As technology continues to evolve at increasing speed, creating demands for new IT skillsets practically every month, staff augmentation can become a full-time job. Many business leaders and hiring managers are finding that professional IT services providers are positioned perfectly to help them find staffers to fill temporary or permanent IT positions.
You know that you need people who not only have the technology skills to handle your specific business needs, but also the sensibilities and attitudes that fit your business. Still, you do not need to micromanage this situation. In addition to having easy access to an army of experts with cutting-edge skills, experienced – professional IT services providers understand the business advantages of maintaining a solid corporate culture.
Finding an IT Professional Services Partner
Acquiring IT staff augmentation services from a professional services provider can give your organization precisely what you need, whether it’s full-time or part-time consultants, contract-to-hire technical experts, or permanent staff additions.
A recent article on the topic of staff augmentation in Forbes begins by recommending partnering with a company that possesses expertise in recruiting, contracting, and hiring engineers and other technology experts.
“The first thing to consider is finding a partner that takes the time to understand their client’s specific staffing needs and that offers the exact talent needed,” author Adrian Gomez writes. “This is not exactly an easy move.”
Most reliable IT services professionals have vast industry experience, and already have a large stable of talented technologists with whom they have worked, sometimes for years. They are able to help you determine exactly what your ideal candidate should look like, and then employ a relationship-centered networking process to find the right person.
Augment your Company’s Security Team at the Top
Both disaster recovery and business continuity require that your data is continually replicated from both physical and virtual environments to a secure data center or cloud infrastructure. To really get this right, you will want to work with a partner who can offer secure service delivery centers and physical sites for disaster recovery and business resumption.
Your IT professional services partner will even be able to help you with placements of high-level senior IT positions that can be difficult to fill. For example, consider how the dramatic and ongoing spike in cybercrime has caused a critical market shortage in cybersecurity talent. It has always been difficult and expensive to find qualified senior cybersecurity resources, and the situation now can be dire.
Because cybersecurity is now one of the most important elements of any organization, many businesses are contracting with an IT professional services partner to bring someone into the C-suite to work directly with their top executives.
A vCISO (Virtual Chief Information Security Officer) is a certified senior security expert who can fill your most sensitive, high-level positions. While technically employed by the technology management or security firm, they often report to the CEO or CIO of the company that has them under contract. You might only need a vCISO’s services for a few hours a month—it is rarely more than a half-time position, so it can be a very cost-effective way to ensure that your cybersecurity position is strong.
A vCISO can attend leadership meetings to offer knowledgeable security guidance, help develop security and compliance management policy, review risk assessments, and offer mentorship and training to your staff. It may be the surest way to fortify your organization’s security posture without the expense of a full-time senior cybersecurity executive.
IT Professional Services Companies vs. Staffing Agencies
The main function of a tech recruiter or staffing agency is to find qualified staff resources and place them for a client. Once that is done, there is little to no back-and-forth with your management team. On the other hand, with an IT professional services company, IT support is ongoing. Ideally, you will be able to find a fully staffed and equipped managed services provider, and they will oversee performance, make technology recommendations, and respond to support requests.
Working with an IT professional services company to help with your staff augmentation requirements offers a host of added benefits. You will now have access to IT consulting services such as application development, project management, cloud migration, and technical support.
By partnering with a full-stack technology management company that offers IT professional services as part of a much larger suite of offerings, you can expand your opportunities greatly.
Five Things to Look For in an IT Professional Services Company
These rules hold true for a variety of business applications, and they might be helpful as you consider building a partnership for the purpose of flexibly increasing your staff’s capabilities. These are qualities you’ll want in that partner.
- Absolute command of leading-edge technologies.
This goes without saying, but today’s constantly changing tech landscape requires that IT professionals keep up with the newest developments. The backbone of a good IT services company is a stable of well-trained professionals with the credentials to prove it. - Ability to comprehend and address both your technology requirements and your business needs.
Expect your professional IT services company to invest the time to understand both your business and your technology, and to be able to grasp the nuances of both operations. Look for someone that has worked with many kinds of enterprises and addressed all manner of technology challenges. - An established network of IT experts.
It’s best if your IT staffing partner has a relationship-oriented network of experts all over the world, and can offer you a deep pool of talent. Ideally, the company would also offer a range of technology consulting services across multiple industry sectors, letting you choose a customized mix of staffing and consulting solutions. - Ability and willingness to properly screen candidates.
This is really where the rubber meets the road. Does your staff augmentation partner have IT engineers on staff who can conduct one-on-one candidate interviews customized to your requirements? Before committing to even a temporary contractor who will have access to your data, your network, and your team, your provider should have an expert examine each candidate’s certifications and other credentials. The expert should also assess their technical expertise, professional experience, and aptitudes and attitudes. - Speed, affordability, and flexibility.
These attributes can actually go hand-in-hand. The best IT professional services companies, staffed by experts in virtually all aspects of technology, can help you with a nationwide search for a senior position that might find the right person in a matter of weeks. In other cases, when necessary, they can have somebody onboarded almost immediately.
I hope you found this information helpful. As always, contact us anytime about your technology needs.
Until next time,
Tim
