Choosing the right partner for IT augmentation? Learn the main strategies for evaluating proposals to increase the IT team, ensuring alignment with the objectives and quality of the project.
Custom software is a growing market across industries and is a useful tool for combating customer issues using solutions unique to your company. But finding the right talent to create your custom software can be tricky. How can you find developers who have the specific skills you need without conducting a long search? The best way is by using IT staff augmentation .
Staff augmentation allows you to access experienced developers who have the skills you need quickly, while controlling time and labor costs. It involves assessing what employees and skill sets you currently have. A qualified partner will provide you with a proposal that clearly outlines which talents you should acquire to achieve your software development goals.
Here's what IT decision makers should look for in the best proposals.
How to choose the best IT team increase proposal
If you're looking for the right software development partner, it's likely that IT staff augmentation proposals are piling up on your desk. Sifting through them all can take a long time and it can be difficult to assess which proposals will result in the best staffing results. But if you come across a proposal that meets all of the requirements below, whether in writing or in person, you'll likely have an excellent staff augmentation partner on your hands.
An excellent proposal and partner will:
- Listen carefully and meet your company's unique needs. The right team-growing partner puts your goals as the highest priority. This means understanding and anticipating your needs from the first meeting. They should ask you in detail about your preferences. For example, do you prefer to meet online or in person? What time is most compatible with your schedule? See how well a staff augmentation partner meets your company's unique needs from the first point of contact.
- Have the ability to deploy personnel quickly. A good partner will have developers ready to start working exactly when you need them most. They must have a diverse team, with high availability and a quick recruitment turnaround. This shows your level of professionalism and reliability and gets you where you need to go faster.
- Offer the best talent. It goes without saying that you should only accept the best talent available. These developers must have eight years of experience or more and be among the top 1% of people performing in their field. Of course, hiring talent like this outside of a reputable staffing firm will be especially difficult, since all the best engineers and developers likely work for other companies, like Apple or Google. Working with a partner capable of extracting the cream of the crop will ensure you get the highest quality talent possible, which will greatly enhance your existing team.
- Offer generalists who have the experience your project requires. Look for developers who have the kind of experience and skills you need, with the ability to adapt quickly and easily to new methodologies . To ensure this, make sure your staff augmentation partner understands the nuances of what you are looking for and can provide a team with all the necessary skills.
Red flags to avoid when evaluating proposals
Not all IT staffing partners specialize in providing the help you need or may not be thorough in their hiring processes. Hiring someone who does not meet the above criteria could result in a lack of highly qualified, professional and experienced developers. And having to replace a team partner and the developers they provided will result in lost time and money — and be a source of stress.
If you're looking at an IT staff augmentation proposal or dealing with a potential staff augmentation partner that exhibits any of these warning signs, it's time to look for a better partner.
You know you're dealing with a potentially problematic teammate if they:
- They are not flexible in adapting to their work processes and methodologies. When a new team member is introduced to your project, they should be able to start working immediately. They should be able to adapt to whatever process your team uses and integrate well into your culture and workflow.
- It takes a long time to respond. This can be a problem for companies looking to subcontract staff to offshore development companies, as drastically different time zones impede the ability to communicate in a timely manner. An IT staffing partner can only help you achieve your goals on time if they are highly responsive. You should never have to look for a contact to get an answer to any question or whenever you need help. This partner is not dedicated to helping you succeed. Notice how well your potential partner responds to your questions.
- Delivering doesn't live up to its promises. When a staffing partner makes a promise, he must keep it. Some partners may make promises they can't keep because they expect you to be too busy to replace them. But in our customer-centric economy, you always have a better option. Never settle for less.
- Do not provide the highest quality staff. Speaking of promises, when a recruiting partner promises the highest quality talent, the team you receive must execute accordingly. If you find that you are dealing with a partner that offers mediocre developers, try hiring a partner that has a demonstrated track record of providing top-notch talent.
Get the talent you need and stay on budget
As you can see from the criteria in this article, not all IT staffing companies are created equal. Be sure to review your potential partners accordingly. Or, if you're interested in getting to the bottom of that pile of proposals sooner, you can go straight to the staffing experts.
