Illustration of work passing from a laptop to a ticked-off clipboard between two people
Assigned capacity under one agreement, with the management on our side.

What an assigned team gives you that augmentation does not

Management included Planning, quality gates and reporting run through an Azendo service delivery manager.

Continuity of product knowledge The same specialists stay on one roadmap, so the reasoning behind your codebase is not rebuilt every time the team changes.

One fixed monthly figure Calculated as a yearly average of working hours. No surprise invoices in a heavy month.

Scaling without new overhead A second specialist does not mean a second person for you to manage.

Continuity you can plan around The same specialists stay with your roadmap for years, not sprints.

Where the requirement is a full team rather than individuals, a dedicated software development team is the arrangement that fits.

IT staff augmentation services compared with an assigned Azendo team

Compared Typical IT staff augmentation Azendo
Who manages the specialist You Our service delivery manager
Who answers for output You Azendo
Billing Hourly or daily, variable One fixed monthly fee
Engagement length Until you end it As long as the roadmap runs

The model comparison behind this page is set out in full under staff augmentation vs managed services.

What it costs

We count the specialist’s working hours across a full year, subtract annual leave and public holidays, then divide by twelve. That average becomes your committed monthly capacity and the price attached to it. It does not change in August and it does not change at Christmas.

If you are evaluating suppliers rather than models, the differences between a staff augmentation agency, a marketplace and a managed partner matter more than the day rate.

Tell us what you are trying to staff

Thirty minutes with a service delivery manager. You will hear what we would assign, what capacity it takes, and what we would not take on. If augmentation genuinely is the better fit for your situation, we will tell you that too.

IT staff augmentation services compared with an assigned team.

The hourly rate is the smaller half of the comparison. These three views cover the half that does not appear on a quote.

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 IT staff augmentation 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, it staff augmentation 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 it staff augmentation 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
Client coordination hours per week, by team size
Team sizeIT staff augmentationAzendo managed service
1 specialist6 hours2 hours
3 specialists18 hours2.5 hours
5 specialists30 hours3 hours
8 specialists48 hours4 hours
What stands behind the person doing the work Both models put a specialist on your roadmap. Only one of them puts a programme behind that specialist, and that is what decides whether they are still there — and still improving — in year three.
IT staff augmentation
Your teamdirects the work
Assigned specialist
Behind the specialist

Employment and payroll. The provider's obligation usually ends there — development, coaching, review and retention are yours to run, or nobody's.

Your side carries
  • Priorities
  • Scope
  • Technical decisions
  • Acceptance
  • Sprint planning
  • Quality gates
  • Performance reviews
  • Training
  • Retention
  • Continuity
Azendo managed service
Your teamsets the roadmap, reviews output
Azendo service delivery manageraccountable for what ships
Assigned specialist
Talent Success programme, around every specialist
  • Talent Success and Workplace Experience managers Two per specialist
  • Well-being check-in Every 2 weeks
  • Coaching and development Monthly, in-house
  • Development plan Reviewed monthly
  • Client delivery score Every Friday
  • 360° performance review Quarterly
  • Growth track and promotion readiness Live skill profile
  • AI certification Before assignment
3.3 years Average time a specialist stays with Azendo — which is what protects your product knowledge
Your side carries
  • Priorities
  • Scope
  • Technical decisions
  • Acceptance
What stands behind an assigned specialist in each model
ElementIT staff augmentationAzendo managed service
Who directs the workYour teamAn Azendo service delivery manager, accountable for what ships
Talent Success and Workplace Experience managersNot part of the arrangementTwo per specialist
Well-being check-inNot part of the arrangementEvery 2 weeks
Coaching and developmentNot part of the arrangementMonthly, in-house
Development planNot part of the arrangementReviewed monthly
Client delivery scoreNot part of the arrangementEvery Friday
360° performance reviewNot part of the arrangementQuarterly
Growth track and promotion readinessNot part of the arrangementLive skill profile
AI certificationNot part of the arrangementBefore assignment
Average specialist retentionNot published3.3 years

Questions people ask.

Do you offer IT staff augmentation services?

Not in the strict sense. We assign specialists, but they stay under Azendo management rather than yours. For some teams that is exactly the point, and for others it is the wrong fit.

How is this cheaper if the day rate looks similar?

The day rate is not the whole cost. Augmentation takes management hours from your own engineers, and those hours land on your budget somewhere even though nobody invoices for them.

How fast can specialists start?

Four to six weeks from signed scope. You get a date in the proposal.

What disciplines can you cover?

Software development, QA, mobile, UX/UI, cloud and DevOps, data engineering, data science, AI engineering and MLOps.

Not sure which engagement model fits your roadmap.

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