Are you looking to scale up your engineering team? Does finding a good IT staff augmentation partner sound like a viable option? You’re not alone — the global market size of the IT outsourcing industry reached 92.5 billion USD in 2019.
As the IT staff augmentation industry grows, it can become more challenging to pick a high-quality service provider. Asking the right questions is essential to qualifying any potential partners.
We gathered some of the most important questions you should ask IT staff augmentation companies to assess their fit for your needs. These will evaluate cultural and operational aspects that play into the success of your partnership.
Here are the most important 8 questions to ask IT staff augmentation companies:
Business Model
1. What augmentation model do they use, and does it fit me?
There are three main models to consider when thinking about the geography of IT staff augmentation: nearshoring, offshoring, and onshoring.
- Nearshoring: Involves delegating work to remote teams in a nearby country within a similar time zone, providing cost-effectiveness and geographic proximity.
- Offshoring: Similar to nearshoring but with teams located on another continent, often in traditional offshore locations like India, Ukraine, or Latin America.
- Onshoring: Refers to “domestic” outsourcing, where software development is transferred to more affordable locations within your own country.
If you already know the countries or areas you would like to outsource your development to – look for the best providers in those countries.
Another distinction is whether you plan to work closely with the augmented team (under an extended development team model) or outsource an entire project.
- Extended development model: Remote engineers collaborate closely with your in-house team to achieve common goals.
- Project outsourcing: The external team takes full responsibility for building and delivering a software product.
2. Are they issuing fixed-fee contracts or using the time-and-materials model?
- Fixed-price contracts: A set price for the completion of the project, typically used for project outsourcing.
- Time-and-materials model: Clients are billed based on the actual work done, making it suitable for ongoing, integrated teams.
Ask what the costs cover. Higher costs might come with added benefits such as onboarding support or ongoing management, making it a potentially more favorable option.
3. Can they tailor their services to meet my requirements?
A good IT staff augmentation partner should be flexible, cooperative, and eager to adapt their services (collaboration model, team size, structure, etc.) to meet your changing needs. Beware of partners with rigid processes that leave little room for quick changes.
Developer Expertise
4. Do their developers have the expertise you need, and are they familiar with your tech stack?
A good tip is to look for specific topics that you need help with, such as modernizing legacy software or mobile applications development. Then, narrow down your search to companies that have the specific industry expertise.
5. Have they worked on similar projects in the past?
Check if the IT staff augmentation company has a history of successful collaborations with businesses like yours. In the discovery meetings, you can ask the providers to share case studies or success stories, client testimonials, or references with you.
6. What’s the company’s approach to recruitment and continuous education of engineers?
It’s important to know how the company recruits new team members. Do they go through rigorous testing? Will you have a say in who joins your team?
Continuous education and training opportunities ensure the engineers stay updated on the latest technologies, which is essential in a fast-paced industry like tech.
Collaboration and Communication
7. What are the mechanisms to ensure the success of the collaboration?
Building great software is one part of the challenge. The other is to make sure you have system checks and fallback plans in place to ensure you can keep building great software without interruptions.
When it comes to ensuring success, a good place to start is to enable knowledge sharing across both companies. What are the communication structures in place for technical and business queries?
More importantly, on the off chance that something goes wrong, how are issues addressed and handled? There should be a clear process for solving problems.
If the employee retention rates of the provider in question are low, this could affect the efficiency of the collaboration as well. You should investigate how they would ensure the stability of the team, so that engineers are not joining and leaving your project on a frequent basis. Additionally, checking Glassdoor will give you a good overview of the overall satisfaction of the employees within the company, which can be a solid indicator of retention rates.
The right software IT Staff Augmentation provider will have the right processes in place to ensure the collaboration runs smoothly, but also to keep the engineers happy.
Security & Privacy
8. What are the provider’s security and privacy policies?
Security is crucial when selecting an IT staff augmentation partner. Ask about their security certifications (e.g., ISO27001) and data protection measures to ensure compliance with regulations and avoid any legal pitfalls.
Bonus Questions:
- What is the provider’s estimated timeline for project kick-off?
- What equipment will the extended development team be using?
Don’t forget to assess cultural fit as well. Ask about the company’s vision, values, and how they keep their software engineers happy and engaged.
If IT staff augmentation is a new concept for you, be sure to check out our related articles for more insights and tips:
- Nearshoring, Offshoring & Onshoring: Outsourcing Examples and Definitions
- 6 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid When Outsourcing Software Development
- Nearshore vs. Offshore Software Development: Which One Is the Better Option?
- Case Study of Fexco Drive Setting Up a Nearshore Team
At Zartis, we specialize in providing tailor-made technology solutions and IT staffing services. Whether you need help designing the best staff augmentation solution or assembling an extended development team, we’d be happy to assist. Feel free to reach out now!
