--- title: "IT Staff Augmentation Services Alternative | Azendo" description: "Comparing IT staff augmentation services? See what a managed delivery team gives you instead: accountability for output, continuity, and one fixed monthly fee." url: "https://azendo.co/it-staff-augmentation-services/" --- [Newsroom](https://azendo.co/newsroom/) [Engagement models](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/) # IT staff augmentation services, without the management landing on you. You are probably here because you need specialist capacity quickly and IT staff augmentation services are the obvious route. Here is the part that catches people out. Augmentation delivers a person. Managing that person and answering for their output both stay with you. We do it the other way round, and the fee is fixed. By Mikkel Schmidt 18 September 2026 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](https://azendo.co/how-it-works/). **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](https://azendo.co/services/dedicated-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](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/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](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/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. __Client coordination hours per week, by team size__ | Team size | IT staff augmentation | Azendo managed service | | ------------- | --------------------- | ---------------------- | | 1 specialist | 6 hours | 2 hours | | 3 specialists | 18 hours | 2.5 hours | | 5 specialists | 30 hours | 3 hours | | 8 specialists | 48 hours | 4 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__ | Element | IT staff augmentation | Azendo managed service | | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Who directs the work | Your team | An Azendo service delivery manager, accountable for what ships | | Talent Success and Workplace Experience managers | Not part of the arrangement | Two per specialist | | Well-being check-in | Not part of the arrangement | Every 2 weeks | | Coaching and development | Not part of the arrangement | Monthly, in-house | | Development plan | Not part of the arrangement | Reviewed monthly | | Client delivery score | Not part of the arrangement | Every Friday | | 360° performance review | Not part of the arrangement | Quarterly | | Growth track and promotion readiness | Not part of the arrangement | Live skill profile | | AI certification | Not part of the arrangement | Before assignment | | Average specialist retention | Not published | 3.3 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. ## 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](https://azendo.co/get-in-touch/) [How it works](https://azendo.co/how-it-works/) ## Not sure which engagement model fits your roadmap.