Many tech companies and startups are on the hunt for remote developers as the shortage of skills in the IT sector persists. Finding a high profile freelancing contractor isn’t an easy task, so it can be outsourced to a body leasing agency or a staff augmentation company. What is the difference between the two and which one will be better for your needs? Let’s find out. 

What is an IT body leasing agency?

At its core, a body leasing agency provides temporary workers to businesses for a certain period of time, usually under a contract. The workers are technically employed by the body leasing agency, but they are assigned to work at the client company and fully managed by it. Once their work on a specific project is finished, they will be assigned to another project, usually with a different client.

A body leasing agency will typically focus on serving a specific business sector. The client pays the body leasing agency for the developer’s services, and the agency takes care of all the necessary employment and payroll duties. As such, a body leasing agency can be seen as a form of HR outsourcing.

What is an IT staff augmentation company?

A staff augmentation company can also provide temporary workforce for a specific period of time while taking care of all the HR requirements involved in the process. It can also offer skilled personnel to supplement a client’s existing team, but filling these positions isn’t at the core of its business. A software development company that offers staff augmentation services will be primarily working on software products with clients from various business domains. 

The goal of staff augmentation is to provide the client organization with additional resources to meet specific needs or to manage fluctuations in workload without having to hire additional employees directly.  This can include short-term and long-term projects, as well as temporary staffing needs. However, when a developer completes their assignment with the client, they usually go back to working for the staff augmentation company that employs them. 

Similarly to a body leasing agency, staff augmentation can be seen as a flexible alternative to traditional hiring and outsourcing. However, these services are oriented primarily at sharing unique knowledge and expertise, rather than just filling vacancies. They are the IT industry’s response to skill and expertise shortages. The augmented staff are employees of the augmentation company, not of the client.

Advantages of working with a staff augmentation company

If you’re simply looking to increase your headcount, a body leasing agency may be able to fulfil all your staffing needs. However, a staff augmentation company can also help you fill your talent shortages, while providing additional advantages like increasing the quality of your product or extending your capabilities. Here's what you can count on:

Unparalleled industry expertise

Body leasing agencies focus primarily on filling vacancies and cannot offer extensive experience in estimating project costs or advising on the best solutions. Likely, they won’t be able to provide you with the full scope of expertise or business advice. Typically, they collaborate with outside business analysts, which can limit their capacity to provide assistance on topics outside of their specialty.  

As such, body leasing agencies will deliver the specific skills you may be looking for, but they won’t come with relevant know-how in software delivery, best practices, current standards, etc. Developers hired by these agencies will jump from one project to another, only delivering on what’s within their skillset. 

In contrast, staff augmentation companies engage their developers in their internal projects when they aren’t currently assigned to augment an external team. The developers have a much broader understanding of best practices in software delivery processes and extensive experience with working on diverse software projects from different industries. That’s precisely where their expertise comes from. 

What’s more, a staff augmentation company will have dedicated specialists for various departments, including business analysis, marketing, design and DevOps  - in addition to software development and engineering. This means that they can offer more comprehensive services and offer answers to any questions you may have about the details of your project or product. With their in-house expertise, they will be able to assess your business and see how they can assist you in promoting it in other ways.

Domain-specific knowledge

Body leasing agencies may be a good fit for businesses that need cost-effective and automated solutions, however the quality of their services may not be up to par. Outsourcing companies may not be able to dedicate enough attention to each individual client, and may have less talented personnel since their primary goal is to fill client vacancies. 

Since staff augmentation companies with substantial experience usually specialize in specific domains, they are able to offer top-notch results. These companies aggregate highly skilled professionals and/or train their internal teams for specific purposes. You may have come across software development companies that specialise in the delivery of specific technology or type of product. 

At RST software, besides specializing in various technologies that include React, React Native and Node.JS, we can offer unique expertise in developing location-based services, chat applications, and media streaming services. You can browse through examples of our realizations in our online portfolio.

Carefully selected candidates

Finding a body leasing agency is not a difficult task. There are numerous companies out there that boast impressive portfolios, professional websites, and various projects to showcase. However, their primary goal is to fill client vacancies as soon as possible and thus focus more on their headcount numbers.

While they will obviously pay attention to meeting client’s requirements, the quality of candidates may not be the highest. That’s because agencies won’t have the domain specific knowledge necessary to verify the candidate’s qualifications. They will also focus on meeting deadlines when filling vacancies. 

In contrast, staff augmentation companies focus more on the quality of candidates and their professional development, and their employees will also be engaged in projects developed in-house. They focus on finding the right skills and expertise rather than filling positions quickly.

That said, if you need a contractor to take care of multiple roles at once, then you should certainly consider working with a body leasing agency. If you need specific skills and expertise, look for a software development company that offers staff augmentation services and specializes in the field you'll be working on. This will help you build a successful team.

A dedicated, reliable partner

Last but not least, a body leasing agency will not be able to offer the same level of engagement in the project as a staff augmentation company. Agencies typically serve multiple clients at one time, and a dedicated agent taking care of your business will also have multiple headcount quotas to fill with other clients. 

In contrast, a dedicated staff augmentation company offers personnel that also works on internal projects when they aren’t currently assigned to supplement a client’s team. This not only means that they will be more accountable for the services they provide, but also pay greater attention to establishing long-lasting relationships. 

The augmented staff will be not only highly qualified for the job, but may be able to consult on alternative solutions with colleagues they had worked with on other projects, offering a fresh perspective on the projects at hand. 

Augmenting your team with RST Software

If you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for seasoned developers that may be in our talent pool. Let’s discuss your needs! Send me an email at magda@rst.software and I’ll shed more light on our resources and what we can do for you.