Staff Augmentation Vs Managed Services: Finding Right Fit

The differences between staff augmentation vs managed services matter when it comes to the efficiency, costs, and deadlines your business will be confronted with. 

Each model has its own unique features, while being different in functionality, control, versatility, and price. So, whether you find yourself in need of short-term assistance to fill a skills gap within your team, or you’re looking for longer-term support in managing your IT operations as a whole, it’s important to understand what separates the two models. 

This blog is designed to help you dig into the specific practicalities associated with staff augmentation vs managed services, and determine which one is right for your business.

Staff augmentation

So, what is IT staffing? IT staffing or staff augmentation is when you are bringing external experts to enhance your existing staff for a particular time frame, bringing their knowledge and specialized skills to work. 

Your extended IT department, along with the external professionals, will be operating under your guidance with the focus on being a part of your IT team.

Unlike outsourcing, where you may be turning over entire operations, staff augmentation is a more flexible solution. 

This structure allows you to scale the workforce temporarily without needing to make them long-term employees.

Software development staff augmentation is one of the most commonly used services in this field, as it allows companies to quickly scale their teams with specialized expertise.

Pros and cons of staff augmentation

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of staffing augmentation

Pros:

• Flexibility: You can increase or decrease your team size based on the needs of your project.
• Access to specialized talent: Employ specialists for one-time tasks without committing to an ongoing partnership.
• Affordable: Instead of hiring full-time employees, pay for hours or months of work at service rates.
• Control: You manage the augmented staff, and thus they work with your business goals.

Cons:

• Integration challenge: It may take a while before staff from outside the company begin to fit in with your in-house talent.
• Management: You retain the responsibility for managing and overseeing their work.
• Short-term fix: If you have continuous requirements, staff augmentation is not the long-term solution you seek.

Before you choose this model, it is important to understand the drawbacks and benefits of IT augmentation to help you make a clear choice.

Staff augmentation models

The staff augmentation model is based on the needs of your firm and varies from project to project. These are the staff augmentation models:

• Short-term Project Staff Augmentation: You contract experts for a project for a fixed duration, from start to finish, and then it’s all over.
• Skill-specific Staff Augmentation: Specialists are hired for targeted tasks requiring niche expertise, enhancing project precision without increasing the core team.
• Long-term Team Extension: External experts constantly provide support to in-house staff for extended periods. This offers stable reinforcement for ongoing development needs.
• Flexible Scaling Augmentation: Team size adjusts dynamically with project flow, ensuring optimal resource use without the burden of a permanent hire.
• Project-based Augmentation: Entire project lifecycle support with external talent working collaboratively toward defined goals from inception to launch.

These models enable businesses to align their work processes with the extent to which they are comfortable integrating external staff with their internal teams.

Managed services

Managed service is the practice of outsourcing certain IT processes and functions intended to improve operations and cut expenses. 

The vendor provides online hosting, administration of networks, cybersecurity, IT support, and other management services.

These aspects are well managed, and if there’s an in-house team, then they can focus on what they do best.

The model typically contains a service level agreement (SLA) that the provider will at all times provide a certain quality of service. It’s a solution for companies that need rock-solid help without internal attention.

Pros and cons of managed services

These are the pros and cons of managed services

Pros:

• Predictable costs: When costs are priced out on a fixed or subscription basis, businesses can more easily budget and forecast.
• Reduce internal workload: The provider manages routine IT operations, freeing up your internal resources.
• Expertise: Expert knowledge and the latest technology are utilised.
• Scalability: It’s easy to scale managed services up (or down) to address changes in your business requirements.

Cons:

• Lack of control: You don’t have a significant amount of visibility or control in the way that the service provider does things.
• Potential misalignment: A service provider that doesn’t know your industry can offer subpar service.
• Long-term commitment: As for long-term, ongoing help, managed services are better for companies in need of a steady hand.

Types of managed services

There are a number of types of managed services that can help out with various parts of your business:

• IT infrastructure management: The vendor is responsible for your hardware, servers, and networking.
• Cloud services management: Outsourcing the management of cloud hosting and solutions.
• Cybersecurity: Providers manage security and monitoring.
• IT support: This concerns helpdesk services, troubleshooting, and technical support for the employee.
• Data management: Contracting out the administration of backup, recovery, and data storage services

These are allowing companies to focus on growth, and have the specialists run the foundational IT services.

Staff augmentation vs managed services

These are some of the important differences between staff augmentation and managed services

Aspect	Staff Augmentation	Managed Services
Control	High: You manage the external staff.	Low to moderate: The provider manages operations.
Flexibility	High: Adjust team size based on project needs.	Moderate: Less flexibility, but scalable services.
Cost Structure	Variable: Pay for hours worked or months.	Fixed or subscription-based for predictable costs.
Duration	Short-term: Project-based engagements.	Long-term: Ongoing support and services.
Management	Internal: You manage and oversee the team.	External: Managed by the service provider.
Best for	Short-term projects, specialized skills.	Long-term needs, continuous operations.

Differences between staff augmentation and managed services

Both models welcome outside support, but they are different:

1. Control: You have total authority over the job and the personnel when you use staff augmentation. Managed services, however, mean that you need to give control to the service provider.
2. Cost structure: Staff augmentation is mostly billed by the hour, giving you flexibility. But managed services bills tend to be flat-priced, so you know how much everything will cost up front and in advance.
3. Duration and commitment: Opt for staff augmentation for short-term project-based work and managed services for long-term ongoing support.
4. Resource management: Your in-house team keeps an eye on the augmented staff with staff augmentation. In managed service, the provider will manage the service and even the operations on a day-to-day basis.
5. Scalability: You have the freedom to scale up or down the team size according to the project requirement, with staff augmentation. You can also exercise the same flexibility with managed services, but according to established service levels that are not always so flexible.
6. Specialized expertise: Staff augmentation approach allows you to hire specialists for certain projects or skill sets, to tailor-make your projects. Though managed services are expert options, they span a much wider spectrum, and the provider doesn’t necessarily have mastery over every niche aspect of your project.
7. Time-to-market: Staff augmentation allows for quicker project schedules by providing immediate expertise, and thus drives quicker results. Managed services are going to take a bit more time to see any value since planning and setting up controls around your services is required.
8. Risk management: Since you remain in control, risks are more easily managed by your in-house team with staff augmentation. Managed services put a significant amount of risk on the supplier. They own the success/ failure of the outsourced services.

These differences make it essential to evaluate your business’s specific needs when choosing between the two.

Decision factors: which should you choose?

Here’s what you should be looking for, if you’re considering staff augmentation vs managed service:

• Project scope: If your requirements are for a project and you require specific skills for a project, then staff augmentation would be the best choice for you. But if you are interested in ongoing services and long-term support, follow a managed services model.
• Team control: If you would like to have full control of your team and the ways they manage tasks, then staff augmentation is what you need. You must provide the control to the provider when using managed services.
• Budget: If you have a fixed budget, managed services may be able to provide predictable pricing. Staff augmentation may be more economical in situations where the need is temporary.
• Internal capacity: If your internal teams are in a good position to manage and work with additional staff, staff augmentation is just the right choice. If you need less hands-on involvement, managed services are better.
• Skillset requirements: With staff augmentation, you’re bringing in persons with unique skills to fulfill a short-term, specific position. Managed services come with more expertise but may not have experience in highly specialized or niche projects.
• Project management resources: If you have an internal person to manage the staff, staff augmentation could work. If you lack management skills and want someone else to do it for you, then you should opt for managed services.
• Technology Shifts: Staff augmentation is flexible for tech shifts and to accommodate particular technology, and to bring in expertise for a particular technology. However,  managed services offer only ongoing management and no updates to technology.
• Speed of deployment: In staff augmentation, new staff can get up to speed and contribute to a project right away. With managed services, it takes time to negotiate an SLA, agree on and realise common goals, and this can take time.
• Tailored solutions: Staff augmentation offers tailor-made solutions according to the specific needs of your project. Managed services only provide predefined services. It’s a one-size-fits-all model, and what they offer may not translate exactly to your needs.

Evaluating these factors will guide you to the right solution for your business. Whether you choose staff augmentation or managed services, an offshore software development company could provide the expertise, flexibility, and cost efficiency needed to meet your business objectives. 

Why offshore? Because offshore teams can offer high-quality solutions, with the added benefit of accessing global talent while keeping costs competitive. And, nowadays, most offshore firms provide a variety of services, from offshore outsourcing to even staff augmentation, as well as managed services, all in one place.

Ultimately, selecting the right approach, along with an experienced offshore development partner, will enable you to scale quickly and efficiently, regardless of the model you choose.

Conclusion

When you look at staff augmentation vs managed service, the choice is ultimately based on your organization’s particular needs and goals. 

Staff augmentation adds flexibility, control, and expertise for temporary tasks. Managed Services mean an easily budgetable cost, less work for you, and constant maintenance of your IT needs as and when they happen. 

You would take into account the objectives of your company, your budget, and the scope of your project to make the right decision. 

Whether you need to support software development with the resources you lack or manage your entire IT functions, the right model will enable you to streamline operations, maximise efficiency, and get back to what matters most for your business.