Hiring a remote software development team via a software outsourcing company is now quite common, with companies large and small partaking in the same. However, IT and software outsourcing companies are also able to deliver insights that are specific to a certain industry, domain, audience as well as problem, via resource augmentation.
Typically used for teams that need a fresh perspective on solving a persisting problem, or for building go-to-market strategies in the event of product/business expansion, resource augmentation may consist of a variety of experts that are willing to impart their knowledge and build granular strategies depending on the unique requirements of your business.
In this article, we discuss the advantages of resource augmentation, particularly the flexibility and expertise it delivers – without having to commit to a long-term and sometimes austere contract. Additionally, we also cover how the right subject matter expert can be hired for providing your team and your project with a much-needed lift as well as how results can be monitored to determine success – especially in the wake of challenges that your existing team is struggling to solve.
So read on to know more!
Looking for resource augmentation services? As one of the top software companies in UK, EFutures can provide your software development team with the leverage it needs to build effective software, enable digital transformation, as well as meet industry and/or compliance standards. Get in touch with us today to assess the calibre of skills required for your business, so we can seek the right subject matter expert to ‘augment’ your goals and bottom line.
IT resource and staff augmentation provides unprecedented flexibility, mainly owing to the fact that a subject matter expert can be added as and when required – sans any of the long-term commitment that comes with hiring someone full-time. Add to this the fact that distributed work environments are now the norm, when it comes to the software development industry in general; you now have the ability to hire someone from anywhere in the world, as long as they are competent enough for the job. This brings us to our next point, below.
When you hire remote developers, geographical constraints cease to become a deciding factor all together. Resource augmentation is no different; the focus, after all, is on whether someone is ideal for the job, as opposed to where they are located and whether they may be able to commute to a physical office. The benefit of not having to worry about location, which is conducive to IT and software outsourcing, once again rings true here.
By having your team collaborate virtually, peak efficiency can be maintained through the right supervision as well as by using a combination of relevant task management tools. This way, teams are always in sync, as real-time updates and alerts can keep everyone informed of tasks that need to be done, tasks that are nearing a deadline, or in the event a change is made to a project requirement, by the client.
While resource augmentation is primarily meant for hiring highly skilled experts that may typically cost a significant sum of money, this can still be relatively easy on the pocket. As a result, this makes resource augmentation accessible even for startups and other smaller businesses that may have budget constraints.
Thanks to team members being based remotely and services flexible enough to be applied on a temporary basis, this not only helps companies save money, but also enables businesses that may be in a stage of infancy to avail subject matter expertise that they otherwise couldn’t have.
As with hiring any other team members for your software development project, hiring subject matter experts as part of resource augmentation also involves thoroughly assessing your business needs, followed by smaller, bite-sized accomplishments that are incrementally updated based on user feedback.
Here, we break down each of these pointers. Use these as a reminder to know what you always need to look out for, whenever you are seeking to hire remote developers or ‘augment’ your team with relevant subject matter experts.
Gather relevant team members to discuss further about where assistance and guidance is required, usually with a set of specialised skills (in the case of resource augmentation). While you’re at it, also brainstorm if there are any problems or bottlenecks related to the core topic at hand – and whether these could be resolved via your new resource, or may require more experts.
If your team experiences scope creep during the assessment stage, it’s possible that time and budget may be limited, thereby preventing you from addressing everything that has surfaced. In this case, prioritise on what is most pressing, and move the rest into a product backlog that could be addressed at a later stage (particularly relevant for teams following a scrum methodology).
Once your resource has been hired and assigned to your project, give them the autonomy to start small. Their strategies and guidance can be implemented on a smaller scale when starting off, essentially creating an MVP of sorts for their ideas. This helps teams gauge whether what has been implemented is showing any signs of success. If not, strategies can be tweaked and reimplemented, while whatever is working can be amplified in order to improve impact.
You cannot improve what you cannot measure, so your team needs to have relevant KPIs set in place for the new ideas and strategies that your augmented resource may have adopted. Evaluating the effectiveness of what they have steered your entire team to implement can enable project managers and business leaders/owners to ascertain whether their strategies are relevant for your business going forward – or whether a change may be required, be it in terms of a new strategy, or even a new resource.
Resource augmentation can be one of the most prolific ways for your software or application development project to gain expert advice and guidance during times of fast-paced growth, or to resolve a quandary that your existing team members may be struggling with. Whether it’s a second set of eyes by a software architect or the expertise an SEO specialist can provide in the event of product expansion, resource augmentation presents access to domain-rich insights, without the need to commit to a long-term contract.