Before we start with giving you 5 tips about IT staff augmentation let us first explain you what staff augmentation exactly is. Staff augmentation is an outsourcing strategy where you hire developers from another agency, in many cases a software development company, to extend your own team. For example, if your work load increases suddenly or if you miss certain skills in the team IT staff augmentation can provide you a perfect solution. 

When you realise that you need an extra developer or maybe multiple developers, and you know that hiring new employees is not the right strategy, you can start with staff augmentation. To make it work it’s important that you have your own internal development team which will be connected with the developer you attract via staff augmentation.

If you make your requirements clear you can reach out to companies that provide IT staff augmentation services. For this article we spoke with Lucia Facchin from the company CodigoDelSur based in Uruguay. They have around 80 developers of which roughly 40 developers are actively working on a staff augmentation project. In total, they served 300+ clients from all over the world, many of those being staff augmentation projects.

Now that you have a brief understanding it’s time to start with the actual 5 tips that can help you with IT staff augmentation.

Tip 1 - Check the timezones 

All over the world many companies provide staff augmentation services. On our website you can see an overview of the software companies that provide IT staff augmentation services. By checking providers on a global level you can potentially benefit from global prices and find the right developer from a larger talent pool. However, if you look for this service on a global level it’s important to keep the timezones in mind. The developer you hire will work in his/her own timezone and therefore it’s important to see if there is overlap with the hours your in-house team is working on the project. By having this overlap you can make sure the collaboration goes well. 

Tip 2 - Review the agency carefully
While it is important to check the resume of the developer which you want to hire, it’s is also important to check the agency from which you are hiring the developer. By hiring developers from good software development company you have an extra security because the developer always can get support from his agency. Besides, the developer also had to go through the selection process of the agency itself. Having a strong agency behind the developer is also a big advantage if you compare this with hiring freelancers for example who doen’t have the back up of an organisation. In the supplier search on Your Software Supplier you can find an overview of the company profiles, for example that of CodigoDelSur, which should give you a good first impression.

Tip 3 - Create a smooth on boarding process
When you hire an external developer it’s important to get the developer up and running as soon as possible. By having a good on boarding process you can make sure that developer can start coding straight away and adding more value to your company. When possible try to share as much information with the developer up front such as documentation, wireframes, designs, user stories and more. A meeting with the developer before the actual starting date can also be a good strategy.

Tip 4: Check the availability of the developer
Via staff augmentation you can hire developers on a flexible basis. This means that developers regularly shift from projects. If you want to hire a developer it’s wise to check the actual availability of the developer you want to hire. Once you know when the developer can start you can check if this fits within your own planning and developments internally.

Tip 5 - Talk with agencies
Get in contact with agencies that provide staff augmentation services. You can learn a lot from them since they have the actual knowledge and experience with this service. If you want to know more about staff augmentation you can reach out to Lucia Facchin who can give you a free consult.

That’s it.

Do you want to know more about the agencies that provide staff augmentation service on Your Software Supplier like CodigoDelSur?

Then you can share your project here and we are more than happy to assist you with the selection of your supplier.