Staff Augmentation vs. Outsourcing: Pros, Cons & Which is Right for You?

Staff augmentation is a widely accepted method by different organizations to fill team positions for project completion. Outsourcing is also a great way to keep projects moving by assigning tasks to an enterprising third party.

But if you had to choose between the two, which one would you pick? Today, we will make a detailed comparison of staff augmentation vs. outsourcing.

What Is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is when your organization extends the team by instantly onboarding a few professionals on the team temporarily. The onboarding is done by dealing with a staff augmentation agency and signing necessary agreements.

Staff augmentation is done to fill up team skill gaps within a short time, which is nearly impossible with regular hiring procedures. Staff augmentation removes the additional HR and other employment formalities and lets professionals get to work immediately.

Pros of Staff Augmentation

• Abundant talent for hire
• Better governance over the project
• Flexible deadlines
• Integrates better with internal procedures of any business
• Companies can scale easily
• Allows better cohesion and teamwork
• Cost-effective solution

Cons of Staff Augmentation

• Management costs can get very high in certain situations
• It might detract attention from core business operations
• Additional training costs may arise in the future
• Chance to increase overhead
• Cultural barriers make communication difficult

What Is Outsourcing?

Outsourcing is when you hire an entire third-party team of professionals for a specific project. Outsourcing is a much broader partnership than team augmentation since it covers more aspects, and the agency engages the company more in-depth.

In an outsourcing contract, the business and the outsourcing agency have to work on mutual trust, and the agency takes more responsibility for the quality and state of the final product. 

Pros of Outsourcing

• Highly Efficient
• The project manager is outsourced
• Requires next to zero training
• Higher chances to hit deadlines
• It does not take away resources from core business processes
• Scales better
• High turnover rate
• Helps overcome lack of internal capabilities

Cons of Outsourcing

• Reduces control over the project
• More difficult to integrate with internal systems
• Smaller projects are not very cost-effective
• Project-based outsourcing is much slower
• The overall cost of outsourcing is very high

Staff Augmentation Vs. Outsourcing: A Complete Comparison Table

Factors	Staff Augmentation	Outsourcing
Costs	The company covers most of the operational costs	Outsourcing agency covers most of the operational costs
Purpose	To fill specific skill gaps when assembling a team	To carry out projects when the company is unwilling or unable to hire individuals to create a team
Work Structure and Management	Requires management efforts but increases overall team cohesion	The external team is more independent and doesn’t mix well with the company staff
Knowledge	The client checks the expertise of the supplementary workers by interacting with them.	Outsourcing agencies and team leaders handle the process of gathering professionals.
Onboarding	The onboarding process is rapid as well as the beginning of operations	Both parties need to finalize legal documents, thoroughly research the project, and establish milestones before beginning
Team Combination	Combines well with internal teams	Works more independently and doesn’t mix with the internal team very well.
Project Management	Project management is done by an internal project manager	An outsourced project manager does project management
Vendor Relationship	Relation with a vendor is more shallow	Relation with the vendor is more detailed
Team Composition	Augmented teams may often lack internal knowledge of the organization	Outsourced teams offer a more customized experience for businesses by knowing the internal operations first

To Wrap It All Up

Both staff augmentation and outsourcing have merits that make it perfect for organizations. Whether you opt for staff augmentation or outsourcing, Impala Intech is here to help you with all your needs.

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