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How to find and hire an outstaffing company: Steps

What are the typical problems that companies face when they work with unscrupulous or unprofessional partners?

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Overview

Today the demand for outstaffing services is growing and the same is happening with the range of offers. Can you choose just any of the companies that provide such services and expect to get perfect results of their work? Definitely not. Thanks to our expertise in the software industry, we know what are the typical challenges that companies face when they work with unscrupulous or unprofessional outstaffing partners. And now we are ready to share our insights with you.

What is outstaffing?

Let’s begin with a basic outstaffing definition. This model presupposes renting a specialist who is an employee of a contracting company to work on a client’s project. This specialist becomes a member of a client’s team and is fully managed by the client. 

Based on the principles of this model, you can hire not only software developers with a wide range of skills but also designers, QA engineers, project managers, business analysts, etc. In other words, such an outstaff team can consist of all the experts whose skills and knowledge are required for project realization.

Benefits of IT outstaffing model: 4Fs

Of course, it will be quite challenging to name all the advantages of outstaffing as some of them will be industry- or even company-specific. However, we’ve managed to prepare a list of the key benefits of this business model and we hope that they will help you to better realize the new possibilities that outstaffing can bring to your business.

  • Financial optimization

For companies, it is more feasible to establish cooperation with external developers than to hire in-house employees, when the contribution of these experts is required only in the framework of one project. The amount that you will pay to a service provider is often calculated based on the hourly rates of developers and other tech experts and you can better plan your budget in advance. Moreover, when you onboard new in-house employees, you need to allocate resources for training and recruitment but in the case of outstaffing, you do not have these expenses.

  • Freedom from local labor laws

When you hire an in-house team, you need to deal with a wide range of existing employment rules and laws in your country. In many countries these rules are rather strict and to obey them all, you need to bear additional expenses. For instance, when you have in-house staff, it is required to think about paid vacations, sick leaves, security retirement benefits, dismissal rules, etc. And when you choose outstaffing, you are free from all these things. These questions will be handled by a vendor in accordance with the rules and laws that are in force in the country where the entity is based and registered.

  • Full control over the development process

The outstaffing model offers you the possibility to be fully involved in all the processes. As you can directly interact with your project team, you can influence all the stages and aspects of the development process. Moreover, you have a right to introduce any changes.

  • Flexibility

Hiring an outstaff team provides you with great flexibility. Even if your requirements and needs change significantly after the start of the project, do not worry. You can easily scale your team up or down every time it is necessary. Also, working with dedicated developers you always can monitor their work and when you see that you are not satisfied with somebody’s performance or somebody just works in the wrong position, it will be absolutely simple to replace this team member so that you will have the team of your dreams.

Outstaffing: How it works?

Let’s closely consider what your work with your IT partner will look like if you decide to choose outstaffing for your software project. Based on our experience, we’ve created the following algorithm of work.

  • Step 1. When our clients come to us, we need to collect the requirements for the project. At this stage, we analyze the client’s business needs, project goals and size, the number of necessary specialists, and the required skills and qualifications. We also always discuss available pricing models, confidentiality measures, and legal questions.
  • Step 2. We start selecting potential candidates to join teh future outstaff team. We have a rich pool of highly qualified specialists, which allows us to create a shortlist of experts who have all the soft and hard skills indicated by the client.
  • Step 3. Then the client has the possibility to communicate with the selected candidates. The list of specialists who will work on the client’s project is approved based on the results of these interviews. At this stage, we also need to discuss and approve the list of tools that will be used for communication, planning, and project tracking.
  • Step 4. Now the selected specialists need to familiarize themselves with the project team, as well as with all the internal rules and processes. At this stage, it is necessary to set deadlines, approve plans, and provide external developers with all the necessary access to the tools and communication channels.
  • Step 5. The work on the project begins. Developers get their tasks and fulfill them in accordance with the requirements set by the client. 

During all the steps of the project development, as an outstaff company, we are always in touch with our clients and provide support when it is required. Calls are organized on a regular basis.

How to find a good outstaffing company?

The questions on how to find outstaffing companies remain quite pressing for many businesses. To enjoy all the benefits of the outstaffing model, it is important to have a reliable partner by your side.

  1. Pay attention not only to the set rates for outstaff but also to such important parameters as time on the market, previous experience, portfolio, and reviews on external platforms.
  2. If you’ve managed to find comments written by the clients of the company under consideration, analyze them attentively. What disadvantages are named? Are you ready to put up with them?
  3. Do not hesitate to contact the outstaff company directly and ask as many questions as you have. If the company doesn’t have case studies that are publicly available, you can ask the team representative to share any cases with you. Maybe case studies can be provided on requests. Among other important points to ask about, there are the tech stack, the geography of the talent pool, and the time needed to provide specialized staffing to meet your requirements.
  4. If everything seems to be quite attractive, you can ask this outstaffing company to prepare a draft of a contract for you. Read it attentively and be extremely careful when you are reading a part where all financial terms are described. If at least something looks suspicious, it’s better to find another option. Do not ignore the points related to intellectual property rights and data privacy.
  5. Do not forget that it can be absolutely okay to discuss questions related to potential cooperation and outstaffing services with a couple of vendors simultaneously in order to choose really the best one who has the business approaches and values that are close to yours.

Pains and gains of the outstaffing model

Let’s admit that even if you have devoted enough time and effort to choosing your future outstaff partner and at the moment of contract signing you are absolutely sure that it is a very good choice, there can be some unpleasant surprises that you can notice significantly later. 

We are on the market since 2008 and we know how what issues you can face when you start working with a company that provides outstaffing services to you. Over the years of work, we had different cases when companies came to us after having some problems with contractors.

Case 1. Middle engineers were offered as seniors. 

The company came to us because they felt that they were overpaying for the outstaffing services provided by their previous vendor. The rates of specialists who had skills of middle engineers were the same as those of seniors. 

We clearly understand that customers need to get services that will be adequate for their cost. On our team, we have Middle and Senior developers who meet all the strictest requirements of the global software development market.

Case 2. It was required to replace engineers with new specialists.

As we can see from the experience of our clients, very often it can happen so that vendors offer uncomfortable conditions to their employees which led to high staff turnover. Engineers leave companies amid the development process. Of course, such situations have a negative impact on the results.

One of the clients turned to us after two developers who had played key roles in the project had decided to leave it. The contractor couldn’t offer new specialists to fill in their positions. 

We understand the nature of these problems related to the outstaffing model that’s why we do our best to retain our employees and to give them wide opportunities for personal and professional growth. It helps us to minimize the risks of replacing specialists after the beginning of the development process.

Final word

If you have already faced any negative experiences in working with companies that provide outstaffing services, it doesn’t mean that you should look for a new model of cooperation with developers.

Drop us a message to get a consultation from our experts
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