How Nearshore IT Staff Augmentation Works

Simply put, Nearshore IT staff augmentation enables companies to outsource the time and expertise of top talent from countries with the same or similar time zones.

But how does the Nearshore staff augmentation process work?

To help us answer that question, let’s start by seeing how the traditional in-house staffing process works.

In-House Staffing

While every company is different, in-house IT staffing typically involves 7 broad stages:

A) Identify the talent needed for a project, busy season, or increased workload

B) Recruit the talent:

1. Develop a job listing
2. Collect applications
3. Review applications
4. Interview candidates
5. Hire to fill the role(s)

NOTE:

• average recruitment time for tech/software developers is from 24 to 40 days
• average cost per hire across all non-executive positions is $4,683
• average cost per developer hire is 12% of their annual salary

C) Onboard the talent: payroll, deductions, benefits, etc.

D) Arrange office space and equipment

E) Employee orientation

F) Train the talent as needed going forward

G) Once the original need for the talent no longer exists, either:

1. let the talent go
2. or keep them on doing busy work out of loyalty or to avoid becoming understaffed later

Now that we’ve had a look at the traditional in-house staffing process, let’s see how Nearshore outsourcing compares.

Nearshore IT Staff Augmentation

The Nearshore approach to staff augmentation typically involves less stages (4 instead of 7), less setup time, less internal resources, and a much easier decision to make once the talent is no longer needed:

1. Identify the talent needed for a project, busy season, or increased workload
2. Communicate your IT outsourcing needs to an?established Nearshore IT staff augmentation agency that has a high-quality talent pool
3. Integrate the Nearshore talent provided into your normal team processes (e.g., Scrum teams, unscheduled meetings, real-time project team oversight and reporting, site visits)
4. Once the original need for the talent no longer exists, freely release the talent back into the pool (and freely tap them again later whenever you want)

While that’s what the Nearshore IT staff augmentation process involves, it’s also important to note?what it does NOT involve:

A)?Recruiting the talent:

• Developing a job listing
• Collecting applications
• Reviewing applications
• Interviewing candidates
• Hiring to fill the role(s)

B)?Onboarding the talent: payroll, deductions, benefits, etc.

C)?Arranging office space and equipment

D)?Employee orientation

E)?Training the talent as needed going forward

F)?Once the original need for the talent no longer exists, either:

• letting the talent go
• or keeping them on doing busy work out of loyalty or to avoid becoming understaffed later

The Benefits of Nearshore IT Staff Augmentation

The outline above makes it easy to see some of the benefits of?Nearshore IT staff augmentation.

But it doesn’t stop there. The Nearshore approach to staffing also means:

• Increased?agility?thanks to making and implementing staffing decision more quickly
• Elastic team capacity with the?ability to?scale?quickly
• Leveraging top talent to?do more in less time
• Labor savings?of 30 to 40% (plus 11 other cost savings discussed in?this article)
• Avoiding the time lags of Offshore?outsourcing thanks to same time zone or similar time zones
• Similar potential for?real time collaboration?as Onshore outsourcing
• Better communications?thanks to sharing a similar language, work culture and work ethic
• Only paying?for the talent as long as you need to

Summary & Next Steps

Nearshore IT staff augmentation offers companies multiple advantages over in-house staffing and an impressive list of benefits.

That said, you’ll need to work with an?established Nearshore IT staff augmentation agency that has a high-quality talent pool?for best results when filling critical business gaps.

At Launchpad, our same-time-zone Latin America team of English speaking experts are your answer to gaining all the benefits of world-class tech talent without any of the downsides of in-house staffing or Offshoring.

"The?quality of the people?and domain knowledge at Launchpad Technologies is impressive. They take hiring their team seriously to ensure not only that their team has the?competency and skills?for the job, but also the culture and?personality fit?of their client."

-Chris Tiernan, Head of IT, Splunk