The pros and
cons of fully managed team augmentation in 2023

What is fully managed team augmentation?

Team augmentation means bringing in expert personnel to help you on your project. Fully managed team augmentation means this outsourced team will be managed by the service provider. In other words, it's a real load off your mind. You'll gain the expertise you need without adding to your management burden.

You'll be able to scale your operations — and fast. And then, when the job is done, you'll go back to your standard operating model. Flexibility is achieved with ease. You can hit your project targets without worrying about long-term costs. This is why so many businesses opt for augmentation over permanent hiring.

Will this suit your business needs?

Is fully managed team augmentation right for you? It might be the perfect choice if any of the following applies to your business:

There are several different outsourcing models available to you. Fully managed team augmentation is only one of them. Take some time to explore the pros and cons of managed team augmentation below. Then, you can decide if this model is the right fit for your business.

The pros of managed team augmentation

Let's take a look at some of the key advantages of managed team augmentation:

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  Cost reductions and flexibility

  Using fully managed team augmentation services can significantly reduce the cost of your operations. If you were to hire in-house personnel, they would require training. You'd also be responsible for ongoing wages and benefits. All of this adds up to significant expense over time.

  With managed team augmentation, there is no need for training. The professionals already have the expertise they need to get the job done. You also gain flexibility, as you'll be able to bring in an outsourced team for the duration of the project only. You won't have to pay further wages over the longer term.

• 

  Almost immediate expertise

  When a specific project requires a certain type of expertise, you need that expertise straight away. If your in-house team does not have this expertise, you could be stranded. You would either need to train up your own personnel or find new hires.

  The managed team augmentation model avoids this issue. You are connecting with a highly skilled team with minimal delay. While you will need to make sure the team is familiar with how you operate, you can start benefiting from their skills almost immediately.

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  Resource оptimization

  Your personnel are your most valuable resources. They provide a real advantage to your organization in their areas of expertise. But, if they are constantly distracted by other jobs, you are not using this resource in the best way. This applies to your other resources too. If you try to take too much on with your in-house teams, these resources become overstretched.

  When you use the managed team augmentation model, you are getting the best from all your resources. The managed team will handle a specific set of duties, so your own team members can focus on what they do best. You can also allocate your other resources where they are most needed.

• 

  Ready-made team structure

  The fully managed team augmentation solution is exactly as it sounds. It is fully managed, so you won't have to take on management duties yourself. This means fewer headaches and a clearer route to project success.

  This is where the fully managed option offers a big advantage over standard staff augmentation. With the standard model, you'll still need to handle management yourself. If extra management duties aren't quite what you're looking for, the fully managed model might be right up your street.

The cons of managed team augmentation

We've looked at the good stuff; now let's think about the bad. Well...perhaps bad is the wrong word. You can do great things with fully managed team augmentation. There are just a few things to bear in mind on the way:

Disconnection from company culture

A managed team will have incredible knowledge in their field. What they won't have is incredible knowledge of your business. It will take some time to bring this team up to speed on how you operate.

It shouldn't take long to achieve this. The best managed teams will be ready to learn — and quickly. However, this disconnection is something to consider as you choose your augmentation partner.

Long-term costs

Staff augmentation is great for short-term projects with defined endpoints. Dedicated teams are better suited to longer-term projects. Using staff augmentation can quickly get expensive over an extended time frame. So where does managed team augmentation fit in?

Managed team augmentation sits somewhere between staff augmentation and dedicated team services. This means you'll still need to have a defined endpoint for your project and a timeline in place. Make sure you have an idea of what you want to achieve from managed team augmentation. If you're not quite sure where the project is going, it may be more cost-effective to choose a different outsourcing model.

Slight Increases in Complexity

It's worth bearing in mind that managed team augmentation makes things a little more complicated. You may be used to handling things in-house. You know your own teams and personnel, and your in-house structure is simple and straightforward. Adding another team to this structure can make things a little tricky.

When the team is fully managed, you won't be adding too much complexity. You won't have to manage this additional team yourself, after all. But it's important to remember that your company structure will become a little more complex in the short term.

Almost immediate expertise

Hold on a minute. Haven't we already covered this point? Yes, we have, but there's a reason for this. The word almost. You won't have to do too much onboarding for your managed team, but there will still be a bit of orientation and preparation.

A great-quality managed team will have expertise that is ready to roll. Just remember that there will be a few onboarding boxes to check first. You won't benefit from this expertise immediately, but almost immediately is the next best thing.