What is team extension?
Team extension, also called staff augmentation, means a strategy of incorporating and engaging highly skilled tech specialists into the in-house development team to add more value to specific projects. External expertise within an extended team model helps reinforce the internal staff when it lacks particular skills in software development to accomplish the intensive tasks.
The team extension model does not mean the outstaffers work separately and require additional control and management. On the contrary, they are organically integrated into the internal team and equally responsible for the product’s success. Extension of the team allows you to control the developers effectively through properly established communication channels.
Benefits of staff augmentation
The company’s tech executives value an extension of the team for a set of advantages.
Access to the global talent market
The staff augmentation model enables you to select the right expert among the top candidates worldwide, increasing your company’s competitiveness.
Cost-effectiveness
Hiring external software engineers helps you reduce expenditures related to workers’ salaries, retirement payments, and insurance without undermining software quality.
Quick staff scaling
As the company’s workload can change quickly, software development team extension is the quickest and most effective mode to recruit top specialists required for the specific needs of your project.
Absolute control over the product development process
Engineering staff augmentation empowers you with total control over the augmented team members. By applying efficient communication means you remain engaged in every aspect of the project, monitoring the budget, product quality, and project deadlines.
Quality assurance
A team augmentation partner takes on total responsibility for the quality of services they provide. Thus, you are sure to obtain the desired results from the outstaffed developers.
Unbiased expertise and relevant tips
Temporary employees you hire through the team extension model can offer you a fresh opinion on a specific project, recommend certain improvements, and detect mistakes made by the internal staff because of company biases.
When to apply the team extension model?
You can benefit from this cooperation model if you plan to enrich your in-house team of software engineers by bringing in new talents.
Other cases when your company should opt for the team extension services include the following:
- Your team lacks the expertise or skills for specific product development.
- The rates of local software developers seem to be too high.
- Your in-house specialists are currently working on some crucial tasks, and you prefer delegating specific development issues to external experts who can deal with a non-typical-for-you project.
- Your project turned more complex, and you need extra developers to speed up the product development process.
- Your team is small to meet the project deadlines.
- You have to recruit the best professionals within the set budget and time.
How does team augmentation work?
Once you have decided to engage an extended team, you must find a suitable vendor to ensure a trouble-free integration of the outstaffed developers into your in-house team.
A typical workflow for integrating an augmented team involves certain steps.
1. Planning
Like any cooperation, team extension demands initial planning. This stage involves estimating the project’s scope, development needs, and required skills.
2. Screening and interviewing the candidates
Regarding the project needs and specifications, a vendor will choose and examine candidates with the necessary tech and soft skills to augment the internal team.
3. Team onboarding
Onboarding means synchronizing an extended tech development team with the company’s methodologies and development life cycle.
4. Scaling and support
If project requirements change, a team augmentation provider can easily add new dedicated developers or dissolve the specialists no longer needed.