IT staffing has always faced a broad range of challenges. There are too many things on the “to do” list and not enough money to make it all happen. How can you keep within budget and still reach your production goals?
Luckily, we now live in a time when there exist a variety of ways to address your resourcing needs. Such solutions can include a variety of employees, consultants and contractors. The following example will define in what situation and combinations your firm might utilize them.
Scenario: You have a capital project approved that must be completed by year end. The IT management has decided to transition to the Agile development methodology which has not been used before in your environment.
Challenge: how do you staff the project with minimal impact to the long term budget?
Position: Agile Coach
Resource Type: Consultant
A consultant can be utilized across multiple projects to train the development teams in Agile. Benefits of this resourcing solution are that the training received by your staff will most likely be current and relevant and that once the project is complete, the consultant is done as well, with no further cost to you. The drawback to this resource type is often a higher short-term cost for the consultant.
Position: Team Leads
Resource Type: Mix of employees and contractors
Utilize strong employees who are accepting of change and integrate them in a team environment with contractors that are experienced in Agile. This plan not only provides a secondary way to train your employees in Agile, but also provides productive resources that will not have to carry over to the next year.
Position: Team Members
Resource Type: Mix of employees and contractors
The percentage of contractors to employees will be based on your corporate environment. What are the skills required temporarily for this project and what are the long-term skills needed to support your business? For instance, your capital project might need extra database skills for the term of the project but already have enough employees already for ongoing support. Some testing resources will need to be from your employee pool to transfer environment knowledge to other testers so quality will remain high. Adjust the percentage of employee to contractor as you review your long-term goals.
Combining short and long-term resources can help you and your company in reaching your goals. Contact your InSource Group representative to develop and implement a resourcing plan that will provide the right mix of resourcing types for your company.