Team Augmentation: How to Grow Your IT Team

Information technology (IT) powers most aspects of contemporary business, in and beyond the tech sector. IT teams streamline operations, improve productivity, and foster innovation across various departments. By utilizing cutting-edge technologies, businesses can achieve a competitive edge, maintain data security, and enhance their customer experience. 

Yet, many companies struggle to hire IT professionals internally, thanks to high hiring costs and a limited talent pool. For this reason, many companies turn to team augmentation services. 

Team augmentation provides the scalability today's IT-powered businesses need by turning to partner agencies to provide services as and when they're needed. This helps organizations adapt to rapidly changing market conditions, ensuring they remain flexible and responsive to new opportunities or challenges. 

Whether it's through cloud computing, data analytics, or cybersecurity, robust IT services empower companies to leverage technology strategically, driving long-term growth and success.

Looking to hire IT services? Search for industry-leading service providers on Clutch. Filter by client ratings, budget, and location to find the perfect partner for your project. 

Team Augmentation: What to Expect When Outsourcing IT Services

The key to a successful IT team augmentation project is finding the right partner for your business, which can depend on a variety of factors. Communication, expertise, skillset, and budget are all extremely important when choosing a provider. 

While identifying your specific needs is the first step to hiring an IT partner, finding potential service providers and narrowing down your options is a multi-step process. Here are are the six steps most IT augmentation projects will go through: 

1. Assessment and scoping 
2. Creating a budget 
3. Asking for referrals
4. Issuing an RFP
5. Procuring a contract
6. Implementing the solution

Assessing and Scoping IT Services

During initial discussions, it's essential to articulate your specific needs and objectives clearly. These early conversations not only lay the foundation for the scope of the project but also help the provider assess their ability to meet your expectations.

“At the start of our collaboration, we provide a detailed estimate and timeline, ensuring a clear scope, fixed price, and guaranteed outcomes,” explained Sergii Grushai, CEO and founder of Peeklogic. A well-defined scope is crucial, not only in ensuring that you and your potential partner are aligned on the goals of your project, but to accurately estimate the cost of your project, determine the timeline of your project, and guarantee that your IT team is adequately staffed. 

As you consider various team augmentation partners, regularly referring to your scope of work can help you identify which providers are able to meet your expectations and deliver everything you need. 

Creating a Budget

Budgeting for IT staff augmentation requires case-by-case calculation.The cost of augmenting your IT team can vary dramatically based on your industry, the scope of your project, team size, and more. In fact, IT staff augmentation projects on Clutch typically cost between $50,000–$199,999.  

Once you’ve found staff augmentation partners that are able to deliver on your scope of work, you need to ensure that their prices match with your budget. Whether you’re simply looking to hire someone to provide help desk support or need support managing robust technical infrastructure, you should be able to pinpoint how much your team is able to spend to augment your team.    
Flexibility and scalability are crucial aspects of the model, which typically involves the following costs:

• Personnel compensation: Team augmentation providers may source temporary or permanent staff members. It's essential to know your budget for salaries, wages, and any benefits you must provide.
• Recruitment and onboarding costs: Depending on your arrangement with the augmentation provider, there may be fees for these.
• Support costs: Any additional management, training, or supplies your additional team members will require. Accounting for these costs in advance helps you avoid surprises later.
• Contingency funds: Even the most well-researched projects can throw surprises your way. Adding a line item for unexpected costs gives you more flexibility in working with your team augmentation provider.

Match your budget against the number and type of additional staff members you expect to need. You'll also want to know the anticipated length of the project when you discuss possibilities with a provider.

Asking for Recommendations

When investing in team augmentation, you want to feel confident that your IT partner can deliver high-quality work. While thorough research can help you vet potential augmentation teams, asking trusted colleagues for recommendations is often one of the most reliable methods to ensure you hire a competent team.  

“Look for companies with a proven track record of delivering value for their customers,” said Igor Epshteyn, CEO of Coherent Solutions. “To find those companies, seek out trusted recommendations/referrals from people that have experience working with the companies.”

Colleagues who have previously worked with reputable team augmentation providers can offer valuable insights into their work ethics, reliability, and effectiveness. They can highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of these providers, which might not be evident in promotional materials or online reviews. 

Moreover, these referrals often provide firsthand experiences related to project turnaround times, quality of deliverables, and the responsiveness of the providers to client needs. By leveraging this network of recommendations, you can drastically reduce the time and resources spent on vetting potential partners, enabling a more streamlined selection process.

Issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP)

A request for proposal is an open project announcement that invites providers to submit bids. Submitting an RFP allows you to cast a wider net and saves you the time of sharing the same information multiple times.

A typical tech RFP includes detailed descriptions of the following:

• Project overview: Basic details about your project and what you need from vendors
• Company summary: Your target audience and the products or services you provide
• Target outcome: The business goals that will drive your project
• Scope of work: A detailed description of what you need from vendors, including any software, hardware, or programming languages staff members need to be familiar with
• General timeline: How long the project should take and any critical deadlines
• Budget guide: An overview of how much you expect to spend on the project, researched to align with industry norms
• Contact information: Your preferences for vendor communication with contact details for key stakeholders
• Evaluation criteria: The guidelines you will use to choose a service provider

Including criteria holds you and the service provider accountable for a fair and balanced process.

Procuring a Contract

Once you've compared service providers and chosen the best fit, the next step is to have them send you a contract. It's crucial to understand that the contract serves as the foundation for your partnership with the IT team augmentation provider, ensuring that all expectations and deliverables are clearly defined and agreed upon. 

Reviewing the contract carefully allows your legal team to verify compliance with your company's standards and regulations, such as data protection and intellectual property rights. Additionally, it's important to clarify terms related to payment schedules, project timelines, and performance metrics to avoid misunderstandings later on. 

Implementing the Solution

A well-written contract should give you a clear picture of the process in the future, but ongoing communication is essential for a successful partnership. Engaging in open dialogue with the provider during this stage can be beneficial; it not only resolves ambiguities but also fortifies a collaborative relationship moving forward. By establishing a mutual understanding early on, you are setting the stage for a successful and productive partnership. 

Keep the lines of communication open, and don't be afraid to bring up any concerns with your provider. They're equally invested in the project going well.

How to Tell It's Time to Augment Your IT Team

As companies navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving business landscape, the flexibility of team augmentation allows organizations to respond swiftly to emerging challenges and opportunities. “[S]caling is essential to remain competitive and innovative if strategic goals require new skills or specializations,”  said Anna Stolarz, co-owner and COO at WingedIT. At what point, though, is augmenting your team absolutely necessary? 

Identifying the precise moment when you should look to hire an IT partners involves assessing both internal and external factors impacting your business. 

“To scale your team effectively, key indicators include increased client demand, capacity constraints, and financial readiness,” said Stolarz. “If your team is consistently overburdened or projects are exceeding current capacity, it’s time to consider expansion.”

Often, the need arises when your existing team is stretched too thin, leading to diminishing productivity and morale, as well as the financial readiness of your team. 

Here are some additional situations where augmentation may benefit your organization: 

• You need to expand your team quickly 
• You require a specific skillset 
• You need to minimize risk 
• You need oversight for new projects 

You Need to Expand Your Team Quickly

SHRM reports indicate an average time-to-hire of 44 days. For specialized tech roles, that number could be even higher, potentially delaying your project. Staff augmentation lets you grow your IT team efficiently and reach productivity faster.

You Require a Specific Skillset

IT team augmentation providers invest time and money in sourcing diverse tech talent. Whether you're developing an innovative product, moving your tech stack forward, or solving a niche problem, your provider can match you with the right staff.

You Need to Minimize Risk

When a small mistake could have severe consequences for your company and stakeholders, team augmentation gives you peace of mind. Your augmentation provider will identify and recruit professionals with the knowledge you need to do things right, no matter how niche the skill set is.

You Need Oversight for New Projects

Starting a project on the right foot is the best way to avoid costly errors. With team augmentation, you can quickly onboard a project manager with the expertise to lead your team or department as it ventures into new territory.

Staff Augmentation vs Managed Services

Staff augmentation differs from managed services, which some organizations may be more familiar with. Managed IT services are tech processes and tasks that a company outsources to a specialized provider. The provider handles all aspects of the assigned task, taking it off the client's 
plate.

With staff augmentation, you don't need to hand your tech processes over to an external organization. Experts come to you, and you retain full control of operations.

What Services Do IT Augmentation Teams Provide?

IT team augmentation providers offer various services to meet your staffing needs. Options include: 

• Temporary staff: You receive short-term staff based on your project requirements, whether you need an entire team or a small number of specialists.
• Hire placement: When you need in-house talent but can't take the time to recruit and screen, a team augmentation provider uses your specifications to find and pre-screen candidates. They'll typically send you the most qualified candidates for final interviews.
• Talent sourcing: Many team augmentation providers maintain databases of pre-vetted, specialized IT professionals. They match your needs with candidates in their pool, potentially saving you weeks of searching.
• Staff onboarding: When candidates are unfamiliar with your process, getting them up to speed can take up to a year. Team augmentation providers streamline that process by connecting you with people who have the skills and training to get started quickly.
• Project management: Overseeing an IT project often requires a specialized skill set, including familiarity with niche technologies. Team augmentation providers connect you with people who will understand your needs.

Team augmentation providers may have a specialized focus or offer multiple types of service.

Augment Your IT Team With Skilled Specialists

In today's fast-paced technological landscape, team augmentation emerges as an exemplary strategy for rapidly expanding and strengthening your IT team.

By leveraging team augmentation, organizations can access a diverse pool of highly skilled professionals without the lengthy recruitment process associated with traditional hiring. This approach not only accelerates the onboarding of expertise but also ensures that companies can adapt swiftly to fluctuating demands and project requirements. 

Clutch partners with team augmentation companies across the world. Browse providers by location and read reviews from verified hiring companies, then connect directly with the company. Browse top providers today to get started.