It’s a fact that 2023 is a slow year in terms of technology investment. Inflation and economic uncertainty are the results of the post-pandemic period, and companies are more cautious in their IT investments. Added to this is the fear of recession and the reality of labor shortages, which are slowing down companies’ digital transformation projects.
And yet, new technologies remain at the heart of growth issues and are the keys to remaining competitive in their respective markets. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you’re supported by committed experts, and that your projects are cost-effective, on time and, above all, on budget.
In this context, there are several options available to your company to successfully complete your IT project, meet the challenges you face and achieve your business objectives. In fact, hiring consultants is not necessarily the most efficient or cost-effective solution for every organization. In this article, we decipher each solution with its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s get started!
Hiring IT Staff
As we’ve known for some years now, recruiting from within your company is no easy task, and even less so in the world of IT. Between the shortage of manpower, the ultra-competitive market and now the economic slowdown, companies have to play on their distinctive working conditions and the nature of their technological projects to remain attractive and retain their IT staff.
The main advantage of this solution is that you can develop your own hiring process and, above all, keep control of your projects in-house.
If the nature of your company’s activities is not solely IT-related, this can be a real challenge for the human resources in charge of recruitment, who often (and rightly so) lack the technical knowledge to rigorously assess the quality of an application. What’s more, existing IT experts are often too busy to take an active part in the hiring process. This increases the risk of hiring the wrong candidate, and therefore wasting time and money.
Finally, in their quest to renew their technical knowledge, participate in a variety of large-scale projects and earn a substantial salary, IT employees represent a major retention challenge for HR, in addition to being solicited daily by headhunters.
The Recruitment Agency for Hiring Consultants
Using the services of an outsourcing firm to provide contract resources, such as consultants, is an option for your organization to assemble a team to carry out your project.
It’s an attractive option in terms of time savings and flexibility in hiring costs. You relieve yourself of a number of important tasks, since you entrust specialized recruiters with writing job descriptions, selecting candidates, conducting interviews, checking references and negotiating contracts. This is a convenient option, especially when a project requires a certain level of technological expertise and the placement firm already has a pool of qualified, experienced candidates.
However, in both the short and long term, the organization requiring these services must take into account certain factors that represent risks for the future:
- Consultant integration and training costs at the company’s expense, which are generally excluded from forecasts and not accounted for
- Significant salary expenses: the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec had 231 IT consultants in 2022. It paid out over $49.3 million in one year for these consultants, an average of more than $213,000 per person. Consultants’ working conditions have improved considerably in recent years, and they now receive a more substantial hourly rate.
- Temporary contract resources who leave with the company’s project knowledge and expertise. Sometimes, entire teams have to leave the project and move on to other companies. What’s more, it’s a fast-paced business, with an average contract duration of 17.3 months, including renewals*.
- Diverse and expensive consultants with varied skills: An IT recruiter knows the IT field, but is often far from having the technical knowledge and experience of a developer to measure its true level of performance. Realistically, the placement firm gets paid when it places a resource, so there’s a real incentive to place people at any price.
What’s more, the company remains in charge of the project in every respect. In particular, it must manage the team of consultants and its own team of permanent in-house employees.
The Specialized IT Company: The Choice of a Long-Term Partner
Working with a specialized IT company, whether in the field of cybersecurity, business intelligence, artificial intelligence or software development, is a third option available to your organization.
Qualified Resources Verified by Real Experts, Centers of Expertise and Ongoing Training
As a true center of expertise, you don’t have to worry about recruiting IT staff, nor do you have to think about the human resources issues involved in retaining your resources. Nor are you responsible for training them or keeping their expertise up to date with the latest trends and technologies. It’s in the IT partner’s best interest to ensure that a technology escalation mechanism is in place internally to provide solid, effective expertise to its customers.
In addition, the company, mindful of its reputation and image, guarantees its customer competent personnel experienced with the technologies used for the project. If a resource leaves, the partner preserves the quality of the team and offers an equivalent replacement, a sure bet. Customer satisfaction and exemplary service come first.
A Reliable Team and Reduced Risk of Project Failure
Admittedly, your company may become dependent on the supplier, but the risks are greatly reduced thanks to this long-term relationship. You are no longer at the mercy of a disparate team of consultants who bring their knowledge and expertise to your projects.
Guaranteed Ongoing Maintenance and Support
An often-experienced risk in IT is having the necessary support for the maintenance and operational support of a solution. With a partner, this risk is mitigated by an agreement and the long-term presence of the IT company.
Better Control of Your Budget Thanks to a Complete Team
A preliminary agreement is drawn up between you and the supplier. The project manager ensures that the project runs smoothly, on schedule and within the pre-approved budget. This gives you greater control over your allocated budgets and enables you to better manage your expenses.
In fact, such a model allows you to benefit from elasticity in terms of delivery capacity, by relying on the partner at certain times of the year. Your teams may be busy with day-to-day operations. So the ability to give a little boost can really help to achieve a goal or address an issue.
Money Well Invested for the Long Term
Resources may seem more expensive at first glance in terms of hourly rates compared to a consultant, for example, but think of the satellite and additional costs such as training costs, time-savings in recruitment or coaching to be provided to employees. With a corporate service, these elements are taken care of.
Staff at specialist IT companies tend to be more up to date on best practices and methodologies that impact on productivity, more so followed than by other modes of operation. Team leaders and project managers work closely with delivery teams to ensure reliable progress.
Reliable, Recognized Customer References
As well as asking for references for an individual candidate, this is just as valid for a company. If you’re not in a position to contact customers of the company you’re considering working with, ask yourself questions about its reliability. Don’t hesitate to consult customer testimonials or other reviews such as Google reviews, for example. You can also go a step further, by looking for someone associated with the project to get feedback from the company via LinkedIn, for example.
Our Operating Methods at Uzinakod: Even More Options!
At Uzinakod, a software development company, we offer a combination of the advantages of all the above options. Depending on your needs and context, we offer two modes of operation: full project management and/or support for your existing IT staff with a turnkey, autonomous team of experts delivered as a squad!
Complete Project Management
Working with Uzinakod, our team will guide, advise and support you throughout your IT project, and on an ongoing basis. A complete team of carefully selected experts is assigned to ensure maximum efficiency: attentive listening, a business-value-oriented approach, transparency and systematic follow-up are our watchwords.
This was recently the case for our client Rocky Mountain, a Canadian company and creator of high-performance mountain bikes!
Squad: Supporting Your IT Team
You’re opting to add capabilities, but it’s not outsourcing. Sébastien Daupleix and Dominic Feron, our co-founders and former consultants, present a new approach that is proving successful and highly appreciated by customers.
In 2015, when they founded Uzinakod, they wanted to create a company that went against the system whereby IT projects were carried out with consultants who were amalgamated for the duration of a contract, and left once they were finished. I felt there was a lack of cohesion,” Sébastien Daupleix tells Lien MULTIMÉDIA. At Uzinakod, we hire people on a permanent, full-time basis.”
A pre-selected, seasoned team with experts who already know each other and work hand in hand: that’s our squad to support your teams. It’s a quality, trained team that takes on a complete or partial project within your company, collaborating with your employees and sharing the work to achieve your goals.
You retain control over your budget and schedule, and the knowledge acquired remains in-house. That’s great added value for the manager and pressure-sharing.
Catherine Gaudron and Billy Hachem, Team Leaders and Full-Stack Developers at Uzinakod, shares their experience with the Workleap and Akinox teams:
“They really appreciated that we took charge, that we were active participants in development, and not ‘code monkeys’ who expected to just receive work […]”.
“My team and I bring a wealth of expertise in each of our fields, and we’re able to tackle a wide range of problems while adapting easily to their working methods.
What’s more, a good relationship of trust has been forged over time with the Product Owner and Scrum Master who have been assigned to us“.
You now have all the information you need to make your choice and opt for the best solution for your company. If you’d like to learn more about how we work at Uzinakod, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
*Source Les affaires.com 21.6.2021 | AQUIII Survey
