DevOps Outsourcing vs. Outstaffing: Advantages and Disadvantages

In the era of the internet, people have finally realized they can literally lease whatever they need for whatever amount of time and end up paying up to 90% less. How? Well, the demand creates the supply. In today's IT world, new companies are born as frequently as rabbits in the wild, and die as quickly as rats in the plague. The competitiveness, an intense development pace — how are companies supposed to develop with so many factors to control?! Interestingly, it's as simple as leasing (exactly, 'leasing') teams to be responsible for separate activities in the company. Uhh...just read on, you'll see.

In this article we are going to talk about IT outsourcing vs. IT outstaffing, in particular, DevOps services. We'll go over why businesses have no need to hire an in-house team, and how much money they can save by simply partnering with a DevOps outsource/outstaff provider.

IT companies usually hire in-house specialists for recurring work - the day to day routine tasks. However, there are multiple one-time tasks that do not require you to hire a specialist on a long-term basis. Or have you ever found yourself in need of a specialist but you really can't ensure a long-term position? THIS is what outsourcing and outstaffing are there for. Get what you need done, don't pay extra. There are a few pitfalls though. What, did you think it's all sunshine and rainbows in AWS or Azure? Well, there are few clouds. First, let's find out the difference between DevOps outsource and DevOps outstaff.

A well-structured table will work perfectly for your understanding of what DevOps outsource and DevOps outstaff are. Dig in!

However, without deep knowledge of what DevOps outsourcing and outstaffing are, you won't be able to appreciate all the comparisons. So, take a look below to find all the info you need.

DevOps outsourcing implies providing a solution for a specific issue that is formed into a project. The outsourcing model means that a client gets an idea, requirement, and a budget developed for him. Not to mention, an allocated team of specialists does the work while the client has the opportunity to develop business.

In comparison to an in-house team, an outsourced team doesn't need monthly payments, a workplace, or management. Therefore, devops outsourcing is a more cost-effective solution for every business. More efficient, though? Maybe not for every company.

Along our way in OpsWorks Co. we have learned that there are two types of clients: the ones who know exactly what tasks they want to be done and how many resources they need; and the ones who have issues and know they have to be fixed but don't have enough expertise to manage them or too few tasks for an in-house team.

We will stop precisely at the second type. These are the types of clients that need IT outsourcing. What are those companies and how does DevOps outsource help them become more competitive on the market?

Considering the type of clients described earlier, DevOps outsourcing can be a real life saver. But first let's make a checklist to figure out if you're one of those clients, shall we? There two questions:

1. Do you need DevOps expertise?
   
2. Can you afford an in-house team?

If you've just realized it's not reasonable for your business (at this moment) to hire an in-house DevOps team, consider what an outsource team has to offer:

• When hiring a professional, both the company and employee make a commitment. In a legal company-employee relationship both sides must be protected. Thus, there is no way a business will take on a new employee just for a four-month project. Right? For when the project ends, the company will have to keep the employee on the bench which is unreasonably expensive, or fire them which is illegal in this specific example. The perfect solution would be leasing a team. Simply put, outsourcing DevOps. You hire a team for a specific period of time to solve your problems. A pleasant bonus — the solution architecture and project management are on the hired team's side.

• This is not where pleasant bonuses end — the client gets to focus more on business. While the outsourced team is providing solution architecture, project management, engineering, and task management, the client only has to work on developing the quality of their product and promoting it.

DevOps outsourcing takes on absolutely all preoccupations about infrastructure health and performance. Of course, it depends on the tasks you plan to cover, but DevOps outsourcing is a solution for those who need expertise, execution, and are not able to cover project management. Time to learn about DevOps outstaffing! You can finally figure out what solution (outstaffing vs. outsourcing) best suits your needs.

In its turn, outstaff offers team augmentation. It is a business model that involves an employee being hired by one company and working for another one. Literally, the hiring company provides an employee with a workplace, bonuses, a wage, and other perks, while the client (the company who the employee works for) provides tasks for execution.

In the DevOps market, outstaffing models are quite a popular solution due to the following circumstances: The DevOps market has a high potential for demand, although its resource capacity is limited. On average, the position for middle DevOps engineer closes in six months. In fact, due to the COVID-19 breakout the situation on the market has changed drastically — people prefer staying at their current places of work to ensure stability. Not many companies are able to wait that long for a position to close since it slows down product development. This is where outstaffing comes to the rescue. DevOps agencies are able to allocate resources within two weeks of the project launch. Benefit? Obviously

There are three factors that determine whether outstaffing would benefit your business more than other models.

1. As we mentioned earlier, you would rather have your business needs addressed by an outstaffed team when you have no time to wait for the position to close.
   
   
2. Also, DevOps outstaff would work perfectly for you when you do need a full time DevOps engineer working on your project, but you need them only until the project ends. In this case it would be unfair and illegal to hire a specialist for a limited time unless you mention it in the contract. There is one more 'but' — how much time do you think it will take you to find a qualified specialist who would like to be employed for only a limited time?
   
   
3. The most frequent situation is when a client needs a DevOps engineer for a long-term project, but not on a full-time basis. Instead, they are seeking a part-timer or engineer on demand. And THIS is where outstaff is the most useful!
   

Usually, clients that go for DevOps outstaff need both expertise and cost-efficient solutions. Compared to an in-house team, outstaffed resources turn out to be much cheaper while being much more flexible in terms of team up- and down-scaling.

Not on trees, that's for sure. But we just so happen to know one reliable DevOps provider. You might have heard of them on Clutch, Upwork, AWS partners list, or elsewhere. Right you are! That's us — OpsWorks Co.

We are an IT-engineering company specializing in DevOps integration for businesses of all sizes and fields. We strive to build scalable and easily manageable IT infrastructures and offer a flexible cooperation model to provide clients with maximum value. Also, the OpsWorks Co. Support team is available 24/7 for our clients' comfort and their infrastructure security.

To learn more about our services and how we could benefit your team, hit the contact us button. On the other end, our Business Development Managers will answer any DevOps-related questions you have. We hope this was helpful, good luck!