It’s no secret that the most valuable resource in the IT environment is expertise — specifically human capital. 
So while many companies successfully plan technical needs for the long-term, many also forget to plan IT staffing—sometimes with dire consequences. After all, the greatest IT network in the world wouldn’t be very effective if it didn’t have sufficient staff and expertise to maintain it.
The cost of hiring, training, and onboarding a new IT associate can be tens of thousands of dollars. A company that takes its IT staffing seriously will be more likely to overcome challenges and harness the power of IT to drive revenue and expansion.
There are two ways to ensure a successful long-term IT staffing strategy. Let’s call them “Plan A” and “Plan B.”
Plan A is a full and complete staffing plan that handles short-term needs and creates a five year and even ten year forecast. The plan should cover:
• Boosting the performance, flexibility, and elasticity of current IT associates
• Best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios
• The complementary goals of the company
• What the IT department will look like
• Performance of current IT associates
• Additional HR requirements and needs
• Partners and sources for recruitment
• Finding and hiring IT associates
• Details of requisite skills
• Budgets
• Training
The IT staffing plan should be a collaborative effort between stakeholders in the company—including key IT decision makers and human resources associates. However, it’s important for one or several associates to have designated responsibility for the plan. It can be a huge mistake to designate this vital task to one employee who is already overloaded. Also, make sure that at least one person helping with the planning fully understands the scope and scale of IT personnel planning.
Remember, though, that even the most well-written plan can be difficult to follow in the ever-changing IT environment. That’s why it’s important to have flexibility – and a Plan B in the form of IT staff augmentation. Fortunately, several IT services providers offer their clients staff augmentation services.
By using this service, companies can solve short-term IT staffing problems. Companies can add team members with specific skills and experience, for specific projects or a certain duration to fill a gap. And a company can find anything from CIO-level talent all the way to engineers. Before hiring a provider of IT staff augmentation services, it is valuable to assess the qualifications the IT associates will need to have.
In the IT environment, finding, keeping, and making the most of human capital, and doing so cost effectively, is a constant challenge. So it’s important to have a Plan A (strategic plan) and a Plan B (targeted staff augmentation services) for maximum productivity, flexibility, and results.
Do you have a Plan A and a Plan B? Maybe a Plan C? Have you ever leveraged IT staff augmentation? What’s your strategy for making sure you have the IT staff you need when you need them?
How to Develop a Long-Term IT Staffing Strategy was posted at Optimize IT. | http://www.datatrend.com/optimize-it