When looking for staff for your IT programmes, it can be difficult to know which avenue to choose, in terms of resourcing for these roles. There is the option of using your in-house team, an outsourced consultancy or contingent labour (also more generally called “contractors”). There are benefits and disadvantages of each of these options, depending on what you are looking to achieve. This article will delve into the different options, in order to help you make an informed decision to move forward with your IT programme staffing.
What is an In-House Team?
The in-house team option to project staffing, means loading your IT programme with internal resources, rather than using an external consultancy or agency workers. The benefits here are that the in-house team will have more knowledge about the goals of the business, and will be able to align the team with those goals. There is more transparency with the in-house team and the business, which can make it easier to fill staffing requests.
Consequently, IT teams are likely to understand business requirements better than external resources could. It can also be more cost effective to use an in-house team, however, there are drawbacks to this too. As the project moves on from cutting edge development to “business as usual”, it can have an effect on staff morale. Further, if you are a not an IT business yourself, there is also a consideration of having a career path for IT professionals that appeals to your staff members.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Consultancy
On the other hand, an outsourcing consultancy can offer something different to an in-house team. They tend to have access to specialist talent, which can be useful for staffing for IT programmes. However, outsourcing consultancies can have perverse incentives. For example, if the consultancy is contracted on billing on a time basis, early delivery may sound like great news for you as the client, but means lower business to the consultancy.
There can be difficulties with lock-in too, which make it difficult to transition from consultancy, back to in-house or another provider. These challenges can be off-putting, although the potential advantages may balance it out.
What are the Advantages of hiring contractors?
In some cases, it can be more beneficial to use contingent labour or contractors for IT programme staffing requirements. The benefits of this are that they may be offered at a lower price point to a consultancy. Also, contractors can have diverse experience with many clients, giving you the benefit of understanding best practice.
As a client, you can choose to be very specific about the kind of person you wish to appoint. A consultancy may or may not give you a vast choice of resources, much depending on which of their staff is available to take your project on. As longevity is often an attractive prospect for contractors, there can be issues concerning inadequate knowledge sharing by contractors. Something to guard against.
At Mindful Contract, we are a consultancy that can draw upon contract talent. We are experienced in finding specialist talent to support your IT programme staffing. If you want some more information, feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help support your business.