Engagement models.

What each way of buying software capacity commits you to, from staff augmentation to a managed offshore team, and which suits a growing roadmap.

Choosing a staff augmentation agency? Compare all three options first How to choose a staff augmentation agency: the four types, how to vet one, the red flags and when a managed offshore team is the better option. Read it → IT outsourcing: the models, the real costs and how to choose IT outsourcing explained: five models from contractors to a managed offshore team, what each costs in money and management time, and how to choose. Read it → IT staff augmentation services and the managed alternative What IT staff augmentation services include, how providers price them, the contract terms to check and when a managed offshore team is the better buy. Read it → Offshore staffing: how it works and how it compares with a managed team Offshore staffing supplies specialists you manage yourself. How it works, what it really costs and how it compares with a managed offshore team. Read it → Offshoring vs outsourcing: two different decisions, explained Offshoring vs outsourcing: one decides where the work happens, the other who answers for it. How they combine, what each costs and how to choose. Read it → Outstaffing vs offshore staffing: one model, two names Outstaffing and offshore staffing are nearly the same arrangement. How outstaffing differs from outsourcing, and where a managed offshore team sits. Read it → Software development outsourcing: the models, the real costs and how to choose Software development outsourcing explained: the three models, what each costs once management time is counted, why it fails and how to pick a partner. Read it → Staff augmentation vs managed services, and the one question that separates them Staff augmentation vs managed services comes down to who answers for the work when it's late. How both models compare on cost, control and continuity. Read it → Staff augmentation: what it is, when it works and what it really costs Staff augmentation adds outside specialists who work under your direction. How it works, what it costs, when it fits and what to use when it doesn't. Read it → Team augmentation: what it is, when it works and what it costs Team augmentation explained: how it differs from staff augmentation and a managed team, when it works and the management cost missing from quotes. Read it → What is an offshore development center, and who runs it? An offshore development center is a dedicated engineering team abroad working for one company. How the ODC model works, what it costs and who runs it. Read it →

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Engagement models decide who answers for the work, not where it happens.

Choosing how to buy software capacity.

Every engagement model commits you to something different. These eleven guides set out exactly what, so you can compare staff augmentation, outstaffing, outsourcing, an offshore development center and a managed offshore team on equal terms before a provider frames the choice for you.

The models differ on one axis more than any other: who is accountable when the work is late. Under staff augmentation the answer is you, because you are buying access to a person's time and directing it yourself. Under a managed service the answer is the provider, because you are buying delivery of the work. Rate cards, contract length and location all follow from that one answer.

The second axis is cost, and it is rarely the number on the quote. When you run the people yourself, management time comes on top of the rate. Our own estimate, from engagements where the client runs the people, is four to eight hours a week per specialist. Turnover adds weeks of ramp-up every time someone leaves, which is why the average tenure of a provider's engineers belongs on every comparison.

That is also why the same arrangement carries several names. Offshore staffing, outstaffing and body leasing describe broadly one commercial model in different markets, and an offshore development center can be run either way, depending on who supplies the management. The software development outsourcing guide is the best starting point if you are new to the subject.

If you already know you want the provider to be accountable for delivery, how it works shows how a dedicated team is run day to day, from the first call to a team in your sprints four to six weeks after signing.

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