For US engineering leaders evaluating external development partnerships.
The fundamental difference
Staff augmentation adds people to an existing team. Your organization typically directs their day-to-day work, manages priorities, and owns the delivery process. A managed engineering team is organized around a defined scope of responsibility, with coordination and delivery leadership provided by the partner.
Choose based on management capacity
If your engineering organization already has strong technical leadership and simply needs additional specialists, staff augmentation can be efficient. If your managers are stretched thin or you need a partner to coordinate execution, managed delivery may be a better fit.
Make responsibilities explicit
Neither model eliminates the need for collaboration. Define who owns architecture, acceptance criteria, security, technical decisions, and escalations before the engagement begins.
What to ask a potential partner
Ask how they handle technical reviews, reporting, turnover, working-hour overlap, onboarding, and scope changes. Clear answers matter more than a long list of technology logos.
Where to go next
Explore our managed engineering model or start a conversation about your delivery needs.