Author: Cesar Castillo

You’ve just gotten the go-ahead to move on a potentially lucrative new project. However, as a hiring manager, you’re in a challenging position. You’re tasked with assembling one of the best software development teams your company has ever seen. And they need to be productive right out of the gate! It’s an assignment that has you wondering: what makes one team successful and efficient, while another team struggles to get the job done?

When dealing with staff augmentation contracts, you need to work with a qualified attorney who can clearly articulate the terms of the relationships the contracts codify. Temporary onsite tech staff can be privy to sensitive data, processes and technology. So you must protect your intellectual property, proprietary technology and company interests as a whole.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost of hiring a new employee is $4,129, although this does not account for onboarding and training costs, which can be quite significant. In fact, the cost of hiring new staff was higher for more complex, higher-paying positions. This means that it’s fair to surmise that the hiring costs for a IT and tech positions are significantly higher.

Just a few years ago, there was a major disparity between the average pay rate for IT professionals in the U.S. and other parts of the world, such as India. This economic environment made it possible for many companies to outsource their tech projects to overseas companies for a price that was significantly less than what they would pay local talent.

With competition for top software developer talent growing fiercer all the time, you might consider using a local IT staffing agency to streamline your search. Local staffing agencies often excel at some aspects of recruiting, but using them comes with at least one important caveat.

Within three years, there will be a million more computing jobs than eligible applicants, according to Code.org estimates. This means top software developers and engineers will continue to be in high demand. They’ll be awash in opportunities and offers, and can take their pick. This causes hiring managers to try and find new ways to get their attention. How can they hire top software engineers on a startup budget? How can they find them on any budget? Companies, regardless of size, have P&L considerations. So how can you land enterprise talent in a competitive market while ensuring you get the best possible value?

With an estimated 20 million software developers worldwide (as of 2017) and over 250 programming languages and countless specialties, it’s easy to see how difficult it could be for a hiring manager to find the right person for the job.

Companies usually hesitate to share information about their developers’ demographics, but it’s clear that diverse, multifaceted and multicultural teams tend to be more successful. In fact, McKinsey researchers found that the most diverse companies were 35% more likely to surpass industry medians and averages in terms of performance.

In 2016, 43% of employed Americans reported that they worked remotely at least part of the time. That’s according to a 2016 Gallup poll of over 15,000 people, and these figures represent a 4% increase over 2012’s figures. The work-at-home figure was even higher in the tech industry, where 57% of workers indicated they worked remotely on a regular basis.

The blended workforce is the workforce of today, particularly in the tech industry. Forbes reported that as of November 2016, 93% of companies had a blended staff of contractors/freelancers, temporary talent and permanent, long-term employees. This has resulted in a renewed focus on the importance of employee integration, which is essential for maximizing productivity.

In today’s tech-centric world, many jobs are performed remotely. According to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, 3.7 million Americans hold a position that allows for remote work. A survey of Fortune 1000 companies revealed that this trend is even more widespread on a global level, with workers working remotely as much as 50 to 60 percent of the time.

A 2014 IDC study revealed that there were 18.5 million developers worldwide, with about 11 million considered professionals and 7.5 million calling themselves hobbyists. Now, three years later, there are millions more. Evans Data Corporation pegged 2017’s figure at 21 million, though many speculate that the actual number could be much larger. What’s more, there are over 250 programming languages, with new languages being developed on a continual basis.

A recent meeting with your software development team leaders left you feeling a bit discouraged. You learned that while you have some very talented developers, most of these individuals are specialists. Specialists tend to have a very narrow range of expertise. For you, this scenario results in low skill redundancy and skill gaps that create major challenges for your team. Now, your team leaders are struggling to coordinate expertise, and the few individuals who are more versatile are getting overworked.

The rapid growth of the tech industry has made recruiting and hiring software developers increasingly difficult. For every one developer who’s available to work, there are five open positions. There are also dozens of unique programming languages and tech specialties to consider. Evaluating a software developer’s skill set and talents can be a real challenge. The popularity of agile development has made the practice far more collaborative than it was in the past. Collaborativity has benefits, but is also makes it a bit less likely that a developer can take true ownership of a project. So projects listed on developer resumes may not be accurately representative of their talents. Plus, the fast-evolving nature of this field means that work samples are of limited use. Standards change dramatically and quickly. This represents an added layer of complexity for talent acquisition.

Are you maintaining a local focus for your recruiting efforts? If so, you could be missing out on the many benefits that are associated with hiring the best person for the position—regardless of their location. In fact, there’s a good chance that you’re reducing your prospective talent pool from millions to just a dozen or less. As of late 2016, there were about 12 million mobile developers worldwide, with that figure expected to rise to 14 million in 2020. However, the local developer population in any given location may be quite limited. When compared to the global population, local candidates’ collective skill set may pale by comparison.

You’ve recently received a wave of calls from prospective clients, and your company is suddenly faced with more work than it can complete in a timely manner. Outsourcing isn’t a viable option because the project is sensitive in nature and requires collaboration with a couple of in-house experts. Instead, you’re considering calling in a team of developers to work on-site with your team (aka insourcing). You’re confident this will be an effective solution, but there’s a problem. You need strict confidentiality, and you’re nervous because on-site talent would have access to lots of sensitive information. If that information got into your competitors’ hands, it could ruin your business!

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – or HIPAA – is one of the most common healthcare technology concerns due to the strict and far-reaching nature of these regulations.

So you’ve crafted a job description, and you’re receiving a flood of software developer resumes. Nearly all seem to have great qualifications in a range of different areas. You’re just not sure which qualifications are essential for your exact tech project. All you know is that you absolutely cannot hire the wrong developer because you know that this carries a tremendous cost, both in money and morale. Zappos CEO once said that bad hires had cost the business an estimated $100 million, while a prominent recruiter estimates the average cost of onboarding alone at $240,000 per person.

On average, there are five open job positions for every one software developer in search of a position, which means that finding a developer is a very difficult task. Finding the perfect developer? Well, that’s even more challenging! In fact, in the United States, the average timeframe for finding a developer — any developer — is 35 days; that is, if you’re not selective. This 35-day time frame seems to apply to a typical developer for any run-of-the-mill project. But most companies have projects that require specific expertise, requiring a far more selective vetting process. Therefore, it’s conceivable that your search could take weeks longer. That just won’t cut it if you’ve got a fast-approaching deadline. And many companies don’t need a permanent employee; they may only require the developer for a single project. Many businesses consider temporary staffing services, but some have concerns that there may be a lag in terms of ramp-up time and actual productivity from an otherwise unknown talent.

Your company’s sales team has been in overdrive and they’ve just landed a series of new contracts. This is great news, but it also means that you need to hire new tech staff to satisfy your clients’ needs. But you’ve noticed that the software developer hiring process can be very inefficient. A common issue is that new hires are slow to get up to speed, and you need a tech team that runs at close to maximum efficiency from the start. This is where temporary staff can be extremely beneficial to your company. Temporary staff are chosen through a hiring process designed to ensure you get the best results as soon as they start.

How does staff augmentation compare to managed services, and how do these staffing models impact your tech and software development projects?

You’ve heard the scary stats and figures surrounding IT and tech projects. You know that on average, the typical tech project sees a 45 percent cost overrun, while taking 7 percent longer than expected. And at the end of the day, the average project delivers 56 percent less value than originally anticipated.

Your company has invested a significant sum of money and countless man hours into the creation and implementation of an enterprise software application. The goal is to streamline your company’s operations while increasing productivity and improving your bottom line. You called in a team of tech experts to help implement the app. But they left before your in-house tech team had a chance to ask about maintenance and updates.

iTech was founded in 2003 to transform the IT staffing services industry in the United States. We offer end-to-end IT solutions and the quality of our staffing services is well-represented by our 95% customer retention rate. To deliver the greatest value, our technology experts work to recruit the best candidates for your short-term or long-term tech needs.

When you dive into a new project, you expect that that project will go according to plan, remaining on time and on budget. But the reality is very different, with a vast majority of tech projects seeing delays and budget overruns. According to a 2016 study by The Standish Group, less than one-third of the projects performed in a one-year timeframe were completed on time and on budget. Another study revealed that 17 percent of tech projects go awry to the degree that they threaten the company’s very existence.

You’ve just been alerted that two of your lead developers — a married couple with a brand new baby boy — will be taking a two-month leave. What’s more, one of your other developers recently left the company and you haven’t had time to backfill that position and today a huge development project got dropped on in your lap. It was a project that you just couldn’t decline. Completing the job with a full staff would be challenging; completing it without several key players will be near-impossible.

You’ve invested lots of resources in developing a talented team of software developers, but a recent company merger generated several new (and urgent!) tech projects that surpass what your in-house resources can handle. In short, it’s just not humanly possible for your tech team to address everything in a timely manner. But here’s the dilemma: you don’t need to expand your tech team on a long-term basis, so new hires aren’t the solution. And temporary staff can be very hit-or-miss in terms of their skill level, productivity and overall effectiveness. You could outsource the project, but you’ve had some bad experiences with this in the past, so you’re very hesitant to do so again.

You’ve just received a very disappointing report from your HR head: your newest developer just quit. And really, it’s not unexpected news because this individual just wasn’t pulling his weight. But what’s odd is that this developer was incredibly qualified, with an Ivy league education, years of relevant experience, a killer resume, a broad skill set, and glowing references. In theory, this person should have been the ideal fit! You even went out of your way to ensure that your company met his salary and benefits requirements. So what gives? How could the “perfect” person turn out to be so wrong?

Keeping pace with the latest technology is a huge challenge. Who knew that the latest and greatest tech could be outdated in a matter of months? Well, it’s a well-known fact that the tech industry will see some very rapid and dramatic advancements in the coming years. Some sources have predicted that the demand for technology gadgets and goods could triple in the ten-year period between 2016 and 2026. It’s evident that the tech industry is rapidly evolving, but few consider precisely why this is the case. What’s fueling the unprecedented growth in the tech sphere? Well, it appears to be a combination of several factors. By understanding the root causes, you’ll gain a much better understanding of where we’re headed in the coming years.

You’ve just read through the specs for your team’s newest project, but you are completely and utterly befuddled because the scope is so incredibly vague and potentially nebulous. To say there’s room for interpretation is putting it mildly, as Nostradamus’ quatrains are more clear-cut and straightforward than these specifications. You’re left with far more questions than answers and that’s a bad place to be—especially since those specs are intended to serve as a precise roadmap for this software development project.

Your business has just landed a huge account. It’s an incredible project that could deliver a major boost to your company’s image. But there’s a big problem: one of your lead developers is on maternity leave, another two just recently retired and your most versatile developer has taken a six-week leave of absence. This has left your development team stretched very thin and now you’re faced with the time-consuming and costly task of finding some temporary employees. You simply cannot drop the ball on this new project.

In many fields and professions, recruiters and HR professionals routinely request work samples; samples that are representative of the individual’s skill and abilities. But the reality is that this approach just doesn’t work for most segments of today’s tech industry.

Your software project started out on a smooth path, with a reasonable budget and timeline, but over time, things changed. The scope evolved in some dramatic ways, so now the budget and timeline no longer suit the original endeavor. This is what sits at the core of scope creep. It’s a stealthy process that tends to go unnoticed. Even more frustrating: it could have been avoided in the first place. But to prevent scope creep, it’s vital that you understand its primary causes. Only then can you implement measures that will streamline operations, while preventing uncontrolled shifts impacting nearly every aspect of your project.

In February of 2014, Gartner made a prediction: within two years, the IT industry would see a movement to abandon traditional ERP supersystems in favor of a hybrid postmodern approach. This new strategy represents a shift away from the massive ERP suite in favor of a hybrid arrangement that blends cloud-based services and smaller, task-specific, in-house applications. Gartner predicts that by 2018, up to 90 percent of companies will still lack a solid postmodern implementation strategy.

With ubiquitous connectivity and increasingly cheap hardware, digital technology is increase revenue for brick and mortar stores through better customer experiences that result in better retention and greater profit per customer. In a post and video about their consumer insight tool, the SAP® blog mentioned some statistics about one nationwide retailer that used consumer data […]

Executives from a handful of notable, high-tech companies engaged in a recent panel discussion on the best ways to hire technical talent. Some of the companies represented included VMware, Stripe, and Dropbox. While the tech executives agreed on many hiring tips, they also disagreed about some things. This may have been because their company cultures differed, and they didn’t all have the same priorities. These tips could prove valuable, but every business really needs to develop their own hiring strategy.