Should You Use IT Consulting Services or IT Staff Augmentation Services?

 If you are the owner of a business and need some information technology advice or assistance, you have two options when it comes to choosing the right IT service solution. You can hire IT consultants, who will work with your employees on-site, or you can use an IT staff augmentation service, which will provide you with additional full-time employees on an as-needed basis. Which one should you choose? Let’s take a look at what each has to offer and see if we can’t figure it out!

The Pros of IT Consultancy

The primary benefit of hiring an outside firm is that they can add in extra hands as and when you need them, which means you don’t have to deal with long-term contracts. Another major advantage is that they come with their own set of resources: if there’s something specific your company needs—and you don’t want to develop in-house—you don’t have to worry about either purchasing it yourself or developing a team member who can do it for you. Finally, getting outside help on an interim basis gives you access to experts and skills that might not be easily available from within your organization. They already know how to do what needs doing, so keeping them around as permanent employees isn't needed.

Also Read: India Is Top IT Outsourcing Destination! Everything You Must Know To Outsource To India

The Pros of IT Staff Augmentation

Avoiding Overhead Costs. Hiring an employee is not a one-time cost, but rather a commitment to cover his salary, health insurance, and other benefits. The more employees you hire, the greater your company's overhead costs will be. With staffing services, however, you'll only need to pay for their services on a project basis without having to worry about any employee-related expenses after each project is over. That's why many companies look at it as a cost-effective way of getting highly qualified technical staff while they're in need.

The Cons of Using an It Consultant

Every business is different, which means your specific problems may require specific solutions. This is why many companies choose to hire IT consultants—to ensure that your needs are accurately identified and addressed. This ensures that you only pay for services you need and enables you to customize a solution around what’s best for your company. While this might sound like a good thing, there’s one big con of using it consultant: high costs. Hiring a third-party consultant isn’t cheap, as they typically come with fixed rates, hourly fees, or large retainers. As such, if you outgrow their capabilities quickly, it can cost more than just taking on additional staff by hiring IT staff augmentation services instead.

Also Read: Staff Augmentation vs. Project Outsourcing vs. Managed Services: Which One is Right for You?

The Cons of Using an It Service Company

There are times when hiring an outside company to provide IT staff augmentation services makes sense, but there are a few drawbacks. The most obvious one is that you might have to pay more for consultants than you would your own in-house IT staff. Another drawback is that it can be difficult to find great contractors and hire them away from existing jobs at other companies. It can also be hard to ensure that all of your team members work with each other effectively if they come from different companies. Finally, consultants don't typically offer consistent ongoing service, which means that you'll need to hire another consulting firm when you're looking for additional help again in six months or a year.

Comparison between IT consultancy and IT staff augmentation services

These two service types are often confused with each other. There are some basic differences between them and if you’re not careful, you might end up paying for services that you don’t actually need. Here’s a guide to explain how they differ: - IT Consultancy: With consulting services, an outside firm is hired to manage your IT department on a day-to-day basis. This way, you can rely on their expertise and gain access to resources beyond what your in-house team can offer. - It staff augmentation: With staff augmentation, companies hire freelancers (on an as-needed basis) who are versed in multiple technologies, programming languages, etc., instead of having one specialist perform everything themselves. The main benefit of staff augmentation over full-time hiring is cost—since these people aren’t on your payroll all year long, there’s no need to fork over large sums upfront. But while it may be tempting to save money by hiring cheaper part-time labor, it doesn't always work out that way. For example, sometimes customers get burned by individuals looking for extra cash; in exchange for low hourly wages, said freelancers may only dedicate minimal time to tasks they're hired for and fail to properly execute them. If you have high standards and expect quality work at every turn—and especially if you plan on using freelancers more than once—it consultancy may be right for you since it includes additional planning steps before workers start performing tasks.

Also Read: IT Staff Augmentation vs. IT Consulting Services- Which is Better For You?