Managing an understaffed team and resolving worker retention has been a top priority for education for a number of years.
Even before the widespread upheaval known as the "great resignation," many employees in colleges and universities were already feeling the strain of being overworked, underpaid, and part of an aging workforce. This stress has contributed to a wave of resignations across the higher education sector.
As of May 2022, over half of the remaining higher education employees were contemplating leaving their positions. This trend extends to IT departments, which are particularly affected due to an inability to compete with the higher salaries typically offered in the corporate sector. This is especially true in specialized fields like cybersecurity, where there is a global shortage of skilled workers.
In the face of such challenges, when employees depart and no replacements are forthcoming, higher education institutions still must meet the needs of the thousands who depend on their IT services. This includes routine tech support and urgent needs during crises, such as cyberattacks, where the stakes include crucial data and financial resources.
To manage these gaps in staffing, many institutions are turning to temporary or contract employees. Organizations are relying on IT staff augmentation services, connecting colleges and universities with the skilled IT professionals they urgently need. These services provide a flexible and effective strategy to bolster IT departments during these challenging times.
In this blog we’ll learn about how IT staff augmentation has helped shape the education industry. But before that let us understand what IT staff augmentation is and its importance from an education industry viewpoint.
Let’s begin by understanding what IT staff augmentation is.
IT staff augmentation is a strategy used by businesses to fill skill gaps within their teams by temporarily hiring IT professionals on a contractual basis. This approach allows companies to scale up or down quickly based on project needs without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees.
It provides flexibility and access to specialized skills for specific projects, enabling organizations to address changing technology demands efficiently. Staff augmentation can help manage budget constraints, reduce recruitment times, and increase the overall agility of a business in managing its workforce.
Now, moving further let us understand why IT staff augmentation strategy is important for an education industry.
IT staff augmentation services are important for the education industry due to a number of reasons. Some of which are mentioned below:
Education institutions often face challenges in finding and retaining IT staff with specialized skills, especially in emerging technologies like cybersecurity, data analytics, and cloud services. IT Staff augmentation services allows these institutions to access a broader pool of talent on a temporary or project basis, filling critical skill gaps without the long-term overhead of permanent hires.
Hiring full-time employees comes with significant costs, including salaries, benefits, and training expenses. For educational institutions, which often operate under tight budget constraints, staff augmentation provides a cost-effective solution by allowing them to hire talent for specific tasks or periods without the additional financial burden.
Educational institutions experience fluctuating demands throughout the academic year, with peak times during admissions, exams, and grading periods. IT staff augmentation offers the flexibility to scale IT resources up or down based on these varying demands, ensuring that the institution can handle peak loads efficiently.
With the rapid pace of technological change, educational institutions need to implement new systems and updates quickly to stay relevant and secure. Augmented staff can accelerate project timelines by bringing in the necessary expertise immediately, rather than going through a lengthy recruitment process.
By leveraging augmented IT staff for specialized tasks, educational institutions can free up their core IT staff to focus on strategic initiatives and improving student and faculty services. This can lead to better allocation of resources and enhanced productivity within the institution.
Bringing in external IT professionals can introduce new perspectives and ideas to the institution, fostering innovation and potentially leading to more advanced technological solutions that can enhance teaching, learning, and administrative processes.
Overall, IT staff augmentation helps educational institutions remain agile and responsive to the technological advancements and dynamic educational needs without compromising on operational efficiency or financial viability.
Now, moving ahead let us understand a few names of E-learning platforms built using IT staff augmentation services
Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization that provides free online education to help students learn at their own pace. The platform covers a wide range of subjects from mathematics to history, economics, and computer programming. It is well-known for its personalized learning experience where students can practice skills at their own pace and teachers can identify gaps in learning and tailor instruction accordingly.
FutureLearn is a digital education platform founded by The Open University and offers a diverse range of courses from leading universities and institutions worldwide. It promotes social learning with courses that include video lectures, interactive content, and community-based discussions. FutureLearn provides various certificates and degrees and caters to lifelong learners looking to enhance their skills, advance their careers, or indulge in personal interests.
NCEA Pal is an educational app specifically designed to support students in New Zealand studying for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). The platform offers study guides, practice questions, and video tutorials aimed at helping students prepare for their exams. It's tailored to the New Zealand curriculum and helps students manage their study time effectively.
BYJU'S is one of the largest educational technology companies in India, offering a comprehensive learning app that uses detailed animations and videos to explain concepts ranging from math to science. The platform caters primarily to school students from kindergarten to 12th grade. It personalized learning based on the pace and style of the learner, helping students grasp complex concepts effectively. BYJU'S also prepares students for various competitive exams.
Each of these platforms is tailored to meet specific educational needs and has significantly impacted the way learners engage with educational content in their respective regions.
Now, let us understand how you should choose an IT staff augmentation company to hire IT skilled professionals for meeting your software development needs.
Choosing the right IT Staff Augmentation Company requires due considerations, but do not how and where to start from? Worry not, our Ultimate IT Staff Augmentation Guide is for you, and guess what it is absolutely free.
In this Ultimate guide you’ll learn everything about IT staff augmentation to meet the skill voids present in your organization.
Now, let us understand how we at Acquaint Softtech can help you in developing your EdTech Platform to cater your education sector clients.
Acquaint Softtech, based in India, specializes in software development outsourcing and IT staff augmentation services. Our primary focus is on utilizing the Laravel framework to create customized websites and software solutions tailored to our clients' specific needs. If your company operates remotely and is seeking to hire remote developers, we can efficiently connect you with the right talent. Our straightforward onboarding process allows you to integrate developers into your team within 48 hours.
We offer competitive rates for our remote developer services at just $15 per hour. Additionally, we are expanding our expertise to include MEAN Stack Development. This expansion provides an opportunity for you to hire MEAN stack developers from our team, enhancing efficiency and bringing innovation in your projects.
See how our client RealSchool achieved a 200% customer growth in their first quarter of the launch.
Let's quickly review the key points covered in this summary.
In conclusion, IT staff augmentation has become a crucial strategy for educational institutions facing staffing challenges in their IT departments. By leveraging temporary or contract IT professionals, colleges and universities can address skill gaps, manage budget constraints, and remain agile in the face of changing technological demands.
IT staff augmentation services not only helps in maintaining operational efficiency but also enables innovation and ensures that educational institutions can continue to meet the needs of their students and faculty effectively.
IT staff augmentation is a strategy where educational institutions hire IT professionals on a temporary or contractual basis to fill skill gaps. This approach offers flexibility, cost efficiency, and quick access to specialized skills, enabling institutions to manage their IT needs effectively without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees.
Acquaint Softtech's onboarding process is designed to be straightforward and efficient. Once you choose to hire a developer, we can integrate them into your team within 48 hours. This rapid onboarding ensures that your institution can quickly address its IT needs and maintain seamless operations.
The key advantages include addressing skill gaps, cost efficiency, flexibility, quick implementation of projects, and the ability to focus on core functions. Additionally, augmented staff can bring new perspectives and foster innovation within the institution.
IT staff augmentation services can support a wide range of projects, including cybersecurity initiatives, data analytics, cloud services implementation, and the development of educational platforms. These services provide the necessary expertise to handle both routine and complex IT tasks.
By leveraging IT staff augmentation, RealSchool was able to quickly access skilled IT professionals who contributed to the development and launch of their educational platform. This enabled RealSchool to achieve a 200% customer growth in their first quarter, demonstrating the impact of having the right IT talent in place.
I love to make a difference. Thus, I started Acquaint Softtech with the vision of making developers easily accessible and affordable to all. Me and my beloved team have been fulfilling this vision for over 15 years now and will continue to get even bigger and better.
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