Staff augmentation vs managed services, and the one question that separates them
Staff augmentation vs managed services comes down to one question. Who answers for the work when it is late? Here is how the two models differ in practice.
Writing on offshore software delivery.
Four categories. Engagement models, covering how outsourcing, staff augmentation and managed delivery actually differ. Pricing and capacity, on how the commercial model works. AI engineering, on where that field is moving. And Thailand and offshore, on running delivery from here.
Engagement models
Engagement models
Choosing a staff augmentation agency? Compare all three options first
Comparing a staff augmentation agency against a marketplace or a managed delivery partner? Here is what each model actually gives you, and what it costs.
Engagement models
What an offshore development center is, and who actually runs it
An offshore development center is a dedicated team abroad, usually client-managed. Here is how the ODC model works and how it differs from managed delivery.
Engagement models
Offshoring vs outsourcing, and why they are not the same decision
Offshoring vs outsourcing are two different decisions, not two words for the same one. One is about where, the other about who is accountable.
Engagement models
IT staff augmentation services, without the management landing on you
Comparing IT staff augmentation services? See what a managed delivery team gives you instead: accountability for output, continuity, and one fixed monthly fee.
Engagement models
Offshore staffing and managed software delivery are not the same purchase
Offshore staffing supplies people you manage. Managed software delivery supplies the work and the accountability. Here is how the two models compare.
Engagement models
Outstaffing vs offshore staffing, or the same thing in two accents
Outstaffing and offshore staffing describe nearly the same arrangement. Here is what separates them, and where a managed service differs from both.
Engagement models
What staff augmentation means, and when it stops working
Staff augmentation means bringing in people you manage yourself. What it involves, when it works, when it does not, and what the alternative looks like.
AI engineering
Seven questions to ask any AI development partner
Seven questions worth asking any AI development partner before you sign, from evaluation sets to what happens when your model provider deprecates.
AI engineering
Prompt engineering became a skill, and AI-native engineering became the role
The Prompt Engineer title peaked and fell while the skill spread into most AI roles. What replaced it, and what that means for hiring AI capability.
Pricing and capacity
How we calculate a fixed monthly fee that never moves
How Azendo calculates committed monthly capacity as a yearly average, why the fee never moves, and what happens when a specialist takes leave.
Thailand and offshore
Five reasons European companies deliver software from Thailand
Time zone, retention, cost, English proficiency and stability. Five practical reasons European companies run software delivery from Thailand.
Thailand and offshore
Software development in Thailand, honestly assessed
What European companies should know before running software delivery from Thailand. Time zones, talent, cost, culture and the practical trade-offs.
Thailand and offshore
Six reasons offshore engagements fail, and none of them are the engineers
Most offshore engagements fail for structural reasons, not people reasons. Six mistakes worth avoiding, from sixteen years of delivery in Thailand.
Thailand and offshore
IT outsourcing in Thailand, described from inside it
Who builds software in Thailand, where the engineering talent sits, and how the outsourcing market here differs from India, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Thailand and offshore
What it takes to hire a dedicated development team in Thailand
What it takes to hire a dedicated development team in Thailand, the three ways to do it, and what each one costs you in time and management.
Delivery & process
How we assign a service delivery manager to every project
Every Azendo service agreement gets one named service delivery manager who answers for delivery. Here is what that role covers, week to week.
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We publish when there is something worth saying rather than to a content calendar. Most of it comes out of questions that keep arriving on scoping calls, which is also why the engagement models category is the largest. The two that come up most often are staff augmentation vs managed services and offshoring vs outsourcing.
Engagement models
How outsourcing, staff augmentation, outstaffing and managed delivery actually differ, and which suits which situation. The largest category here, because these are the questions that arrive most often on a first call.
All engagement models posts →Pricing and capacity
How a committed monthly capacity is calculated, what the fee covers, and what happens when a specialist takes leave.
All pricing and capacity posts →AI engineering
Where the field is moving, what has stopped being a job title, and what to ask a provider before signing.
All AI engineering posts →Thailand and offshore delivery
Running software delivery from Thailand: the time zone, the talent market, the culture, and where it is the wrong answer.
All Thailand and offshore delivery posts →Reading this because you are weighing up offshore delivery.
Tell us what the roadmap needs. A service delivery manager replies with the disciplines we would assign, the monthly capacity and what the first month looks like.