Custom software is a growing market across industries, and it is a useful tool for countering customer pain points using solutions unique to your company. But finding the right talent to build your custom software can be tricky. How can you find developers who have the specific skills you need without conducting a lengthy search? The best way is using IT staff augmentation.
Staff augmentation allows you to access experienced developers who have the skills you need quickly, while controlling time and labor costs. It involves evaluating what employees and skillsets you currently have. A qualified partner will provide a proposal that clearly outlines what talent you must acquire to complete your software development goals.
Here’s what IT decision-makers should look for in the best proposals.
How to Choose the Best IT Staff Augmentation Proposal
If you’re shopping around to find the right software development partner, chances are that IT staff augmentation proposals have been piling up on your desk. Digging through them all can take a lot of time, and it may be hard to judge which proposals will result in the best staffing results. But if you run into a proposal that meets all of the requirements below, whether written or in person, you’ve most likely got an excellent staff augmentation partner on your hands.
An outstanding proposal and partner will:
- Listen carefully and accommodate your firm’s unique needs. The right staff augmentation partner places your goals as their highest priority. That means understanding and anticipating your needs from your first meeting. They should ask about your preferences in detail. For example, do you prefer to meet online or in-person? What time is most compatible with your schedule? Watch how well a staff augmentation partner accommodates your firm’s unique needs, from the time of your first contact.
- Have the ability to deploy staff quickly. A good partner will have developers ready to start working right when you need them most. They should have a diverse staff with high availability and a quick recruiting turnaround. This shows their level of professionalism and reliability, and it gets you where you need to be faster.
- Offer the best talent. It goes without saying that you should only accept the best talent available. These developers should have eight years of experience or more, and be among the 1% highest-performing people within their fields. Of course, hiring talent like this outside of a reputable staff augmentation firm will be especially difficult, as all the best engineers and developers are most likely working for other enterprises such as Apple or Google. Working with a partner able to pull from the cream of the crop will ensure you get the highest quality talent possible that will greatly augment your existing team.
- Offer generalists that have the experience your project calls for. Look for developers that have the kind of experience and skills you need, with the ability to adapt quickly and easily to new methodologies. To ensure this, make sure your staff augmentation partner understands the nuances of what you’re looking for and can deliver staff who have all the skills you need.
Red Flags to Avoid When Evaluating Proposals
Not all IT staffing partners specialize in providing the help you need, or else may not be discerning in their hiring processes. Contracting someone who does not meet the criteria above can result in a lack of highly qualified, professional, and experienced developers. And having to replace a staffing partner and the developers they’ve provided will result in a waste of time and money—as well as a source of stress.
If you’re analyzing an IT staff augmentation proposal or dealing with a potential staff augmentation partner that shows any of these red flags, it’s time to look for a better partner.
You know you’re dealing with a potentially problematic staffing partner if they:
- Are not flexible in adapting to your working processes and methodologies. When a new team member is inducted into your project, they should be able to hit the ground running. They should be able to adapt to whatever process your team uses and integrate well with your culture and workflow.
- Take too long to respond. This can be an issue for companies looking to outsource staffing to offshore development firms, as drastically different time zones impede the ability to be timely with communication. An IT staffing partner can only help you achieve your goals on time if they are highly responsive. You should never have to chase down a contact to get an answer on any question or whenever you need help. Such a partner is not dedicated to helping you succeed. Watch how well your potential partner responds to your inquiries.
- Deliver fall short on their promises. When a staff augmentation partner makes a promise, they should keep it. Some partners may make promises they can’t deliver on, because they’re counting on you being too busy to replace them. But in our customer-centered economy, you always have a better option. Never settle for less.
- Don’t deliver the highest quality staff. Speaking of promises, when a staffing partner promises you the highest quality talent, the staff you receive must perform accordingly. If it turns out you’re dealing with a partner that delivers mediocre developers, try going with a partner that has demonstrated a record of delivering top talent.
Get the Talent You Need and Stay Within Budget
As you can see from the criteria in this article, not all IT staff augmentation firms are created equal. Make sure that you review your potential partners accordingly. Or, if you’re interested in getting to the bottom of that pile of proposals sooner, you could go straight to the staff augmentation experts.
BairesDev can do a thorough analysis of your current staffing status and deliver highly-qualified developers who have the skill sets you need, in as few as 72 hours. You can retain our Extended Team for however long you need them. They’ll work as part of your local team, adapting to your methodologies quickly and reporting directly to your managers. You’ll retain control over staff and your project, get the specialized expertise you need and be able to meet project goals on time. Because when you need custom software developed quickly, staff augmentation is the last thing you should have to waste time on.
BairesDev employs Latin America’s Top 1% IT professionals and makes them available to you, whenever you need them. Let our expert Extended Team members provide the specialized skills you need to complete your project on time. To request an IT staff augmentation proposal or to tell us about your staffing needs, contact our team.
