In a world where IT talent and positions are growing exponentially, it seems difficult to believe that IT departments across the world could be underperforming. One of the best ways for organizations and departments to remedy this fault is to consider staff augmentation. There are several benefits of staff augmentation for IT departments that will not only normalize spending but also increase a department’s performance. Here are five reasons many businesses are now choosing staff augmentation over permanent hires:
 

1) Get Access to Immediate Help

 
Hiring a new employee usually requires an extensive search. From listing the ad and going through piles of resumes to waiting for the best candidate to go through the HR process, it can take months to get a new salaried employee in the door. Even when you find the right candidate, the drug screen, background check and negotiation phases can add several weeks to the time it takes to get the new employee to their desk. However, when businesses choose to augment their staff rather than hire new permanent staff, they can get new staff in the door almost immediately.
 

2) Only Commit to the Time You Need

 
When you hire a new full-time employee, you have to pay them their full salary both during the busy periods and the slow periods. This can translate to high overhead if an employee does not move from project to project immediately, and you may be paying this worker for very little actual work. When companies augment their staff with outsourced IT resources, there is no need to continue paying for the worker’s services if they are no longer being utilized. Augmented staff can typically be released simply by providing 2 to 4 weeks notice.
 

3) Find Specialist Talent

 
Most IT departments do not staff all specialties needed for today’s fast paced environment. They usually have a core set of development staff to build and support their main applications. However, when it comes to building mobile native apps, as an example, they can best find these resources with an outsourced IT provider that employs and staffs these resources. Plus, they allow you to simplify the process and ramp up within a few weeks in most cases.
 
In a nutshell, offshore staff augmentation companies are like the Uber of IT. They do a great job of filling the void of skill sets in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.
 

4) Lower Overhead

 
The overhead for outsourced IT resources is usually significantly less than in-house employees, as the business does not have to pay for things like benefits, office space, employee taxes, training, and vacation days. Plus, there are also legal considerations that come with having employees that can easily be mitigated through staff augmentation. At the end of the day, not being liable for all of the extra benefits that come with full-time employment will save your benefits programs money in the long run as well as a lower cost per resource.
 

5) The Industry is Hypercompetitive

 
Both fresh and established talent have benefited from the incredible growth in IT positions over the last ten years. Many organizations are willing to do whatever it takes to attract and hire the best people. This means that you now not only have to find the right candidate, but you also have to protect your investment from other organizations that may be able to lure them away with bigger benefits.
 
A recent example of the competitive marketplace was brought to our attention by a client who was paying a Java developer $125,000 a year. They ended up losing that employee when another company came in and sweetened the deal by offering an additional $20,000 annually to make a move. Not only did the client lose the worker, but they lost all of the time, training costs, and other expenses that were incurred during the employee’s tenure.
 
From lower hiring costs to getting your project off the ground faster, there has never been a better time to mine the outsourcing services available in IT.