How to Improve The Scope Of Development Using Staff Augmentation

How to Improve The Scope Of Development Using Staff Augmentation
Managing the scope of development can be tough with a small in-house team - that's where development staff augmentation comes in and helps save the day.

Managing the scope of development with a smaller, less experienced team can end up being a major challenge. Not only do these teams usually have to rely on limited resources, but they also can struggle to handle more advanced tasks that are more at home in a larger company.

This is especially prominent in startups and new businesses with new teams. A new team may not yet have the seamless interactions and communication needed to deliver a minimum viable product quickly.

Quickly, these issues lead to scope creep or running out of runway for these same businesses. And once these problems have set in, it’s near-impossible for the company to turn things around.

Unless they approach it differently right from the get-go.

This is where staff augmentation and running lean in-house teams come in.

What Is The Typical Scope Of Development?

The scope of development refers to the specific goals, objectives, and deliverables of a software development project. The scope is usually defined in the project plan, which outlines the overall vision of the project and the steps needed to achieve it.

There are multiple steps to defining the scope of development. These will include things like setting the requirements for the project, the overall architecture, designing the user interface, getting to deployment, and much more. In short, many steps for things to go either very right or very wrong.

The scope of development can also include specific features or functionality that are required to meet the project goals. For example, if the project is to develop a website, the scope may include features such as user registration, content management, and search functionality.

It is important to carefully define the scope of development to ensure that the project remains focused and manageable. This can help to avoid scope creep, which is when the project expands beyond its original scope, leading to delays, budget overruns, and reduced quality.

What Is Technical Staff Augmentation?

If your company is or has been in this position before, then it’s important to consider the alternatives that could help.

One of those alternatives is technical or development staff augmentation

Development team augmentation refers to the process of adding external resources or expertise to an existing development team to supplement its capabilities and capacity. This can involve hiring individual contractors or a team of developers or outsourcing development to a third-party vendor.

But how can hiring what is effectively an outside team help with the problems you have with the scope of your development?

The first advantage is when you have deliverables and a tight deadline. By adding more developers to the team, development can be completed faster, and more work can be accomplished within a given timeframe.

Next, there is access to skills your in-house team may not have. A studio or staff augmentation agency can provide access to specialized skills or expertise that may not be available in-house. This can help to tackle complex technical challenges and improve the quality of the end product.

Above all, working with an experienced external team saves your organization the time, cost, and effort of having to hire this talent in-house. In fact, this approach can be more cost-effective than hiring additional full-time employees, especially for short-term or specialized projects.

How Staff Augmentation Can Help With Scope Creep

Let’s take a closer look at how hiring an external development team in addition to your existing one can be beneficial to your deliverables:

  1. Scalability: Staff augmentation provides scalability and flexibility in terms of team size and resources. This means that additional resources can be added or removed as needed, allowing for better control over project costs and timelines.
  2. Expertise: Staff augmentation can provide access to specialized skills or expertise that may not be available in-house. This can help to ensure that the project is completed to the required level of quality and that all the necessary work is completed within the agreed-upon scope.
  3. Improved communication: By bringing in external resources, staff augmentation can help to improve communication and collaboration between team members. This can help to identify potential scope creep early on, allowing for timely corrective action to be taken.
  4. Scope validation: Staff augmentation can help with scope validation by providing additional resources to review and validate the project scope. This can help to ensure that the project goals and objectives are clearly defined and that all stakeholders are aligned on the project scope.
  5. Process improvement: Staff augmentation can also help to identify areas for process improvement. By working with external resources, organizations can gain insights into industry best practices and new technologies, which can help to optimize the development process and minimize the risk of scope creep.

In summation, staff augmentation can be an effective strategy for managing scope creep by providing the necessary resources and expertise to complete the project within the agreed-upon scope and budget.

Working With A Staff Augmentation Agency

Choosing the best development staff augmentation agency requires careful consideration of several factors. 

To start with, the agency should have a strong track record of delivering high-quality services and meeting project deadlines. They should ideally have reviews and a portfolio for you to peruse.

Next, the agency should have a deep understanding of the specific industry or technology stack in which the project is being developed. This can help to ensure that the agency can provide the necessary expertise and resources to complete the project successfully and on time. 

The agency should also have a transparent and collaborative approach to working with clients, with open communication channels and a focus on building long-term relationships. 

Last but not least,  the agency should have a strong commitment to data security and privacy, with robust data protection measures in place.

By carefully evaluating these factors, organizations can choose the best development staff augmentation agency to help them achieve their project goals.

Augment Your Engineering Staff With NineTwoThree

Do you need to deliver results to meet your objectives? Do you also want to remove any headaches from managing the deliverables? 

There are many different reasons to use augmentation for your business - but all are covered by our detailed project planning and reliable quality engineering to deliver your product without the hassle. Development is one thing, managing developers is another. Every project we build comes with Project Managers that have over 149 procedures to follow.

You do not have time to recruit and interview. You need someone immediately to help you grow. We can start within two weeks (with only one signature).

Our agile development team can help your company achieve its goals faster and more efficiently. By working closely with your existing team, we can provide additional expertise and resources to accelerate the pace of your projects.

Contact us to see how we can help augment your software development efforts today!

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