Download Choosing the Right Outsourcing Model: IT Staff Augmentation vs Managed Services and more Study notes Information Technology in PDF only on Docsity! IT Staff Augmentation Vs Managed Services: Which one is for you? Among the few sectors, IT has been a frontrunner and the biggest beneficiary of the outsourcing model. The two most popular solutions– staff augmentation services and managed services are commonly used to overcome IT talent shortages. IT staff augmentation services, though not new but are witnessing rapid growth today. At USD 66.5 billion in value, the demand for knowledgeable and experienced IT staff is growing rapidly. The question that confronts most leaders is which part of the information technology function should be outsourced or which model of outsourcing will work better for the business. Will employing IT staff augmentation or managed services give strategic advantage? There is no straightforward way of handling these concerns. However, it’s better to understand the advantages and disadvantages to arrive at an informed decision. IT Staff Augmentation Services IT staff augmentation as the name suggests is the use of the outside talent on a short or long-term basis to overcome skill shortage, meet project requirements and deploy qualified IT professionals to secure the right talent for the right job. For every organization, hiring IT staff augmentation companies is an operational as well as strategic decision. Making way for flexible staffing strategies staff augmentation consultation can empower a business to pick up the people who are best suited for the job and grow their augmented teams at scale as per the needs. Advantages of Staff Augmentation 1. Staff augmentation solutions help enterprises to reduce their recruitment and employee costs. 2. Due to easy, and on-demand scalability, the model is gaining popularity. Companies can scale as they want without worrying about IT resources as per the demands of the project. 3. The costs and liabilities of new full-time hires are reduced. This means less HR, finance, and admin time too. The hiring process becomes effortless as the responsibility of the retention of IT talent—from skill upgradation, selection and retention, and other perks are borne by the staff augmentation companies. As soon as the need arises, IT outsourcing with an augmentation model lends you ready access to the talent tech pool with the option of hiring from across the globe. 4. Finding the right person for the right job is not easy, especially in the resource deficit and competitive IT sector. With IT staff augmentation services, the stress of finding the right talent every time for the organization reduces considerably. 5. Keeping abreast of the latest in technology is not easy for any organization. But if you avail of the staff augmentation consultation, the effort and resources needed to upgrade will reduce significantly. The onus of securing advanced certifications and updating knowledge will fall on the knowledge partner, in this case, the IT staff augmentation company. Managed Services Another most popular model adopted by companies worldwide today is managed services. According to Gartner, a managed service provider provides services such as network, application, infrastructure, and security, through ongoing and regular support and active administration on customers’ premises, using their own data center for hosting or availing a third-party service for the data center. In this framework, you pay an agreed upon fee to one of the chosen staff augmentation companies and the responsibility of the project rests completely with the outsourcing company. They run the entire show—from the team composition, and project management to the processes. The end-to-end responsibility of the software development and IT works lies in the chosen vendor. There is no necessity to provide any tech expertise. It is basically macro-level supervision, as day-to-day operations and development work is taken care of by the managed services provider. Advantages of managed services 1. Working in a global environment is demanding and challenging. Meeting stiff deadlines and managing your infrastructure and network costs while keeping up with different time zones can take a toll. The in-house IT department may also not be comfortable working on irregular hours. Also, the overall costs comprising 24/7 network and infrastructure outgo and compensation for employees may not justify