How is RaaS different from staff augmentation? +
With staff augmentation, a vendor gives you a researcher and your team manages that person, sets priorities, reviews quality, and keeps the work moving. With RaaS, we take responsibility for the research itself and are accountable for the work we agree to deliver. The simplest test: are you buying a researcher for your team to manage, or research the provider is responsible for delivering?
How is RaaS different from hiring in-house? +
An in-house researcher is a permanent hire who builds deep product knowledge over time. RaaS adds research capacity without creating a permanent role, so you can bring in researchers for the work you need, add specialists when a study calls for them, and scale up or down as demand changes. We also handle parts your team would otherwise manage, like recruiting, research operations, and program management. Many teams run both, keeping strategic work in-house and sending volume or specialized studies to us.
What engagement models do you offer? +
Two. An embedded researcher joins your team for 3, 6, or 12 months and builds product knowledge as they go, which fits ongoing and roadmap research. Rapid research handles one scoped study from brief to findings in one to three weeks, which fits usability tests, pre-launch validation, and time-sensitive decisions. Both include the PMO, defined SLAs, and account support in your time zone, and you can use both under one relationship.
How much of our team’s time does this take? +
Less than managing researchers yourself. You bring the product context, the questions, and the access the researcher needs. We handle study design, recruiting, execution, analysis, quality, and delivery, and the PMO coordinates it, so RaaS reduces the coordination load instead of adding another set of contractors for you to run.
How does pricing work? +
We price per engagement, scoped to the work delivered rather than by headcount, so what you pay maps to the research and the decisions it supports. Cost depends on the model and scope: a rapid study is scoped on its own, while an embedded engagement is sized to the length and amount of research your team needs. You can start with one product team and expand from there.
Do you handle participant recruiting? +
Yes. Recruiting is part of the engagement, including screening, scheduling, incentives, consent, and logistics, through established panels and study platforms. We can also recruit specialized, global, or hard-to-reach participants, so recruiting doesn’t become the thing that delays your study.
What happens to continuity and quality if a researcher changes? +
The program context lives with the PMO and the program itself, so it carries across researchers. Methodology, history, and product knowledge are held at the program level, so if a researcher changes, the next one picks that context up and your team keeps moving. The provider stays responsible for maintaining quality across the whole engagement.
Is RaaS only for large enterprises? +
It’s built for enterprise product organizations with growing research demand across multiple teams, which is where it fits best. Smaller teams can use it when they need experienced or specialized research support but don’t have enough steady demand to justify hiring every type of researcher full-time.
How do you handle our data, IP, and confidentiality? +
When required, research runs inside your systems and data environment, and we can operate as an independent third party so unreleased products stay confidential. Data handling, participant privacy, consent, and compensation are managed as part of the engagement, and we can provide the compliance and security materials procurement needs.
