Anderson, co-founder of Wild Coffee. “We have collaborated for four years on large-scale projects and have built an integrated, holistic approach in how we leverage the expertise of our teams. Sigma Solve’s ability to engineer digital products and platforms helps put clients on the best path for success while providing us with the ability to offer a full range of services.” “Wild Coffee’s strategy and deep ability for brand storytelling through content and design gives us an impactful advantage adding value to our client base,” says Biren Zaverchand, co-founder of Sigma Solve. “We’ve not only collaborated on projects, but also partnered on growth strategies and new business development. This alliance of shared resources makes us both stronger and more competitive in the business landscape.” As strategic partners, Wild Coffee and Sigma Solve created a blended team of diverse skill sets to take on projects as an integrated holistic team as part of this venture. Deeper capabilities within each company in core areas of expertise will help transform capabilities for digital storytelling that deliver business results. Wild Coffee Marketing Wild Coffee is a team of thinkers and doers. Working as an extension of a client’s team positioned in the c-suite, Wild Coffee brings business-first strategies to brand partners along with concept, content, creative development and UX/UI design. We bring together a diverse group of talented thought leaders with unique perspectives, skill sets, and passions. About Sigma Solve Inc Sigma Solve is a leading provider of enterprise software solutions, mobile applications, content management systems, and customer relationship management software. Sigma Solve has over a decade of experience in providing exceptional technology solutions to clients across the globe in various industries such as Manufacturing, Retail, eCommerce, Real Estate, Education, Government, and more. Whether you are looking to develop a sophisticated eCommerce shopping engine, a CRM integration, or a staff augmentation with our experts in .NET, Java, Php, Python, or React.js, our dedicated team of developers and programmers will work with you to set up a platform that aligns with your business goals.