Need Extra Hands? Understand the Different Types of Staff Augmentation

Imagine your company is building a house. You’ve got the foundation laid, but you need specialists for the plumbing, electrical work, and roofing. You wouldn’t hire full-time plumbers, electricians, and roofers if you only needed them for this one project, right? That’s where technical staff augmentation comes in. It’s like renting skilled workers for a specific period, allowing you to fill gaps in your team without the long-term commitment of hiring.

But staff augmentation isn’t just one thing. There are different types, each suited for different needs.

1. Skill-Based Augmentation: Getting the Right Expert for the Job

This is like hiring a specialist plumber for a leaky pipe. You need someone with a very specific skill set, and you only need them for a specific task or project.3

• Example: Your software company needs to add a fancy new payment feature to your app. Instead of hiring a full-time payment expert, you bring in a freelancer who specializes in payment gateway integrations for a few months.

2. Team-Based Augmentation: Bringing in a Whole Crew

Sometimes, you don’t just need one person; you need a whole team. This is like hiring a construction crew to build a room addition.

• Example: Your company is launching a new app and needs a complete development team. You partner with a software development company that provides a team of remote software engineer developers, designers, and project managers for the project.

3. Location-Based Augmentation: Finding Talent Across Borders

This is about finding talent where it makes the most sense, whether it’s in a neighboring country (nearshore) or across the globe (offshore).

• Example: Your tech company in the US hires software developers from a company in Eastern Europe to save on labor costs.

4. Project-Based Augmentation: Workers for a Specific Task4

This is very similar to skill-based augmentation, but the workers are hired for the entire lifespan of a project.

• Example: a company that builds bridges hires a group of specialized engineers for the duration of the bridge-building project. Once the bridge is finished, the engineers are released.

5. Long-Term Augmentation: Extended Support

Sometimes, you need ongoing support for a longer period. This is like hiring a long-term contractor to handle ongoing maintenance.

• Example: A growing online store hires remote customer support agents to handle the increasing volume of customer inquiries.
• Another Example: A company with older software systems hires staff to maintain and update those systems for the foreseeable future.

Why is this important?

Technical Staff augmentation gives businesses the flexibility to quickly scale their teams, access specialized skills, and manage costs effectively.5 It’s a powerful tool for companies looking to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced business environment. Essentially, it allows companies to be agile and adaptable to changing needs.