5 Reasons to Choose Custom Development Services over Staff Augmentation

One option is to outsource certain aspects of the business that are not their core competencies, for example, a part of or their whole development team. However, there is another option that many companies overlook — custom software development services. As an ideal solution for businesses of any scale, it offers a long-term partnership with an IT provider who can help them build their digital strategy from the ground up. In this article, we will review the benefits and differences of both options. 

A Quick Brief on Staff Augmentation

The concept of outstaffing, also known as staff augmentation, involves working with a remote team that is officially employed by a different company. This can be done on a temporary or permanent basis, depending on the needs of the business. Enterprises outsource development for a number of reasons, including shortage of skills, increased workload, or seasonal fluctuations. This type of staffing is also used as one of the ways to reduce the costs associated with hiring full-time employees, such as benefits and payroll taxes.

Staff augmentation is a popular option for businesses looking to improve their software and digital products. However, this is not necessarily the best idea if you want your product to succeed. Here is why:

• Outstaffing can cause confusion among different staff members who may not understand their roles in the project or how everything fits together as a whole.
• When augmenting staff, company management assumes additional responsibilities to properly manage new hires, which can present more complexities.

Read our checklist of top 10 things to do before outsourcing your software development project to a vendor.

Custom Software Development Services: Things to Consider

Custom development services are provided by an experienced vendor that specializes in helping businesses develop a particular software as per their specific needs. Such services usually cover the entire process of software product development, from requirement gathering and analysis to testing and deployment. In most cases, custom application development services are provided by companies that have all the necessary expertise and resources to carry out the development process in an efficient and timely manner.

Custom software development involves a lot of research, planning, and customization to meet the unique requirements of the business. It is a process that necessitates cooperation between many teams within the company — including marketing, UX/UI designers, sales, customer support, and IT — as well as outside contractors and consultants.

The major advantage of working with a software development company is that they can manage multiple projects simultaneously while you focus on your own business. This can help your organization expand faster by allowing it to focus on its areas of strength rather than wasting time and resources on what can be delegated.

Staff Augmentation vs. Custom Development Services

Custom application development services and outstaffing can be compared from many points of view, but the client's position is critical in both versions of the paradigm. Have a look at the table below to compare the models in terms of the client responsibilities they require:

Client Responsibility Matrix

To sum up, clients need to invest significantly more energy and time in staff augmentation services compared to custom development services. However, this can also imply that they have more say over their product's future. Using custom software development services, in turn, frees up time and resources that would be otherwise spent on mundane but vital tasks, such as team management.

Besides, according to KPMG's survey 2021, organizations delegate software development for the following considerations:

Source

In the end, all companies seek quality work that meets the specific needs of their business, but there may be other reasons as well. Be sure to consider the following five factors when making your decision.

1. No Need to Source for Specific Roles and Skill Sets

Due to their ever-evolving demands, many organizations struggle to fill important roles with qualified candidates — for instance, McKinsey’s report reveals that 87% of companies are currently experiencing a talent shortage.

When you go with a custom development company, they already have specific skill sets required for your project. This ensures smooth development processes because you save time that you could have wasted trying to find experts with the fitting skills on a tight market. You can simply rely on experienced professionals to design and build the solution for  your organization. Depending on the engagement model, they may take care of all the stages of development – from project management to coding — ensuring that your project is completed on time and within budget.

2. Leveraging New Expertise

If you need a high level of expertise, it is preferable to address your challenges to a bespoke software development company that is guaranteed to have the appropriate knowledge and experience. Such a vendor will have a deep understanding of your industry and will be able to offer insights and solutions that you may not have thought of. They also usually provide a higher level of support and maintenance after the project is finalized. Besides, companies specializing in providing custom software development services have access to the best software engineering practices and tools. All this implies that they can build a product that is up to the standards you require.

Case in point: Offshore Norge (formerly, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association) needed a completely new inventory management system to enable equipment sharing between shelf operators and reduce stock overlap. This was not the first time the company was trying to build a system like this. However, previous efforts have not yielded results that adequately addressed the issue of matching SKU descriptions. To help our client, Infopulse developed a cutting-edge cloud-based portal where operators submit inventory data presented in a structured way so that users can search and request inventory, saving up to hundreds of millions of euros for oil and gas operators.

3. No Need to Manage the Team

Creating software in-house may seem an attractive option in the case when you already have a development team for other initiatives. However, internal development might be difficult to manage effectively until the project is completed. Assigning your engineers to an internal project could add stress to their already hectic schedules and dampen their enthusiasm

When you partner with a custom software development company, there is no need for you to constantly micromanage or check up on their work. All you need to do is set some milestones and deadlines, and then you can rest assured that the progress and deliverables will be controlled by your partner throughout the project. This is an excellent option if you are not comfortable managing employees or if you want to focus on your own business instead of overseeing the development process.

Case in point: An international logistics company had a business concept for an innovative platform for bulk cargo delivery and required the support of a reputable software provider to implement it. They sought a partner with in-depth subject expertise, effective problem-solving abilities, and end-to-end accountability for the software product quality and performance. Infopulse was able to meet the client’s needs and develop an unmatched platform for bulk freight distribution in the Eastern European market. While the team worked around the clock to meet tight deadlines and deliver the platform on time, the client was free to focus on running the operations without having to worry about managing the project.

4. Saving Costs on Salaries

According to the results of the Deloitte 2020 survey, 70% of companies placed a priority on minimizing expenses when selecting a software development partner.

Custom software development companies charge per project or on a contract basis as opposed to full-time employees, which means there are no expensive benefits like health insurance or other expenses that come along with hiring full-time employees. This also means that you know exactly what you are paying for from start to finish, and there is no need to worry about unexpected expenses or overruns.

The company that you choose to work with has the right to increase employee pay, but you will not be on the hook for the additional costs associated with this change. For instance, developer salaries are on the rise all the time, but you do not need to be concerned about this because you are not employing a specific individual but rather paying for a service.

5. Building Strategic Partnerships

In addition to delivering cutting-edge software, a reliable company may become your business partner. Having a strategic mindset, they can aid your company in multiple areas. As you work together, you will have access to the resources and expertise of the service provider that will serve as a launching pad for innovative thinking. This way, you can assess how your company can change to suit emerging needs.

Custom development services provider cares about your product just as much as you do and invests in it accordingly. This implies that custom development experts will take the time to comprehend what makes your product unique before working with you. This understanding is crucial to building a quality software solution because it allows them to create something that works seamlessly with what you already have in place.  In collaboration with a provider, you can also drive innovation by adding new features that were not previously possible.

Such partnering also involves reviewing your existing business processes and products, providing advice on how best to implement technology solutions to improve efficiency or add new features for customers, identifying risks associated with decisions made, and developing IT strategies if needed.

Case in point: Infopulse was contacted to participate in the implementation of a comprehensive portfolio of high-tech solutions in accordance with the digital transformation strategy of the client, one of the leading mobile operators in Ukraine. Together with the client’s team, our team conducted a business requirements analysis and developed different digital solutions, including CRM, mobile ID platform, MNP, and NB-IoT, to optimize business processes, improve productivity, and automate workflows.

Final Thoughts

There are many benefits to working with a custom software development company. They can give you access to rare talents that are so much sought for on the market, offer a comprehensive end-to-end service package, as well as provide continuous maintenance for project upgrades. In addition, companies that offer software development services commonly have scalable teams with solid project management skills and quality/security assurance tools. All of this can help improve the success of your project.

Therefore, it is crucial to hire a reputable software development company with a proven track record of success to make sure your project stays on budget and schedule. A well-crafted custom software solution has the potential to generate a significant return on investment over time.