What to do when you need to increase your productivity but don’t want to go through long-term recruitment campaigns? If it sounds familiar, I'm sharing my interview with custom software development compnany, NCube, you probably want to make a strategic step of which corporation type would work best for you. Let’s talk about alternatives such as remote teams and staff augmentation.
Both strategies are suited for instances when:
- your goal is to add some expertise you don’t have in-house;
- you’re looking to save on development without compromising quality;
- you’re looking for people with unique skillsets, knowledge of certain cultures or markets.
Remote team
Remote team of software developers is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a team operating remotely from the central office. The team members may be located in a different country, state or city, but they are usually co-located. Such teams work from the office, full-time. A remote team can lend a hand with any task – from handling emails and incoming calls to designing space habitats concepts for Mars.
How does this model work?
- There is a client that needs to build a dedicated team from scratch
- The client requests a vendor in a hosting country to provide the staff and host a team.
- The client usually pays a fee for a full-time employee
- They sign up a formal agreement and an NDA
- Apart from daily communication, the leaders of the core team visit their remote team or arrange headquarters visits for their remotees.
Staff augmentation
Staff augmentation steps in when there is a skill gap in your team that hampers project development. Unlike hiring a permanent team, staff augmentation adds resources to your existing team on a temporary basis. The hires may join the team in-house or work remotely – either way the client receives the employees and is fully responsible for the result of the effort.
How does this model work?
- The client hires a firm that provides staffing
- The firm estimates the clients existing team and identifies skills missing
- Then the vendor recruits and provides the client with the list of best candidates
- The client makes the hiring decision and signs a contract with the firm
Answering the question “What model is the best fit for my project?” we usually leave it up to the client to decide. Despite they are similar for the most part, their functions differ. Communication with the remote team is what can make or break the success of the project. On the other hand, with staff augmentation, it’s easier to keep the team and their progress in check as the hires work in the vicinity of the client. There is a matter of price – it’s cheaper to hire a team in a cost-effective location. Doing so reckons investments in communication and management tools.
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