Businesses are now opting for IT staff augmentation and managed services considering their business needs and budget to thrive in the competitive market.

According to the GlobeNewswire in its 2022 report for the global IT outsourcing market, it has mentioned that the demand for IT outsourcing is estimated to hit USD 682.3 billion by 2027, which was valued at USD 526.6 billion in 2021.

Considering this data analytics, let us understand the difference between the two most preferable IT outsourcing models – IT staff augmentation and managed IT services. Moreover, this article will clarify your doubts and help you choose the suitable option as per your business priorities and requirements.

Here we will begin with understanding What IT staff augmentation is and what Managed services is with a brief explanation.

The IT staff augmentation is the outsourcing model that helps you augment your in-house IT team by hiring tech experts. You can employ these tech talents easily by contacting a third-party provider that outsources staff augmentation services. The staff augmentation provides you access to a pool of excellent tech talent whenever you require experts to help you complete your specific project. After understanding IT staff augmentation in brief, let us know what is managed services?

Managed services is the IT outsourcing model where a company outsources its IT services to support the business in meeting specific requirements without hiring in-house specialists. This model is useful when an organization does not have enough funds to hire and manage its own IT teams and wants to focus more on its core competencies.

The managed service provider offers businesses a whole spectrum of services which is also a fixed-cost project meant to be for the long term. In this model, the MSPs become entirely responsible for managing and maintaining complete IT infrastructure and operations efficiently for the respective organization.

As per the 2022 study report by BusinessWire, the global market of managed IT services was estimated at USD 161.37 billion in 2021, which is expected to grow by USD 311.32 billion by 2027 at 12.44% CAGR. The current data proved how the managed services market would be in high demand in the future.

Moving ahead, Here you can understand the difference between IT staff augmentation and managed services that will help you identify which one of these two models is best suitable for your business.

The objectives of staff augmentation and managed services are different. IT staff augmentation focuses on augmenting the in-house team by hiring required tech experts with the help of service providers to execute projects successfully. While managed IT services are pretty popular among the fresh startups who are building their business from scratch. Talking more about managed services, in this model, a company develops partnerships with managed service providers and outsources their entire IT operations following the business requirements.

IT staff augmentation enables you to keep and maintain complete control over your augmented team working for specific projects. According to the project demands, this parent company has the total authorization to manage its additional squad. In managed services, MSPs hold accountable for the services they provide to the parent company in regards to making them ahead in the competitive market. In addition, they also ensure that all the knowledgeable and experienced professionals belong to the same industry to meet the parent company’s requirements.

Another distinction is the duration of the partnerships between a service seeker and a service vendor. The time span of staff augmentation involves short – term partnership with a specific service provider to hire additional experts that fill the gaps by fulfilling missing capabilities in the existing team until the project achieves its definite results. In contrast, MSPs involve a long-term partnership with a parent company. The collaboration between these two parties sustains mutual trust and reliability. The parent company shares all the security information, overview of the company, and prerequisite business needs to the third party to outsource the entire IT infrastructure and operations. So, in short, managed services is the long-term relationship with MSPs, and staff augmentation manages its relationship with service providers following temporary requirements.

Both the models offer several scaling options to meet a variety of needs. IT staff augmentation has the potential to provide unique possibilities for project scalability in meeting the increased demand for knowledgeable professionals. In short, adding new experts to the existing developed team is incredibly beneficial in meeting the extending requirements of the project. Managed services enable you to scale your operations and infrastructures to expand your businesses. Managed IT services is a dynamic industry; therefore, managed service providers need to scale up their operational capabilities that help start-ups, and other reputed companies thrive in the growing market.

So far, staff augmentation helps you eliminate missing expertise and capabilities by hiring experts for a specific duration. You can keep acquiring skillful talent for your project execution. You also enjoy flexibility by scaling your team up or down following your project needs. Hence the staff augmentation model guaranteed flexibility with its nature of service. Managed IT services help you achieve guaranteed outcomes; so far, the third-party providers make sure of their every effort that brings your business up. Although to gain definite results, you must be clear about your requirements and goals.

The pricing models are different in terms of IT outsourcing services. So far, the nature of staff augmentation is scalable and fast growing. Hence, this model is best suitable for the startup that wants to enhance its existing product by adding specific industry experts to the developed team. In the IT staff augmentation model, the payment is made biweekly or monthly; hence its pricing module involves time and material contracts. In contrast, managed IT services focus on offering stability for the long term. This model is appropriate for startups who need to outsource their entire operations for a long- time without owning an in-house IT team. It is also called a fixed-cost project in which the scope of the project is firmly fixed and fewer chances involved for any changes during development. The fixed price also concludes all the assumed risks that may occur during performance.

Service provider of staff augmentation helps you leverage the vast pool of experts where you can choose the best talent as per your project demands. This is how it supports you in saving ample time in identifying and sourcing the qualified personnel with a similar background of knowledge you require. By leveraging a managed IT services model, you can outsource your IT services with the help of a third-party provider through a developed team of knowledgeable and experienced professionals and the required technology and resources. This is how you do not need to worry about the hiring process and eliminate hiring challenges successfully.

Having understood the difference between IT staff augmentation and managed services in detail, know under which requirement specification you should choose these IT outsourcing models.

• Your developed in-house team already exists; however you need additional and exceptional experts to get your project completed efficiently.
• Here you have a limited budget that you can allocate to hire the best tech expert for a specific duration.
• Your project demands experts who have exceptional skills.
• At the time when your project requirements are not fixed, and you need flexibility you can connect with ibiixo.
• You must keep management control to adjust your augmented staff following project requirements.

• At the time when you lack an internal development team.
• You want to outsource the complete project.
• Also, when you do not have enough funds to develop an in-house team and want to outsource entire IT operations, you can contact ibiixo.
• Your project duration is for the long – term.
• You are just starting a startup from scratch in the competitive market.

So, which IT outsourcing model would be the best fit for your business? For this, you have to evaluate your business requirements reasonably. So far, both the models are highly preferable and can benefit you only if your needs are specified.

Moreover, you can evaluate both models by understanding their objectives. Choose any of the outsourcing services knowing its core concept. You may leverage the benefit of staff augmentation if you plan to add any expert to your developed team for your project completion.

Whereas managed services, a fixed-cost project, play a vital role when you outsource your entire IT operations and infrastructure with the help of a third party. Learn more about the services and pricing modules by placing your inquiries to ibiixo and get benefit from its vast talent pool of dynamic experts irrespective of any IT outsourcing option you choose.