Outsourcing vs Outstaffing Models: What is the Difference?

Your company leases professionals to work exclusively on your project. Workers receive payment through an outstaffing agency, who solves all workforce-related issues as well. More often, we can meet IT outsourcing, that is, outsourcing of information technologies and software product maintenance.

But what if you have a tech team that misses a specialist with certain skills? Let’s see its pros and cons and what difference it may bring to your business. Outsourcing and staff augmentation in software development (outstaffing) mean different approaches to who and how will do a particular tech task. And before we explain this any further, we need to provide a few definitions of terms we’ll use throughout the article. Getting a person to complement your team can be done the same way.

When to Outstaff?

The task scope highly correlates with the type of problem you want to solve. So, if the lists of tasks go, it becomes clear it’s not a one-person job. Some people are gifted with either technical or managing skills. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs underestimate the complexity of hiring an outstaff team. They believe that they’ll be able to communicate, manage and assign tasks to the remote staff, and manage their business at the same time. With the outstaffing service model, you are in charge of managing the development process.

software outsourcing and outstaffing

Since the client already has an in-house team, the salaries of these employees are not considered when calculating the outstaffed specialist’s salary. Outsourcing software development means great relief from the burden of handling and tracking the entire development process. However, if you prefer to be involved in every step your team takes, be prepared to relinquish control over every aspect of your project. It becomes evident that even though outsourcing and outstaffing are based on the same principles, the two models have key differences.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing

When outsourcing functions that involve sensitive data or proprietary information, data security and confidentiality become major concerns. Sharing confidential information with external parties increases the risk of data breaches, intellectual property theft, or unauthorized access. Companies must establish robust data protection measures, contractual agreements, and security protocols to safeguard their sensitive C# Web Development information. We’ll rarely send you articles to keep you updated with the latest software development trends. More than a third of small businesses surveyed in Clutch’s 2019 review outsource a business process and more than half have plans to outsource in the future. The implementation of AI into business to harness the potential of data and cloud services is gaining traction like nothing else today.

Making up even an approximate plan for your project greatly increases the efficiency of its implementation. Setting up deadlines and milestones, as well as KPIs, will help developers assemble sprints and stick to them. Of course, their input might help you refine and clarify the goals, but this way the hired professionals aren’t the ones setting direction for the project—you are.

Outstaffing Vs Outsourcing Software Development

You can outsource any chunk of work, but if you remain in charge of the daily management of a team’s activities, you will be working within the outstaffing model. The same applies to detailed user stories provided by the client. Let’s start with an explanation what the difference between software outsourcing and outstaffing is.

software outsourcing and outstaffing

Outsourcing is a model of cooperation involving the transfer
of all product development responsibilities to a service provider. You can just become a
customer of a reliable IT company that will do the job for you. In addition, outsourcing allows businesses to focus on their core competencies and strategic initiatives by delegating non-core functions to external providers. Additionally, it offers scalability and flexibility, enabling companies to quickly adjust their operations without the limitations of hiring, training, and onboarding new employees.

Cons

Support the team to keep them productive and aligned with the client’s business.5. Identify and remove bottlenecks, engaging the client if necessary7. Take note that, much as with the outsource team, the workers you outstaff are officially employed by a third-party. The company providing the services pays for salaries, taxes, compensation, insurance, software licenses and equipment. Nowadays, the global outsourcing market has grown to $92.5 billion and continues to grow.

software outsourcing and outstaffing

We are an excellent option for companies looking to acquire proficient tech specialists on a reasonable budget. No matter how specific you are about your project, you can be sure our recruiters will assist you in rounding up a development team that helps you exceed your project’s expectations. The principal difference between outstaffing vs. outsourcing often boils down to who will run the team. If your goal is to build a product without personal involvement – outsourcing is a more reasonable step. On the other hand, if you want to strengthen your internal team with the skills you lack within your organization, outstaffing is a more fitting solution.

Software Outsourcing and Outstaffing with ProCoders

However, like every other endeavor, success in software outsourcing projects requires understanding the intricacy of the process from start to finish. This guide will help you to find the right software developer outsourcing company for your needs. The fixed price model is best suited for short-term projects lasting 1-2
months. It is possible to use this approach in long-term ones, yet, it is very
unlikely since it might be challenging to plan the development process
carefully. If a company has
IT personnel but lacks niche specialists, such as AI developers, it is an
obvious candidate. Outstaffing is also suitable for companies that experience
heavy workloads and need to expand their human resources quickly.

  • Basically, you hire a team 100% dedicated to your project and working as a part of your in-house team.
  • We handpick the perfect specialists to bolster your ranks, saving you the hassle and expense of hiring an entire team.
  • If they have the experience, they’ll probably know all in’s and out’s, as well as potential pitfalls, and be able to overcome them.
  • Even with an in-house team, it makes sense to outsource some aspects of development.

What concerns personal testing, there are various types of testing. Some companies tend to test out of the box, but this testing for quality can be limited. So, a client can also order personal testing that his/her outsourced team can carry out with delight. Things go differently when it comes to outstaffing since an outstaffing company is a supplier of developers who work for the client directly.

How to Choose a Software Testing Company: Engineering Firms vs. QA Agencies

There is a chance for mishandling of private information or confidential data. To overcome these issues, it’s critical to have strong security safeguards and extensive confidentiality agreements in place. Does it feel like a catch-22 when it’s time to choose what’s right for your business? At times, you need to choose before you try and then there are times when you really need to try before you choose. Outstaffing provides businesses with an opportunity to look for fresh pools of talent located in other cities, countries and even continents.

Waverley Software, with 28 years of experience, 230 engineers and over 150 completed projects, is equally proficient at both models. If you are hesitant and would like expert help to select the right scenario for your business, our experts can provide a consultation and come up with the most beneficial solution. In fact, Sales, Marketing, Accounting can also be performed remotely by the same or a different provider. An outsourcing provider usually works as your independent engineering department, taking care of all aspects of building your product or whatever elements you choose to outsource. You can augment your tech team by hiring a developer from an outstaffing agency and have a full team assembled to start your project.

Step 7. Begin the Development Process

The significant advantage (or disadvantage) of software services outsourcing is that all the management lies on the shoulders of the outsourced development company you hire. You can have regular sync calls with the project manager of the outsourced development team, but you won’t be deeply involved in the development process. When it comes to the management of external teams, outsourcing vs. outstaffing are polar approaches. In case of outstaffing, the client (or someone on their side) will manage the remote team and ensure that the SDLC goes in the right direction. With that in mind, you need to see if you have internal resources for team management if you choose this approach. When you outsource, you won’t manage the team, as the vendor handles the SDLC.

Bec Geyer