Tech staffing agency
A tech staffing agency for platforms most recruiters cannot screen
Conntal is a tech staffing agency for enterprise platform roles: messaging and streaming, data platforms, Kubernetes and DevOps, SRE, ServiceNow ITOM and integration. A practitioner who runs the platform in production screens every candidate before you see a CV. Contract, contract-to-hire or direct hire; senior contract rates start from $80/hr.
Last reviewed 31 October 2026
- RabbitMQ
- Apache Kafka
IBM MQ- ActiveMQ
- Solace
- Cloudera CDP
- Apache Pulsar
- Apache Spark
- Apache Flink
- Elasticsearch
- MongoDB
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Java
- Apache Tomcat
- Kong
- Databricks
- Snowflake
- Apache NiFi
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- ServiceNow ITOM
- Apache Airflow
- Greenplum
- OpenShift
- Prometheus
Screened by practitioners
Ace8 and AceMQ engineers, not recruiters
130+
AceMQ enterprise clients across 26+ countries
Contract, C2H or direct
onshore, nearshore or offshore
What we staff
The technologies we screen, and who screens each.
Every row is a practice that runs these platforms in production. A role page exists only where a practice has confirmed it can vet the role.
| Practice | Roles screened | Screened by |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging practice lead | DevOps engineers, Site reliability engineers, Kafka engineers, RabbitMQ engineers, Middleware engineers | AceMQ |
| Data platform lead | Data engineers | Duczer East |
| Platform engineering lead | DevOps engineers, Enterprise architects, Kubernetes engineers, Cloud engineers | Ace8 |
| ServiceNow ITOM lead | ServiceNow ITOM developers | Duczer East |
| Data and search platform lead | Elasticsearch engineers, MongoDB developers, Snowflake developers, Redis engineers, PostgreSQL DBAs | AceMQ |
| Integration and API platform lead | AceMQ | |
| Java and middleware lead | AceMQ |
What we will not staff
The limits, stated up front.
General IT headcount
Help desk, generalist developers and roles any recruiter can fill from a CV. This is a niche-platform agency.
General ITSM
Our ServiceNow practice is ITOM: Discovery, Service Mapping, Event Management and CMDB. We do not send approximate ITSM candidates dressed as specialists.
Platforms with no confirmed practice
If no practitioner has confirmed they can vet a role, we do not list it and we say so before you sign anything.
Consulting and support
Running or fixing the platform yourselves is delivered directly by Ace8, AceMQ and Duczer East, not through a staffing contract.
Who screens
The practices behind the screen.
Practice leads, not recruiters, own each rubric. How a screen runs, and what happens if a placement fails, is on the how-we-vet page.
Messaging practice lead (AceMQ)
Runs production RabbitMQ and Kafka estates for regulated enterprises, including quorum-queue migrations and Tanzu/Broadcom licensing transitions.
Data platform lead (Duczer East)
Cloudera CDP upgrades and private-AI builds inside banks; owns the support-matrix and lifecycle practice.
Platform engineering lead (Ace8)
Kubernetes and DevSecOps delivery across EKS, AKS, GKE and OpenShift; incident response with a 15-minute commitment.
ServiceNow ITOM lead (Duczer East)
Discovery, Service Mapping and CMDB remediation on enterprise estates; service-oriented CMDB modelling.
Data and search platform lead (AceMQ)
Production support for Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Snowflake, Databricks, Spark, Flink, NiFi and Airflow estates under AceMQ's 24/7 support practice.
Integration and API platform lead (AceMQ)
Consulting and support for Boomi, WSO2, Kong and Apigee integration and API platforms, including platform migrations.
Java and middleware lead (AceMQ)
Delivers Java and Apache Tomcat work for AceMQ clients, on the messaging and caching platforms AceMQ supports.
Read the full method on how we vet.
Engagement models and rates
Three models, one screen.
Procurement-ready: an MSA plus an SOW per engagement, background and right-to-work screening, and clearance where the work requires it.
| Model | How you pay | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | Hourly against approved timesheets. Senior from-rates: $80/hr nearshore and offshore, $120/hr onshore. | Contract staffing |
| Contract-to-hire | Hourly during the contract, then a conversion fee agreed in the SOW before day one. | Contract-to-hire |
| Direct hire | A one-time fee against the hire's first-year base salary. | Direct hire |
The factors that move a rate, and how a bill rate is built, are on rates and engagement models.
Where we place
US buyers first, delivered from three location tiers.
Location changes the rate and the working-day overlap. It never changes the screen.
Onshore: from $120/hr
US-based, on client time zones, cleared where the engagement requires it. The model for regulated work with residency or clearance constraints.
Nearshore: from $80/hr
Latin America and Canada, four hours or less of overlap loss, same working day. This is where cost and collaboration balance best for most enterprise teams, and it is the model we recommend first.
Offshore: from $80/hr
Europe, India and South East Asia. Works well for follow-the-sun support and for workstreams with clean handoff boundaries.
How it compares
A specialist agency, a generalist agency and a marketplace.
This compares the three models as they usually work, not named vendors. Check any vendor against the same rows.
| Conntal | Generalist agency | Marketplace | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who runs the technical screen | A practitioner who runs the platform | Usually a recruiter against a keyword list | Usually a standard test or an interview that is not platform-specific |
| Is the screen shown to you | Yes, on every role page | Rarely | Sometimes, as a general description |
| Engagement models | Contract, contract-to-hire, direct hire | Usually all three | Usually contract only |
| Rates shown | From-rates, dated | Rarely | Often |
| Best for | Hard-to-fill platform roles | High-volume common roles | Fast, short, well-defined tasks |
Choosing an agency
How to choose an IT staffing agency for specialist roles.
Lists of the best IT staffing agencies rank firms by size. For niche platform roles, these questions predict the outcome better.
Who runs the technical screen?
Ask for the name and background of the person who decides a candidate is senior. If it is a recruiter with a checklist, expect to do the real interview yourself.
Can they show you the screen?
An agency confident in its bar will show you the question. One that cannot describe it is filtering on keywords.
What happens when the fit is wrong?
Look for a written replacement window and a named owner, not a promise to 'make it right'.
Do they say no?
An agency that never declines a role is not screening for fit. Ask what they turned down last quarter and why.
Which engagement models fit?
Contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire suit different situations. A good agency recommends one and explains why.
Where is the bench?
Onshore, nearshore and offshore have different cost and overlap trade-offs. Ask where the candidates they have placed in your stack actually sit.
Not a fit if
When to look elsewhere.
- You need volume hiring of common roles. A generalist agency will fill those faster and cheaper than a niche-platform one.
- You want a fixed price for a defined outcome rather than hourly capacity. That is a managed service, not staffing.
- You need a platform where no practice has confirmed it can vet the role. We will say so rather than send approximate candidates.
- You need consulting or support on the platform itself. Ace8, AceMQ and Duczer East do that directly.
Roles we staff
Every role has a published screen.
The scenario each candidate is put through is on the role page, so you can judge the bar before you brief us.
Related
Other ways to engage.
Staff augmentation services
Vetted engineers inside your team, under your management, for a defined term.
Contract staffing agency
Engineers for migrations, upgrades and surges with a defined end date.
Rates and engagement models
From-rates by location and how contract, contract-to-hire and direct compare.
FAQ
Technology staffing agency: what buyers ask
Something not covered here? Send the requirement and a practitioner answers it, not a sales queue.
What does an IT staffing agency do?
An IT staffing agency finds, screens and supplies technology professionals to your team, either on contract, on contract-to-hire, or as permanent direct hires. The agency carries sourcing, screening and, for contract roles, the employment relationship, while you direct the work.
How is Conntal different from a generalist IT staffing agency?
Candidates are screened by practitioners from AceMQ, Ace8 and Duczer East who run messaging, data, Kubernetes and ServiceNow platforms in production, using a published production scenario. Generalist agencies typically screen with recruiters against keyword lists.
How should I choose an IT staffing vendor for hard-to-fill platform roles?
Ask who runs the technical screen and whether they will show you the scenario, what happens in writing when the fit is wrong, whether the agency ever declines a role, and where its candidates actually sit. For platform roles, the person who decides a candidate is senior matters more than agency size.
How do IT staffing agencies charge?
Contract roles are billed hourly against an approved SOW. Conntal's from-rates for a senior contract engineer are $80/hr nearshore and offshore and $120/hr onshore, reviewed 31 October 2026, with the final rate set by scarcity, seniority, clearance and term. Direct placements carry a one-time fee against the hire's first-year base salary. Contract-to-hire combines the two, with a conversion fee agreed up front.
What is the difference between an IT staffing agency and staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation is one of the services an IT staffing agency provides: adding contract engineers into your team under your management. A staffing agency also covers contract-to-hire and permanent direct hire.
Do you staff remote and nearshore engineers?
Yes. Onshore (US), nearshore (Latin America and Canada) and offshore (Europe, India, South East Asia) are all available. The location model changes the rate, not the screen.
Which technologies do you staff for?
RabbitMQ, Apache Kafka and Confluent, IBM MQ, Redis, Kubernetes, DevOps and SRE tooling, Cloudera and data platforms, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, Snowflake and ServiceNow ITOM. Each role page lists the technologies its screen covers.
Tell us the role. A practitioner scopes it, not a recruiter.
Send the requirement — or the job description you are not happy with — and an engineer who runs this technology will tell you what is missing before we source anyone.