The COVID-19 pandemic was an event that brought a lot of disruption worldwide. Undoubtedly, the business world is not exempt from this, and you saw many companies taking drastic measures to survive. When it comes to IT staff augmentation, there is a clear before and after because of it.
- 1. What is IT staff augmentation?
- 2. When can you use IT staff augmentation in your company?
- 3. What was the situation of IT staff augmentation at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
- 4. How did IT staff augmentation change because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- 5. Why should your company hire IT staff augmentation services?
- 6. Where can you find more information about IT staff augmentation?
In this article, we present to you the before and after of IT staff augmentation due to the COVID-19. Here, you will learn what staff augmentation is, how to use it, and its situation before and after the pandemic.
- What is IT staff augmentation?
- When can you use IT staff augmentation in your company?
- What was the situation for the IT staff augmentation at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- How did IT staff augmentation change because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Why should your company hire IT staff augmentation services?
- Where can you find more information about IT staff augmentation?
1. What is IT staff augmentation?
Even though your team is made up of talented and highly capacitated employees, you can still need some assistance. Above all, it is truer for parts of your business where the skills and knowledge you require are incredibly specific. Here, your full-time workers will not be able to help you.
Fortunately, you can use several kinds of external help for these cases that are available in the market. Such kinds can go from outsourcing to contract staffing. However, there is only one kind of it you should use for helping your organization’s IT personnel: IT staff augmentation.
Essentially, IT Staff Augmentation involves seeking highly specialized professionals that will help your team with their specific needs. Their work can include giving professional advice on certain topics, providing training, and developing ways to improve your operations. This way, you will not need new permanent employees for it.
Different from outsourcing, IT staff augmentation services will allow you to upgrade your workforce without directly affecting your operations. As a result, you will end up with a more talented workforce and, most probably, with a more profitable business. Hence, it is an idea you should consider.
2. When can you use IT staff augmentation in your company?
The premise of IT staff augmentation is both simple and complex at the same time. Essentially, you can use it every time you need a specific skill in your organization for a short time. Here, your goal is to fulfill any skill deficiency your team has to improve its productivity.
Most importantly, you can use IT staff augmentation services when your team cannot handle the scenario your company is facing. It can go from projects where some specialized knowledge is required to a decreased demand that requires new marketing ideas. Their skills will get your company through such scenarios properly.
On the other hand, you should also use these services when you are assessing a resource augmentation in your business. Their vast experience from working in several industries will give you a unique view of where such augmentation is paramount. They can even assist you in scaling your business.
Thus, you can use IT Staff Augmentation in almost every sector of your business. This is truer than ever today when interconnectivity and the use of online resources are business trending topics. This way, your company will not fall behind in its market.
3. What was the situation of IT staff augmentation at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, IT staff augmentation services were in good demand in several businesses. However, when the pandemic began, they faced severe drawbacks mostly related to travel restrictions and healthcare safety measures. In other words, it was not a pretty-looking picture.
Indeed, most staff augmentation companies saw their market’s value reduced by an estimated 5%. Above all, they could not send their specialists to companies overseas or even to other cities. Furthermore, they also had to deal with issues such as lack of COVID-19 testing and vaccine concerns.
As a result, the situation was initially substantially scary. The uncertainty of the early days of the Pandemic made staff augmentation companies take drastic decisions. After all, their goal was to come out at the end of the crisis still alive in the business.
Certainly, the IT staff augmentation business was not the only one hit by the COVID-19 Pandemic. You can find several examples of industries where the Pandemic generated dangerous problems. One of the most illustrative cases of it is the nursing homes, where understaffing became a major issue.
4. How did IT staff augmentation change because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
In a compressed phrase, we can say: A lot changed for IT staff augmentation. When the pandemic arrived at its worst, many businesses saw their markets plunge. But, the business of IT staff augmentation services saw the complete opposite behavior.
Because of the rise of home offices during the pandemic, the demand for IT staff also rose tremendously. Above all, it was a response to the digital transformation you witnessed with the increased popularity of remote work. This was a field where several companies were not prepared.
As a result, many staff augmentation companies saw their revenue grow by providing expertise about digital tools for safe communication. This allowed an incredible digital transformation worldwide, with companies now selling products and providing services completely online. Undoubtedly, it was not possible without IT staff augmentation.
Moreover, it also represented great news for the IT professionals that saw more available work for them. This scenario is still the same today when we can say that the digital transformation is here to stay. Therefore, any IT support staff will have a job to do for a long time.
5. Why should your company hire IT staff augmentation services?
You now know how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape for IT staff augmentation. However, when it comes to your business, you can find additional reasons to hire IT staff augmentation services. After all, your company’s IT sector will have to keep evolving in the future.
Therefore, you will find it helpful to know about the five reasons we consider the most important for it. Essentially, they apply to every company, regardless of its line of business or location. Hence, you can use them to justify hiring specialists to perform a resource augmentation.
Furthermore, such reasons mostly reflect what your company can get from hiring IT staff augmentation services. Thus, they all are directed to improve your business in several ways, including operationally and financially. In other words, they will make your company a front-runner in the market.
Consequently, they will also indicate how helpful temporary employment can be for your organization. Indeed, it can give your company many great advantages that will allow it to be more productive.
Let us now show you the reasons why your company should hire IT staffing services:
5.1 Fulfilling your temporary requirements
First and foremost, you can fulfill your temporary needs for specific skills through IT staff augmentation. For instance, you can use them to help your team carry out some short-term IT upgrading projects. Their deep knowledge will allow them to complete the projects faster and more efficiently.
Furthermore, staff augmentation companies can also help your organization by providing you with specialists to train your permanent staff. This is paramount for scenarios where additional knowledge is necessary to face new challenges related to costs and marketing. Therefore, your team will substantially need such training.
Nevertheless, it will need you to discover where your full-time staff lacks expertise. Essentially, your HR department is responsible for assessing this. But, they may have a lot of work to do besides this. Hence, you should consider hiring outsourced HR support staff to assist them.
5.2 Getting the specialists you need
Today, you can face the issue of needing specialized skills in several parts of your company. For example, you may require the help of a web designer if you think your company’s website needs some upgrading. Here, getting the specialists you need is essential.
Luckily, you can get them through IT staff augmentation. This way, you will handle these issues properly and without needing to hire new permanent employees. In other words, you will resolve your problems quickly and with methods that only a specialist can show you.
Moreover, the specialists you hire through staff augmentation can help you in other sectors of your business besides IT. For instance, the knowledge of expert customer services executives may come in handy to help your company understand its clients. Consequently, you will know what to sell them and how.
5.3 Reducing costs
When you need a certain skill for a limited time, hiring permanent employees is not your best option. After all, you would spend a lot of time and resources in sourcing, recruiting, hiring, training, and onboarding them. Besides, they will not have any more assignments after your requirements are covered.
On the contrary, you can save money by hiring proper IT staffing services. They will provide you with such services without all the expenses of hiring full-time workers. Furthermore, you will also avoid paying potential unemployment compensation to them.
As a result, you will end up with money that you can invest in other parts of your organization. Here, the word of experts in the financial field is paramount. So, you should consider seeking the services of outsourced accountants and finance staff for your company.
5.4 Communication
One thing where IT outsourcing and IT staff augmentation vary tremendously is communication. In the case of IT outsourcing, they mostly handle projects. Therefore, you will only need to tell them what you need and wait for the results. As you can see, there is not much communication there.
On the other hand, the specialists your staffing company gave you are in constant communication with your team. It will give them the advantage of knowing how your business works and how your team operates. This way, they will assess your requirements more adequately.
Such communication is even more essential if you are working with remote staff. In this matter, good communication will allow you to offshore your IT functions properly.
5.5 Building a better team
On a general scale, your hired IT staff augmentation services will help you to build a better team. Essentially, you are increasing their knowledge and allowing them to learn about new skills they would not have learned otherwise. This will help your company in many ways.
In short, you can make your company a must-see to potential new customers by using IT staff augmentation. It is a way temporary employment can assist your business in its search for new heights in the market.
6. Where can you find more information about IT staff augmentation?
Any company that is not prepared to handle market disruptions or other issues is doomed. That is a fact that you must consider in your company constantly. Hence, you should learn about how IT staff augmentation could help you before the COVID-19 Pandemic, and how it can help you today.
Above all, hiring proper IT staff augmentation services involves seeking the best staff augmentation companies available. At the top of that list, you can find Connect Staff. Our meaningful work will demonstrate to you why your IT staff will be incredibly effective by working with us.
Our representatives are eager to talk to you about our IT staff augmentation services. Thus, find a moment to contact us and discover all the ways we can help your company. Give us a call at +971 43 316 688 or write us an email at contact@connectstaff.ae.
We are sure that you will be able to find the job offer of your dreams on The Talent Point. Come and review our available job offers and send us your CV to thetalentpoint.com to apply for one. Moreover, any CV sent to contact@thetalentpoint.com will not be stored.
