The world’s going digital, and there’s no turning back. And for many companies, it’s DevOps that will take them there.

This is where DevOps comes in. DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development and IT to deliver software quickly and reliably, and it’s gained a loyal following in the tech world. It’s also one of the most in-demand skills these days … meaning that it isn’t easy to find people who can quickly jump in to tackle this kind of work. 

The difficulty in finding great engineers in this area has led to a huge increase in DevOps outstaffing. Here’s how it works and how it can help your company.

What is DevOps outstaffing?

DevOps outstaffing enables organizations to hire highly skilled DevOps professionals from an outside firm as needed, without spending the time and effort to build an expensive in-house team. It’s particularly useful for companies that have fluctuating workloads or those that are struggling to find all the DevOps engineers they need to get the work done. 

How does DevOps outstaffing work?

Instead of managing the administrative tasks associated with recruiting and hiring a DevOps professional — going to the right outstaffing company can get you top talent immediately. We always recommend finding a firm with experience in your industry and experience with addressing the specific types of technical challenges you’re facing. It’s also critical to find a firm that is trustworthy and will be flexible enough to work with you in the way you need, at the price you need, and in the time zone you need. Some firms allow you to do your own evaluation of potential talent, while others will not – be sure to find a team that gives you what you want.

Once you find the right firm and the DevOps professionals have been assigned to work with your company, they collaborate with your team to make sure your DevOps goals are met and your software updates are created, run and distributed smoothly. The DevOps professional is responsible for ensuring that the software development and IT operations processes are aligned and that software is delivered reliably. They will also work to automate processes, reduce manual work and improve efficiency.

Let’s talk about outsourcing?

How long does outsourced DevOps work with my company?

It depends. For some organizations, once the environment is properly set up to execute CI/CD, your developers only need to use what’s been set up for them. It often doesn’t make sense to have a full-time DevOps engineer past this point. In these situations, an outsourced DevOps engineer can pop in once in a month or so to check on things, make tweaks, and keep the infrastructure up to date. If something needs to be fixed, it’s usually more economical to outstaff to a third-party DevOps team for a few days rather than hire a full-time DevOps person.

For other organizations that are launching multiple new software products, creating many new interfaces and/or modernizing multiple systems, the DevOps team might be in place much longer. In these situations it often makes sense to hire a team of multiple different DevOps engineers with different skills who can either augment your existing team or replace a team that is in over their head. 

Benefits of DevOps outstaffing

DevOps outstaffing offers several benefits.First, it gives you access to a larger pool of talent. By hiring an external DevOps team, organizations can tap into a global talent pool and find the best candidates for the job from around the world — not just within an hour’s commute. What’s more, an external firm can bring together a diverse team of seasoned DevOps engineers with many different areas of expertise, giving you access to a broader group of perspectives than you can get from only a couple internal hires.   

You can scale up or down as needed. That flexibility is helpful for both large established companies and small startups. 

Next, DevOps outstaffing can save you a lot of money. By hiring an external internationally based team, organizations can save money on office space, equipment, salary and other expenses associated with having an in-house team.

Finally, a good external DevOps team can share amazing advice and bring a critical perspective that is informed by having worked on many, many other similar client issues in the past.

Let’s talk about outsourcing?

Does an external DevOps developer work as well as an on-site employee?

Even in 2023, many companies are hesitant about hiring people who aren’t on site, even when it comes to outstaffed developers. But an external engineer makes a lot of sense when it comes to DevOps. Remote work can actually lead to increased productivity. Studies have shown that remote workers are often more productive than those who work in a traditional office environment. Remote DevOps developers can work in the environment that they know suits them best, allowing them to focus on their work and deliver high-quality results. So what if they’re not doing it in a beige cubicle?

If you want to explore introducing an outsourced DevOps engineer to your team, it can be a great way to improve your customers’ experience and increase your efficiency. As always, if you’d like some help in this area, give us a call today so that we can help you!