Staff Augmentation vs. Dedicated Development Teams
Wondering if staff augmentation or a dedicated development team is better for you? When you’re seeking flexibility, lower costs, and niche skills, these are two obvious options. Find out the differences and get the talent you need.
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Staff Augmentation
What It Is
A type of outsourcing, staff augmentation follows a partnership approach to securing tech talent for your business. Through the model, businesses extend their development teams with software engineers hired on a short-term basis.
Staff augmentation offers a scaled approach to increasing the number of engineers on your team. The focus is on extending team capacity and capabilities. These professionals integrate into your team and workflows, following your procedures and methodologies. You retain ownership and management over your team, as well as the individual developers, for the short-term assignment.
One drawback to staff augmentation is that there can be high turnover because these engineers are not your employees; they may move on to other assignments, leaving you in a lurch.
When to Use it
You have a solid team structure in place.
You need to ramp up your development efforts during peak periods..........................................
You have short-term projects.
You’re facing specific skills gaps or talent shortages.
You want the flexibility to scale your team structure.
You’re looking for temporary talent to fill in the gaps.
Your business is growing.
You’re lacking in sheer numbers.
You need maximum flexibility.
Dedicated Development Teams
What It Is
Through the dedicated team model, you’ll gain access to an entire team, complete with the roles you need, such as software engineers, DevOps engineers, project managers, UX/UI designers, and/or QA testers. Essentially, this is a functional unit of various roles working cohesively on one project or multiple initiatives for your business.
Teams use their own methodologies and policies. They operate independently, although you have full oversight. This is a more holistic approach than staff augmentation. It’s not just about filling in skills gaps; it’s about completing full projects and meeting your long-term needs. Dedicated teams are also more adaptable to various project changes and requirements.
At Terminal, teams may operate remotely or may be co-located in a particular region.
When to Use it
You need an entire team or multiple specialized roles.
Your project scope may change.
You can’t afford to closely manage the team.
You have a long-term or complex project.
You have multiple high-stakes projects you want to offload.
You need to offload an entire project due to internal resource constraints or other factors.
You’re looking to build an extension of your organization in a new geographic area.
You lack the internal resources to complete specific projects.
You’re likely to have projects arise unexpectedly that you can’t accommodate with your internal team.
You want a longer-term relationship with your engineers.
Terminal Full-Time or Contract Engineers
What It Is
Through Terminal’s talent marketplace, you source pre-vetted, highly skilled contract or full-time engineers. It’s not an outsourcing model—these are your hires. You’ll have full control over your talent but can still use Terminal as your employer of record (EOR). Alternatively, you can manage HR/admin for full-time talent.
Terminal’s marketplace offers numerous advantages, including longevity, flexibility, global hiring, and cost savings. Engineers sourced through Terminal cost up to 40% less than US talent.
You can also hire full-time or contract engineers for dedicated co-located or remote teams, building cohesive units to operate as a development arm.
When to Use It
You want to manage and have full control over your hires.
You have long-term development needs.
You want top specialized or general skills.
You’re a startup or SME looking to curb costs while still accessing top-tier tech talent.
You want to ensure security and mitigate integration challenges.
Close collaboration is essential.
You need real employees with full knowledge of your culture and inner workings.
You need consistency.
You want the option of converting a contract engineer to a full-time hire.
How to Choose the Right Approach
Map out your team, project, and larger organization goals.
Choosing among staff augmentation, dedicated teams, and Terminal hires involves careful consideration of your long- and short-term goals.
Identify gaps
Are you experiencing specific skills gaps? Do you need more people or particular abilities? What resources are missing? How long-term are your needs? The answers to these questions will guide your selection process.
Determine how you will best meet these needs and fill in the gaps.
Think about short-term goals and the bigger picture, and consider the engineering staff you have in place. How can you best support them and ensure that you meet your objectives as an organization? Perhaps that’s more individuals on your existing team, or maybe it’s an additional team altogether.
Create a detailed plan for reaching your goals.
This plan will help you clarify the best option:
Choose staff augmentation if you are considering short-term needs and specific, temporary skills shortages.
Choose dedicated teams for longer-term projects.
Choose Terminal for maximum flexibility, collaboration, and long-term business needs. (Remember that you can easily convert contract hires to full-time engineers.)
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Staff Augmentation vs. Dedicated Development Teams vs. Terminal Full-Time/Contract Software Engineers
| Staff Augmentation | Dedicated Teams | Terminal Full-Time/Contract Engineers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | Less predictable | More predictable | Most predictable |
| Flexibility | High | Medium | High |
| Duration | Short-term | Longer-term | Longer-term |
| Level of Control / Management | High for short-term | Medium for long-term | High for long or short-term |
| Methodology | Your choice | Team choice | Your choice |
| Commitment | Low | Medium | High (Full-Time)/Medium (Contract) |