IT Staff Augmentation vs. IT Consulting Services- Which is Better For You?

Business in recent times has gone beyond conventional practices. So if you want to ramp up software delivery solutions but lack both vision and execution, don’t drop your plan here. Perhaps you have that opportunity in the form of the most preferred solutions: So, let’s understand which one will win the race?

Staff Augmentation or Project-based IT Consulting?

What Is Staff Augmentation?

  Image Source:  Google

Staff Augmentation is a prevalent practice in the software industry for staffing a project to meet business goals. It is a model that checks the current personnel, and evaluating personnel needs is necessary. 

Staff augmentation optimizes existing staff(outsourcing) on a contractual basis to increase your organization’s capability. The only way it differs from standard recruiting as it involves only short-term assets/goals similar to outsourcing. There have been a massive demand for IT staff augmentation services among software development companies to catch up with competitors.

---

---

Pros & Cons Of IT Staff Augmentation:

Pros of Staff Augmentation:

•  Staff augmentation turns out to be soft on company investment since you’re only liable to pay temporarily until completion of the job. But on the other hand, the privilege to save time and resources on in-house staff development and production.
•  It is an ideal strategy to handle when the need for handling and staff needs resources. So IT staff augmentation aids staff control. 
•  It benefits businesses from staff augmentation since companies can recruit the requisite specialist staff to support their in-house team on any project.
• With staff augmentation, you have the upper hand to accomplish your projects with more efficiency. You get experienced in-house developers at your liked times and on your selected tasks. You have a direct approach to them in any unforeseen situation, and they will come up with instant feedback.
• The internal team finds the staff augmenting model less risky than outsourcing a model. It implies that supplementing the current workforce with a few people is less risky than complete project outsourcing. 

Although staff augmentation gives you many advantages, it has some disadvantages too, So software development firms looking for IT Staff companies augmentation companies are familiar with the cons listed below.

Cons of Staff Augmentation: 

• Even if you are planning to hire staff for temporary purposes, it would need to ramp up IT infrastructure and equipment like desk computers, badges, etc. As a result, it often inflates the company’s expenses.
• In terms of price and hourly rates, staff augmentation is often higher than project-based consulting.
• Without proper training, no resource management is successful in causing a shift in the company’s processes, tools, and ethics. Furthermore, training a new professional often results in management overhead.

---

Also Read: What is Staff Augmentation? How It Can Boost Startups, Enterprises, and Entrepreneurs in 2021?

---

 

  When to choose Staff Augmentation?

One of the classic examples where staff augmentation is successful:

• Staff augmentation is often handy in dealing with situations of talent crunch or expediting project delivery. Let’s take a hypothetical situation, you signed up for a project, and everything goes well in the first stage. However,  you realize that the current crop of talent is not sufficient— to handle project complications. You can’t rely on local recruitment in that scenario, which takes time to recruit even 5-15 experts. That’s where IT staff augmentation services become handy since local recruitment is not currently feasible. 
• In another scenario, you are working with a team to deliver high-end products. However, if your organization suddenly faces problems of attrition/absenteeism, then it turns out to be worthy. However, you still can’t rely on local recruitments since you’re looking for specialized talent. Then, in that case, the augmenting staff is the perfect solution.

What are Consulting Services?

Image Source: Google

 

Consulting Services 

Consulting services, also referred to as a customized model for a specific purpose in the form of permanent supervision, feedback, and a high degree of organization adaption. It comprises external monitoring of the company’s non-profile network and beneficial in addressing the internal concerns of the organization. There is no need for HR, IT, or intervention of the department.

Consulting services are almost the opposite of staff augmentation.

Pros and cons of consulting services

Similar to staff augmentation, IT consulting services give you — both advantages and disadvantages of consulting services. Here are the benefits of consulting services.

Pros of Consulting Services:

• Since developers are working remotely, there is no need for any desks or office equipment. That means fewer expenses will get the job done.
• The first and foremost advantage of consulting service is to save the time of clients. In addition, availing of the resources would relieve the company of additional time and financial risks.
•  The consulting services take full command of the management process and are responsible for managing the infrastructure better.
• Software development practices are always prone to security risks and cyberattacks. A consulting service provider helps minimize the risk and threats before causing any damage or result in lengthy or network failure. 

• When choosing an IT consulting firm, you employ a dedicated team with in-depth knowledge of company needs. In addition, a well-reputed IT consulting company has expertise in various IT domains to ensure the project leverages the advantages of efficient technologies on the market.

Moreover, it drew flak from some quarters in the form of :

---

---

Cons of Consulting Services:

• If you have subscribed to a project-based consulting firm, their developers work on the hours of their company. Since they could be busy on other projects & several tasks lined- up, there are fewer chances that they’ll respond right away.
• IT consultants often develop suggestions like TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES, which is not always sound advice/or feasible. They may ask you to invest in the latest technologies to keep up with the latest technology enhancements.
• You should be ready to bear the short-term or unforeseen expenses as IT consultants charge you on a pro-rata(hourly basis) basis. However, you can still negotiate and make a deal with those you have subscribed to before. Still, you can rely on others, particularly if you already have a good relationship with them.

When Opt Consulting Services?

Image Source: Google

If you’ve experienced down the line, you’ll keep learning when to look for consulting.  But, there is no such—- Hard and Fast— rule if you’re looking for top IT consulting companies in India as one can’t make accurate predictions—— when to take external help while conducting a thorough review of the current team. 

Before you go ahead with your decision, you first have to define the— gray and dark spots(strengths & limits) of the existing unit.

When deciding on IT consulting companies, budget is also an essential factor to subscribe best in the business. Therefore, you should have a researched-based idea about your potential spending.

You should understand how many bucks you’ll need to invest, so you can figure out whether you’ll be able to get the funding required to complete your project. Please take a look at these scenarios before choosing any consulting services.

Let’s conclude then:

Although it would be like asking an Indian to choose between Rice and Wheat, which is better as a staple diet? Staff-Augmentation and IT Staff consulting compete for each other and have relevance and, most importantly — which project suits whom? But still, going by the latest experience– IT consulting trends outweighs Staff Consulting while surveying global brands. 

The choice between IT Staff Augmentation vs. IT consulting services lies totally on the nature & size of the projects, budget & preferences. However, with the advantages and disadvantages stated above, you can squeeze which of these services meets your business needs and how you can capitalize on it.

In my view, IT consulting services are the best bet if you’re looking for a dedicated team with expertise & specialization at cost-effective prices. Globally recognized brands like ValueCoders(a 16+year old company, 60% cost-saving) fulfill your needs if you’re looking for top IT consulting companies in India to streamline software development projects.