As a business owner, you know that having robust IT systems is crucial. However, accessing top-notch IT professionals who can manage and support them can be challenging, leaving you to explore alternative solutions.
Based on a 2023 survey by ManPower Group, 77% of employers globally express challenges in acquiring the necessary skilled talents. Notably, within this percentage, a substantial 78% specifically pertains to the IT sector.
This is why IT staff augmentation can be a game-changing strategy for your organization.
What is IT staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation, or workforce augmentation, involves temporarily increasing a company's workforce with outside contractors to meet specific project needs. In the context of IT, staff augmentation can be used to fill a variety of roles, such as software developers, system engineers, network engineers, and IT security specialists.
IT staff augmentation is a strategic approach that addresses the manpower gap faced by business owners like you who are seeking to stay competitive in the technology-driven marketplace.
What are the main advantages of IT staff augmentation?
Here are the top benefits of staff augmentation and some examples of how staff augmentation can be particularly valuable in IT.
Fill temporary staffing gaps
IT staff augmentation lets you tap into a pool of experts who possess the exact skills you require. Need a cybersecurity specialist for a few months? Or a data scientist to analyze your company's data? You can find and onboard these professionals quickly, without having to hire full-time employees.
Consider a healthcare institution navigating through flu season. With patient appointments, medical records, and critical systems to manage, their internal IT department finds themselves swamped with an unusually high volume of support tickets. To ensure seamless operations and patient care, they opt to enhance their capabilities through IT staff augmentation.
Recognizing the need for immediate assistance, they partner with a specialized managed IT services provider (MSP) focused on healthcare. The MSP brings in a team of experienced healthcare IT talents to collaborate with the internal IT department and help manage the workload.
Get access to specialized skills
IT staff augmentation gives your business access to professionals knowledgeable in cutting-edge technologies, methodologies, and trends. This ensures that your projects are managed by individuals with up-to-date knowledge and skill sets.
For example, if you are developing a new software application, you can use staff augmentation to bring in experienced software developers with necessary skills and experience.
Test and deploy new technologies
IT staff augmentation enables businesses to test and deploy new technologies with confidence. Third-party experts bring exhaustive knowledge to the table, ensuring seamless testing, implementation, and deployment processes. And with their support, you can minimize risks and expedite the adoption of innovations that can give you a competitive edge.
If you are considering implementing a new cloud-based IT infrastructure, for instance, you can use staff augmentation to help you with the testing and deployment process.
Become more flexible
IT projects can vary greatly in scope and duration. With staff augmentation, you can quickly adjust the size of your team based on the project's needs. Whether it's developing a new software application or setting up a network infrastructure, you can bring in specialized IT professionals for as long as you need them.
Suppose you operate an eCommerce company gearing up for the holiday shopping season and are anticipating a surge in online traffic. So, you decide to optimize your website for better performance. Instead of burdening your already stretched in-house IT team, you can opt to augment their capabilities with third-party expertise. You can quickly onboard experienced web developers and network engineers through staff augmentation to address the increased demand.
Save on manpower costs
Lastly, staff augmentation helps you avoid the costs of hiring and training full-time IT experts by bringing in external professionals for specific projects. This way, you get the skills you need without the long-term financial commitment.
Partner with Healthy IT and benefit from a strategic integration of external IT expertise. Schedule a consultation with us today.