13 IT staff augmentation challenges and solutions

Are you considering working with a staff augmentation service provider? But are the challenges associated with this hiring process worrying you?

Don’t you fret! While 👉 staff augmentation services 👈 may pose some problems in terms of cooperation but they are easy to solve. Let us dive into the top 13 staff augmentation challenges and their solutions.

Why is staff augmentation important for the IT industry?

Staff augmentation is an important tool for the IT industry to bridge the gap between skill availability and demand. It helps IT companies to scale their business, increase productivity and remain competitive in the market.

Moreover, it also helps businesses save time when it comes to training new employees. As augmented staff already have the right skill set that can help them meet the goals in a much shorter time frame. This is especially beneficial for companies that are looking to expand but lack the right people.

Lastly, by leveraging project-based developers, they can make sure of two things. First that they are using the most advanced tools. Second that they are using the best techniques available. Both can help them stay ahead of their competitors.

What are some challenges with IT staff augmentation?

Like with any hiring model, there can be challenges but along with that, there are also solutions. IT staff augmentation services come with their own unique set of challenges. We have broken down 13 of them and provided solutions. Let’s get into it.

Challenge #1: I need help finding the right developers

The industry is overcrowded with developers. Developers that are working as permanent employees, freelancers, or on a staff augmentation basis. You may find yourself worrying about where you are able to find the right developers for your team.

When you work with a staff augmentation company you may find that you are hiring software engineers that have not been pre-vetted. So you could be ‘hiring’ a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This means you may hire a tech expert whose skills do not fill in the gap you require.

Solution: Work with a reliable staff augmentation company

When you work with us you don’t have to worry about getting a developer that doesn’t meet your standards. All our developers are pre-vetted by us and we can vouch for them. Also, we hire developers that have are MID/regular seniority level. This means that they must have at least three years of experience in a given tech stack. We also hire senior-level developers that have more advanced coding skills. Also, they have more experience under their belt.

In terms of junior-level developers, we can find you a coder at this level if that is what you need. There are some fantastic, skilled junior-level developers that can help with certain coding tasks. It is important to remember that a junior developer’s code may not be as advanced as a mid or senior developer’s.

Our developers go through a rigorous screening process. This process checks out not only their technical skills but also their soft skills. You can learn more about how we hire developers to join Swyply to then be able to work on your projects, check out our 👉 recruitment process 👈.

Challenge #2: I’m worried about communication & management struggles that may come about using staff augmentation

Possible communication problems are a major staff augmentation challenge. This can easily occur during remote work. Also, it can be difficult to merge an internal & external team. The problem may be made worse due to poor organization, or a lack of clarity on the level of communication. Now, it is important to remember that these problems can take place with an onsite team too.

Solution: Establish & implement collaborative teamwork

To ensure project success your project management team needs to establish a few things. Firstly good communication, then effective knowledge sharing, and lastly create a collaborative atmosphere. To do this you can use various tools such as Slack, Jira, or Asana.

Also, miscommunication can be avoided if you set clear expectations for the new members joining your team. For example, if you want certain details shared with you about the work someone is doing make that clear from the start. Additionally, if you want only certain types of messages on a certain platform also make that clear. This way project information is not misplaced.

Challenge #3: I think I will have security & privacy issues using staff augmentation

Another common concern with staff augmentation is the security of your company information.

Anytime you have to hand over project details to someone new you are risking company information security. This concern can be bigger when you have to transfer that information to a third party. In case you would be sharing info with augmented staff members.

However, you can avoid this struggle by implementing and signing an NDA. Also signing a cooperation contract that is good for all people individuals.

Solution: Sign an NDA & make a win-win contract

When you work with us, we will of course sign a non-disclosure agreement to make sure that your privacy is protected. Also, all Swyply developers sign a non-disclosure agreement with us as well. This way your code is perfectly safe and you do not have to worry about it being leaked somewhere.

Also, our developers sign over any copyright laws they may have had to the code they created for us. We can then pass on those copyrights to you.

Challenge #4: Poor software development quality created by the augmented staff

A big fear is that remote specialists who work for you via a staff augmentation company may build poorly developed software.

Also, another concern is that there may be some issues with the technical documentation they write up. Lastly, their soft skills are not a good match for your team.

Solution: Checking written code & technical documentation

Clearly, this type of thinking is not true. You are not employing freelance developers who cannot guarantee their skills. In fact, you are hiring professional software developers from an IT staffing company. If you choose to work with Swyply all of our candidates go thorough screening and testing to ensure we find the right fit. Usually, software developer candidates go to interviews and perform skills tests.

Also, once an augmented developer is on your team you can always go into the code of the project they are working on and check it. You can see if it is up to your standards. Also, if your in-house team has a QA tester, they can check any developed elements to ensure top quality.

Challenge #5: How can I ensure effective knowledge transfer

So, let’s say you have decided to hire a developer using staff augmentation. They work on your project and complete the tasks that were their responsibility. The project is complete and so is your cooperation. They leave your team and do not leave you with technical documentation.

Now you are left uncertain about what they did. How they did do? And what’s next?

Solution: The project manager should have a process in place

Knowledge transfer is a key element for any developer especially those that work remotely. It is very critical that knowledge transfer is able to take place from a basic concept to the completion of projects.

However, if you have this expectation from your software development team members then that needs to be made clear from the beginning. You also, need to allot enough time for developers to create a report for you on their work. This is not a standard across all IT firms.

Challenge #6: The experts I want are in different time-zone making communication difficult

Time zone differences can be a challenge when using staff augmentation. This is especially true if you are using a nearshore or offshore option. The biggest concern is when you hire developers from a staff augmentation vendor that is located on the other side of the world.

For example, your company is located in the US but your augmented staff is in Europe or Asia. The time difference between the USA and Europe can vary anywhere from 6 to 9 hours.

Solution: Overlap working hours

Here at Swyply, we try to minimize the problem of time zone differences. We do so by ensuring that our developers working hours overlap with those of our customers. While they may not be available all day, our developers can work with your team for 2, 3, or 4 hours depending on the location and needs.

For our developers, their typical working day begins anywhere from 8 to 10 am (CEST) and then they work 8 hours. Moreover, our developers can adjust in order to join daily or weekly team meetings in order to allow for more effective collaboration.

In some cases, you can talk with our developers to adjust their working hours to achieve a bigger overlap but this is on an individual basis. Not every developer may be willing to do so but it’s always worth discussing.

Challenge #7: It will cost me more to hire someone via staff augmentation than to hire internally

Many entrepreneurs still consider hiring specialists permanently instead of using temporary staff. The company compares staff aug. hourly rates to the average in-house salary. And they come to the conclusion that staff augmentation is expensive.

Solution: Look at the bigger financial picture

But most businesses forget that the majority of costs will be covered by the staff augmentation company. They will be covering the costs of taxes, health care, and retirement funds. Also, a team augmentation vendor will pay for any employee perks, laptops and office furniture. Along with bonuses, learning courses, etc. Also, you don’t have to pay for sick leave and vacation time.

Another expense that staff augmentation companies will cover is the cost of HR. This cost covers sourcing, interviews, and signing contracts. You do not have to spend extra resources by running recruitment internally.

Swyply covers most of the costs for you making the 👉 price of staff augmentation 👈worthwhile.

The only cost that will not be covered by a staff augmentation vendor is software tools. These are tools that you use internally for communication, organization, or even programming. Those types of expenses you need to pay.

Challenge #8: The developer will want to leave my project before its finished

I’m worried that a developer will want to leave my project before it’s complete because he or she is bored. Or they will need to leave due to other circumstances that may be beyond his or her such as illness, family emergency, etc.

Solution: replacing tech expertise asap

We all understand that life happens. In some circumstances, a developer can no longer continue to work due to scenarios outside his or her control. However, in the IT industry, we are also all very aware that boredom and stagnation are a developer’s worst enemies.

Many developers are looking to constantly grow professionally and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, if they are bored or unhappy with a project they are working on, we will move them to a different one.

You do not want a bored developer on your team. This will make cooperation miserable and can lead to careless mistakes on part of the developer because they do not feel challenged. As a solution, we would rather remove him or her from your project and replace them with someone new.

Moreover, at Swyply, we have a 👉 14-day guarantee 👈 to make sure that the slot on your employee roster is always filled with the developer you need.

Challenge #9: The augmented developer won’t be able to work onsite only uses the remote working model

Another of the many staff augmentation challenges is hiring a developer that is working remotely. And will not be able to join your dedicated team onsite. This can make cooperation challenging if you are not prepared for it.

However, it’s not impossible and there are benefits to having remote workers.

Solution: use online collaboration tools to integrate remote workers

Swyply developers work strictly remotely and when they join your team on a project basis this will also be the case. For many project managers managing remote workers can be daunting. But we do have some tips for you:

1. Use tech tools to help with communication and organization. There are so many amazing tools out there from Slack, Asana, and GoogleChat to ClickUp, Jira, Zoom, Teams, and more.
2. Integrate and onboard remote developers to the tools that you use specifically in your company.
3. Include remote developers in valuable team meetings. So they have time to collaborate with your dedicated development teams.
4. Include augmented developers during virtual meetings that are more integration-based. So maybe you have fun chat Fridays where your team talks about something other than work. Add your additional developers to make them part of the team.

Challenge #10: Lack of help from the staff augmentation service provider – I am left on my own with any challenges

Another staff augmentation challenge that may come to mind is feeling completely alone. So let’s say you hire a developer or a development team from the resources vendor and you may think now what?

What if there is a problem with communication? How do I hire more additional developers? Who do I contact if I have other questions?

Solution: Our staff augmentation services include monthly updates

Our goal is not to lend you a developer or team of developers and wash our hands of it. Quiet the opposite. We want to be involved and help even after you have hired someone from us.

One of our standard practices when it comes to our customer-vendor relationships is checking in every few weeks. We want to make sure that our cooperation is working out. We want to know that you are happy, that things are running smoothly etc. You also want to know if there is an issue or problem. For example, you cannot reach one of our developers and they are not working on your project. We can help by contacting them on our end and figuring out what’s going on.

Another example, you might have a different project that also requires developers from us and we can help source them for you.

Bearing this in mind we also check in with our developers to make sure that they are happy and everything is a-okay on their end. We want the cooperation to be happy and fruitful all across the board.

Challenge #11: I will have to spend time on the staffing and onboarding process

You may worry about the time you have to spend to onboard a new member onto your team. Unfortunately, this staff augmentation challenge is not something you can avoid. Also, this challenge also takes place with other hiring models. You will always need to onboard your new developer.

Solution: You have to onboard any new hire even with traditional recruitment

You can avoid Onboarding. This is regardless of whether you hire someone internally or use staff augmentation. The onboarding process may not take as long with an augmented member. Here’s why? Because in reality you only need to introduce them to aspects of your company and project that will be crucial to their role.

You do not have to introduce them to every single aspect of your company culture. The same is true when it comes to procedures, processes, etc. Only what you deem necessary. You can also accelerate this process. During the onboarding process, you should also consider introducing the new developer to any software tools that your company uses. These tools are usually part of everyday communication, organization, and work.

Also, when a developer joins Swyply, we also run him or her through our onboarding process. This is not just a task on your side but on our side as well.

Challenge #12: I assume that the project will last 3 months, but what if it will be extended or will end earlier

So you have taken on a new project. You have decided to add to your big software development team. To do so you hire more developers via staff augmentation to complete your new project. You added extra working hands to improve time to market and increase overall productivity.

Now, you may have originally estimated that your project will take three months to complete. So you sign a contract for three months and you decide to hire X number of developers. As time goes by you may find that either your project is moving at a fast pace, meaning you will complete it early. Or you find that things keep popping up and now you need developers for 9 months instead of 3 months.

How can you remedy this situation? Well like with any partnership, communication is key.

Solution: Reasonable notice periods

Swyply understands that software development projects can be unpredictable. A project that you thought will last three months has been dragged out or perhaps has ended early. Both of these situations happen and all you need to do in any of these situations is communicate with us as soon as possible.

If you know that your project is coming to a close, we need a one-month notice period. This is to ensure that our developer has a new project to jump into once he or she is finished. Alternatively, we also need a one-month notice if you need our developer longer than originally estimated. This way we do not have to look for a new project for that individual for the time being.

Challenge #13: The developer won’t feel like part of the company’s internal team due to location and time differences

Location differences, time zone differences, remote work oh my! How will a developer from a staff augmentation company ever feel as part of the team?

Developers working on a staff augmentation basis in most cases will work remotely. Also, chances are they will be working from various parts of the world. This can make integration challenging because your team and the augmented team will not meet face-to-face. However, there is a solution to help make additional developers feel like part of the team.

Solution: organize company events & team meetups

Your company can organize company events, team meetups, or even professional development workshops. You can extend an invitation to our Swyply developers to join any of these events.

Most of our developers are more than happy to take part in integration events. Whether this is a company party, professional development workshop, etc.

But, you would have to cover the cost for one of our developers to travel to your location. Also cover expenses associated with hotels, etc.

If the developer accepts the invitation and you cover all expenses then there is no problem. This is a great way for our developer(s) to meet your team in person.

Also, it is worth mentioning you can extend this type of invitation regardless of where your company is located. You can be in the USA, UK, Germany, etc. Our developer may like to visit you and integrate with your team.

TL;DR: IT staffing challenges & solutions conclusion

We have discussed the top 13 staff augmentation challenges and their respective solutions to encourage you to take advantage of this recruitment model.

Some of the most common IT staff augmentation challenges that we hear from customers and other industry people include:

• Tech companies need help finding the right software developers
• They worry about the communication and management of augmented teams
• That they will pay more to a developer using staff augmentation than traditional recruitment
• They have fears about time differences. They worry about communicating with coders from the staff augmentation company that is in a different location.
• And many more

Now many of these challenges have simple solutions. When it comes to finding the right software developers, Swyply can provide them with pre-vetted coders with a proven track record. This way you have someone on your team who can get to work right away and knows how to push your project forward.

Communication and management issues are easy fixes. You can set clear expectations, using various online tools, etc.

Staff augmentation may cost more to hire a software engineer but you need to take into account that the vendor will cover a lot of expenses. Swyply, covers costs such as taxes, health care, sick leave, vacation time, laptops, etc.

Our Swyply developers, minimize time zone differences. We do so by overlapping a couple of their working hours with your company.

Do you want to chat more about these IT staff augmentation challenges and solutions? 👉 Drop us a line 👈 and we can have a no-obligation chat to explain any concerns you may have.