Why Azendo About Azendo Our values Talent Success & Academy Why Thailand Offices and facilities
Services Software developmentMobile developmentUX/UI designQA and test automationCloud and DevOpsData engineeringAI engineeringAI automation engineeringMLOps engineeringData science
Industries SaaS and technology All industries
How it works Pricing Newsroom Get in touch

Choosing a staff augmentation agency? Compare all three options first.

An agency of this kind is one of three ways to add outside engineering capacity. The other two get less airtime and one is probably a better fit for what you are describing. Ten minutes here is cheaper than twelve months in the wrong agreement.

By Mikkel Schmidt

Illustration of people standing in a row of arched doorways, one figure leading
Three ways to buy capacity, and only one of them absorbs the management.

What each model actually gives you

A staff augmentation agency Sources and employs a specialist who then works under your direction. Fast, flexible, and the management is yours.

A freelance marketplace You contract an individual directly. Cheapest on paper, with nobody standing behind quality or continuity.

A managed delivery partner The provider runs the work and answers for it. Slower to start, and it does not add to your management load.

Augmentation agency Marketplace Managed delivery
Who manages daily You You The provider
Product knowledge if someone leaves Lost Lost Held by the provider’s team
Answers for output You You The provider
Speed to start Days to weeks Days 4–6 weeks
Best fit Defined short gap Small low-risk task Continuous work

Five questions worth asking before you sign

Who manages this person day to day, and whose week does that come out of? If the work is late, who is accountable? What happens to the knowledge if they leave in month eight? Am I paying for hours or for output? And if my scope grows, does the agreement change or does the capacity?

The answers separate the three models faster than any price comparison.

Agencies selling the first model usually market it as IT staff augmentation services, and the commercial terms are worth reading side by side with a managed agreement before you sign either. Where the work is continuous rather than a contained gap, a dedicated development team is the arrangement the questions above tend to point towards.

An agency arrangement against an assigned team.

What an agency covers, what it leaves with you, and how the coordination load grows as you add people.

What the monthly fee actually covers Both models solve the employment problem. Only one of them solves the delivery problem, and the gap is where the hourly rate difference goes.
Covered by the provider Staff augmentation agency Azendo managed service
Recruitment and selection Yes Yes
Employment, payroll and local compliance Yes Yes
Office, equipment and network Yes Yes
Sprint planning and day-to-day management No — stays with you Yes
Quality gates and code review standards No — stays with you Yes
Training and development No — stays with you Yes
Performance management No — stays with you Yes
Knowledge retained if a specialist leaves No — stays with you Yes
Accountability for what ships No — stays with you Yes
Total covered 3 of 9 9 of 9
Coordination hours a week falling on the client As the assigned team grows, staff augmentation agency transfers the hiring problem and keeps the management one. Azendo's estimate from our own engagements, at the midpoint of four to eight hours per specialist per week.
Bar chart: client coordination hours per week rise from 6 to 48 under staff augmentation agency as the team grows from one to eight specialists, and stay between 2 and 4 hours under an Azendo managed service. 0h 12h 24h 36h 48h 6h 2h 1 specialist 18h 2.5h 3 specialists 30h 3h 5 specialists 48h 4h 8 specialists

Questions people ask.

Is Azendo a staff augmentation agency?

No. We assign specialists but keep management and accountability on our side, which is the defining difference from an agency arrangement.

Which model is cheapest?

Marketplace on rate, agency in the middle, managed delivery highest per hour and frequently lowest per outcome. It depends entirely on whether you have management capacity to spend.

Tell us what the roadmap needs and we will tell you what it takes.

A service delivery manager replies with the disciplines we would assign, the monthly capacity and what the first month looks like.

Get in touch How it works

Not sure which engagement model fits your roadmap.

Loading the contact form… You can also email hello@azendo.co.

We reply within one working day. No obligation, and no newsletter.