Addressing talent shortages is one of the most common challenges found among businesses all across the globe. There is no denying the fact that the technological landscape is becoming fierce day in and day out, compelling businesses to stay relevant while keeping their money intact. Quite a vice-versa situation, right? You need to hire more professionals, but at the same time, manage to reduce the operational costs. Is this even possible? Hell yeah! Have you ever come across concepts such as offshore staff augmentation?
Quite known for its transformative and revolutionary approach, offshore staff augmentation is something that everyone seems to be gushing about, but only a few of them are able to implement it in the correct manner. Fret not, the following post can assist you in having a better understanding of the following concept and succeed in the increasingly digital-first economy.
Before we get into what offshore staff augmentation is, it’s time to understand why there is a need for offshore staff augmentation in the first place. The concept basically brings a skilled bunch of professionals on board, and the best part is, you no longer have to take the stress of looking out as well as maintaining full-time hires. It doesn’t really matter whether you require short-term or long-term support; the following approach must be taken into consideration if you are willing to gain a competitive edge in a shorter span of time. So let me elaborate regarding what it is like choosing an offshore outstaffing vendor.
What is Offshore Staff Augmentation?
Much like dedicated teams, choosing from freelance platforms and offshore staff augmentation is one of the leading hiring models that successfully surpasses every challenge faced with traditional outsourcing. Choosing the model means IT companies are supposed to get in touch with experienced developers as well as the entire development teams residing overseas, just to take care of those loopholes and challenges that cannot be handled successfully by the in-house staff members. By choosing offshore staff augmentation, you are integrating external talent into your existing as well as numerous ongoing operations.
Here, developers are chosen on the basis of different project needs and requirements, and of course, they have to work along with internal teammates just as any other recruit or local hire would. So if you are one of those companies seeking ways to quickly scale up the workforce at the same time maintaining oversight as well as alignment with the internal process, then this is it.
I am pretty sure that, much like offshore staff augmentation, you might think of considering nearshore and onshore outstaff models as well. We won’t be delving much into the details here, but nearshore IT outstaffing is said to be when you choose local programmers who are residing in the same time zone as your country, just to ensure smooth communication and coordination, mainly because of the similarity in culture and language. On the contrary, when you hire professionals from within the country or region, irrespective of the IT skills, it is called onshore outstaffing. Here, everything seems to be well-aligned in terms of communication, culture and operations can be conducted in a smooth manner.
In addition to both of them, there is hybrid IT outstaffing, where you get a mix of nearshore, onshore and offshore teams to receive the best in terms of cost, speed and control. However, this means you have ample room for scalability and flexibility.
Now you must be wondering how offshore staff augmentation is different from traditional outsourcing. Well, it’s completely different. I mean, unlike traditional ways, offshore staff augmentation makes sure to maintain direct control over team members and ensures the overall project execution is done in a smooth manner. Now, those who think augmented staff members are external contractors, then you are mistaken. In fact, they are dedicated team members who make sure to conduct seamless alignment with the company’s current culture, as well as objectives.
Top Scenarios Where You Need to Watch Out for Offshore Staff Augmentation
Access to Global Talent Pool
One of the obvious reasons to consider offshore staff augmentation is that you can receive instant access to a global talent pool. Yes, when you try hiring professionals from the same locality or country, you might end up exploring fewer options, whereas when you choose offshore staff augmentation, it means you have quick and easy access to a global talent pool. Here you can successfully tap into specialised knowledge and experience from different regions and cultures. So finding the right talent with the right skills is no longer a concern.
Cost-Efficient Approach
Another significant reason for considering offshore staff augmentation is that it happens to be one of the most cost-effective approaches to pick. Yes, several studies have revealed that companies choosing offshore staff augmentation as their key approach can save upto 40-60% in terms of development and maintenance.
In addition to a reduction in expenses related to salary, you can save a lot in regard to hardware, office space, infrastructure, and other irrelevant overhead expenses. The cost optimisation aspect certainly enables organisations to reallocate their existing resources and eliminates the need for hiring full-time employees. So allocating resources in quite an efficient manner is what offshore staff augmentation aims at.
Here, you get to kill two birds with one arrow, focus on growth and innovation, while at the same time not spending money extravagantly.
Mitigate Unwanted Risks
Another benefit offered by offshore staff augmentation is seamless mitigation of unwanted risks. Yes, you guessed it right! Here, you can save yourself from sinking by overcommitting resources, especially if the company lacks in terms of capacity. Though these aspects are pretty basic, they do leave a severe impact, and the company might end up facing unwanted repercussions.
Here, it is possible to get instant access to skilled talent, and this doesn’t mean you have to face or deal with full-time hires as well as address their needs every time. Whatever the situation is with your tech partner, your business will always remain agile and adaptable.
Enhance Flexibility and Productivity.
The next reason to pick offshore staff augmentation is that it ensures enhanced flexibility and productivity. Since here resource allocation is done with utmost care, it means the overall operational efficiency will increase and so will the productivity. Moreover, it is possible to ask your IT vendor to scale the team up and down, though this depends on the needs of the ongoing project. The following approach does assist in mitigating the risk of decreased productivity.
Experimenting with New Niches within the Technological Realm
Looking around for relevant skills, especially when you have mapped out your next development project thoroughly, is a pretty common scenario, but there are times when companies are willing to try out new niches, especially the skills the teams haven’t mastered yet. Of course, you can upskill, but you can even think of engaging external experts who have tried these niches and end up delivering pre-determined outcomes.
Benefits of the Offshore Staff Augmentation Model
High Scalability and Flexibility
Offshore staff augmentation offers several benefits, one of which is extreme scalability and flexibility. Yes, here it is possible to scale teams up and down as per need and requirements. In today’s ever-changing times, having higher flexibility and scalability is extremely important just to take care of uncertain growth curves as well as ever-changing priorities.
Access to Top Talents
The next benefit of considering offshore staff augmentation is that you can have instant access to top talent. Yes, you get a wider pool of knowledge and expertise, which might not be easily accessible within the country. Hiring skills overseas means you get to execute your ideas and speed up the development process in no time.
Streamlined Management
Businesses, whether it’s a startup or a well-established one, are in need of streamlined management. By choosing a helping hand, you can not just speed up ongoing projects but also take the unnecessary load off your plate.
Reduce Admin-related Hassles
Managing full-time employees can be a huge concern since it comes with lots and lots of responsibilities, such as payroll, taxes, insurance, and HR management. All these headaches will be taken care of by the service providers, which means your core team is free to focus on more complicated and core tasks.
Focus on Core Competencies
Another benefit of considering offshore staff augmentation is that the business can absolutely focus on core competencies. Lots and lots of time and energy can be saved and directed in other ways, such as customer acquisition, business development, and fundraising. In addition, your tech teams will no longer have to be distracted.
Top Offshore Staff Augmentation Models
Project-based augmentation model
If you need to conduct a project that focuses on specific deliverables and needs to define timelines well in advance? If yes, then the project-based augmentation model has to be your choice. With pre-defined timelines and accurate success criteria, nothing feels more intimidating, right? Well, what if I mention the model provides accurate cost predictability? Yes, and in case the project is discrete and features well-defined requirements, resource optimisation is possible.
Choosing project-based arrangements means you achieve great flexibility and seamlessly engage different specialists for various project phases while maintaining budget control. So if you have created a well-defined scope and timeline, then this is it! The key is to choose a tech partner who is willing to offer transparent communication, regular updates, and focus on project success via engagement.
Dedicated team model
The next offshore staff augmentation model to pick is the dedicated team model. As the name implies, this model emphasises developing long-term or, should I say, dedicated partnerships irrespective of both the companies residing far away. Sooner or later, these offshore tech partners become an integral member of the organisation’s workforce. Dedicated teams are supposed to evolve deep into your business; in other words, they must have a deeper understanding of your business processes, company culture, and strategic objectives, not right away, but definitely over a period of time.
The model offers complete stability, consistency, and enhanced productivity via sustained collaboration and knowledge accumulation. The developers need to thoroughly integrate into your ongoing project and make sure to remain aligned with your current goals.
Extended Team model
The last but certainly not the least one is the extended team model. The offshore extended team functions as a core extension of your in-house staff. The model solely emphasises working towards shared goals. You see, by choosing the following offshore staff augmentation model, you can have direct control over the extended team’s day-to-day tasks and integrate them into the ongoing workflows as well as communication channels.
Unlike other models, here, offshore team members aren’t independent or work solely, but they contribute well towards your team, the existing one, in terms of structure and strategy. All the project management and coordination is under your control, whereas the tech partner is responsible for bringing offshore specialists on board.
Seems quite fascinating, doesn’t it! Despite these benefits and advantages, offshore staff augmentation can be pretty challenging and daunting. So make sure you are close enough with your tech partner and be double-sure of your choice so that you no longer have to face the wrath of slower project progress, missed deadlines, lack of synchronisation and more.
In addition to this, communication barriers are often found, which lead to huge disappointment and remorse. Make sure you are on the same page with the end client; for that, you need to constantly remain in touch with them. Also, keep the culture of feedback open.
Conclusion
So that’s all for now! This is what offshore staff augmentation is. Now, if anyone asks you regarding the term, I am sure you have a lot more to say instead of giving any kind of vague and unflattering answer. Here, any successful approach happens due to a solid partnership, so make sure you do end up choosing a reliable offshore tech partner who has a knack for what he or she is doing, as well as some experience in your project.
Offshore staff augmentation is a sure-shot way if you want to address both immediate staffing needs and long-term organisational growth objectives. I hope you did find the following post worth taking into account. In case you have any kind of doubts or queries, feel free to mention them in the comment section below.
So, are you willing to bring skilled professionals on board without the need to watch out for full-time hires? This is it! Time to choose a reliable augmentation team and ensure that you make them feel like an extension of your in-house staff. Wish you all the very best. I am sure you will manage to conduct a successful offshore staff augmentation venture. Thank you for your valuable time.
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