Digital transformation is a term that, one can now say with certainty, is overly used. It has almost become a cliché. But there’s nothing wrong with that, really. It just goes to show that the use of digital technologies and the digitization of business processes is becoming ubiquitous. As companies and governments turn to digital technologies to innovate and solve the pressing problems of our times, many struggle to achieve their goals due to a lack of talented and reliable IT resources. This is where staff augmentation plays a critical role.
This article explains staff augmentation and its vital role in enabling digital transformation.
How Staff Augmentation is Enabling Digital Transformation
Staff augmentation, also known as resource augmentation, is a staffing/hiring strategy that aims to supplement an existing workforce’s capacity. Companies also resort to this hiring model to fill temporary vacancies or access the required skill set by hiring an employee on a temporary basis.
In other words, staff augmentation is when you hire a resource on a temporary basis to either fill a vacancy or to work on a project basis. This is done through a staff augmentation service provider called a vendor. More importantly, the vendor does all the hiring and resource management on behalf of the hiring company, thus eliminating the need for companies to train and motivate the hired resource.
There are three main types of hiring models in resource augmentation.
1. Onshore
Onshore hiring is when the resource is situated in the same country as the hiring company but not necessarily in the same town or city.
2. Nearshore
This type of hiring occurs when a company hires a resource based in a nearby country. The time zone of the resource is different from the time zone of the hiring company, yet the difference is not significant enough to cause major issues.
3. Offshore
This type of staff augmentation takes place when a company hires a resource that is far away from its country of operation. For example, if a company in the US employs a web developer from India, it will be considered offshore hiring. On the other hand, if the resource is hired from Canada or Mexica, it will be regarded as a nearshore resource.
Let’s look at some of the ways staff augmentation is driving digital transformation.
Access to Skilled Resources
One of the biggest challenges faced by companies along their digital transformation journey is the absence of talented resources that are skilled and reliable. Companies often find it hard to access professionals with expertise in specific technology domains. And even when they do, the laws of demand and supply make such resources costly to hire. The supply of skilled IT resources almost always falls short of the demand for them.
This is where staff augmentation as a staffing strategy does wonders. It solves this problem by enabling companies to access skilled professionals all over the world. Moreover, with the rise of video conferencing tools and remote work, staff augmentation is helping companies build teams consisting of geographically dispersed individuals. It is also helping businesses hire resources without going through costly recruitment and training processes.
Scalability and Flexibility
Another critical benefit of staff augmentation is that it fuels digital transformation by enabling scalability and flexibility. Since digital transformation is continuous, scalability and flexibility are critical to its success. Very often, a company may find itself in a position where it must hire new resources to meet the high workload or lay some off to focus on more critical projects not requiring those resources.
IT Staff augmentation offers that flexibility and scalability to companies, helping them scale according to their needs. For example, a summer apparel store might need to hire a digital marketer to increase its sales in the summer season. The retailer can simply employ the resource temporarily for the summer season through the resource augmentation staffing model.
Reduced Costs
Staff augmentation allows companies to reduce their IT spending while transforming digitally. IT resources are often expensive, but with the offshore and nearshore hiring models, recruitment costs can be significantly curtailed. You can hire your next AWS cloud engineer from Mumbai, India, or Hanoi, Vietnam, to find a skilled yet low-cost replacement for onshore US cloud engineers.
Moreover, the vendor pays for the training and onboarding costs, while you pay the vendor a fixed fee for their services, which includes the provision of the resource.
Reduced Time-to-Market
Time-to-market is a critical success factor in today’s fast-paced business environment. Companies that succeed in developing and launching new products quickly usually have the highest success rate.
Resource augmentation helps you reduce the time-to-market by giving you quick access to skilled talent worldwide, thereby reducing the time you would take to hire and recruit a resource on your own. This, in turn, helps you accelerate your digital transformation journey.
Conclusion
Are you a business that wants to remain competitive in an era marked by rapid technological change? We believe your answer is in the affirmative, for to say otherwise means that you don’t wish to continue doing business.
Digital transformation through staff augmentation guide is a critical part of staying competitive in this day and age. And meeting your staffing needs through resource augmentation is an excellent practice to enhance your overall digitization strategy. It helps you drive the digital change you want without letting you suffer from the accompanying costs associated with traditional hiring processes.