Staff Augmentation

 

In this outsourcing model companies hire resources on contract bases when they anticipate short term capability deficiency or anticipate work load to increase for a specified duration of time (E.g. support deficiency).

This model is ideal to address companies’ challenges like missing capability, skill and unexpected spikes in projects.

Some companies transition the job of finding resources for staff augmentation to a service provider.

Advantages:

• Company has complete ownership and control over resources and business processes
• The cost of hiring resources to meet specific requirement for a limited period of time is less compared to hire and maintain resource on permanent basis
• It has a simple contract model and cost structure
• Comparatively low risk
• Flexibility to scale up and down quickly
• There is negligible impact on operating model

This model offers lots of advantages when the resources are required on temporary basis. However, on long term basis it loses its advantages

Disadvantages:

• Increase in number of resources and contract may increase cost and make this model expensive
• Training period might be long compared to actual work done by the resource
• No proper framework of knowledge retention
• Contracting service provider to find resources may add additional cost. Similarly  finding resources and recruitment process will be added responsibility for the company