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Direct Sourcing’s Future of Work Impact

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingGeneral InsightsPodcastSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Future of Work Exchange podcast features coverage of industry news, software developments, Future of Work happenings, and, most importantly, conversations with industry thought leaders.

Several months ago, I chatted with Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix, for an insightful Future of Work-oriented discussion (click to listen to the full interview). Sunil and I discussed the changes in how businesses engage talent, the continued growth of direct sourcing, and some interesting Future of Work predictions. Today’s article is a recap of our conversation. [Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.]

Christopher Dwyer: Seeing how our world of work and talent has been changing so much, you’ve had a front-row seat being where you are in workforce management software space. From your perspective, what do you feel are the biggest changes in the way businesses engage talent and get work done, and how the pandemic has shaped those aspects over the past couple of years?

Sunil Bagai: That’s a really good question. Several changes have been happening. Some of them were obviously sped up by the pandemic. For example, businesses are now much more open to hiring remote workers. And when we say remote, it’s kind of like an umbrella where everybody can be under that remote category. But the reality is we need to slice it a bit further. Remote can be onshore where they’re local to that office, so they can at least still come into the office. Remote can be not local to the office, so some other state or anywhere else in the country. Remote can also be offshore where a person can be in the Philippines, Colombia, India, or somewhere else in the world supporting that organization. There are a variety of different ways to slice and dice what remote really means. And that nuance is new. And it’s important going forward.

Another trend that I’ve seen happen in the last few years is much more openness to a variety of different marketplaces. And that means being able to hire talent directly by going onto a portal, for example. So, that trend has taken off. What that does, however, is create a challenge in these organizations. Why? Because enterprises are not equipped to deal with the nuances of being remote or how to integrate hiring marketplaces into their existing hiring processes. So, for example, their ATS and VMS platforms are not fully equipped to integrate with those new ways of hiring. That’s creating some more challenges and friction, which will get ironed out and addressed as the next few years go on.

CD: Direct sourcing has become such a hot strategy. And the more we talk about it on the Future of Work Exchange, the more we’re educating the market on something that seems to be dominating conversations not only around the Future of Work but also talent acquisition and workforce management. I think back to some of my first encounters with the Crowdstaffing platform, and you were one of the pioneers of direct sourcing. What are your thoughts on where direct sourcing is going and where it could be headed?

SB: Let’s start by differentiating what is traditional direct sourcing. What we’re doing with a hiring marketplace is a step towards direct sourcing without having to necessarily, say, get rid of your suppliers. Because direct sourcing today assumes that you’re sourcing every candidate on your own without the use of suppliers. And I believe there’s a middle ground where you can still use suppliers — your incumbents or your initial supplier pool. The network can be a second supplier pool that can give you more access to talent as well as lower costs. And then you have a third option which is the bucket of direct sourcing, where you can engage talent directly using your brand. I believe that all can coexist.

And the aim is to use technology to publish your jobs across all diverse hiring channels. Each of these becomes a hiring channel…and may the best channel win. It shouldn’t matter where the talent comes from, as long as it’s the best talent and the best price (hopefully). From there, it’s about optimization and being able to select based on quality, based on price, and based on speed for your talent fulfillment. If you can do that, then that’s your ideal solution. It’s not one or the other, it’s a mix of all the options available through one common technology platform to help you achieve your talent needs.

CD: What are some of your 2022 Future of Work predictions — not just technology, but the space in general?

SB: For 2022, you’re already starting to see some interesting things happen in the industry. We’ve seen some large acquisitions, and we’ll probably continue to see consolidation where certain companies try to acquire other companies to have a larger presence in the space and diversify their solution portfolio. And there will be more consolidation of customers, as well.

We’re also starting to see MSPs really up their game and add much more value than they were traditionally accustomed to. Before, MSPs were managing programs, and now they’re really trying to differentiate themselves by offering more capabilities within their solutions. New technology will also continue to surface and add a different spin on how the workforce should be managed. That’s what I’m seeing for the remainder of this year.

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The VMS of 2022: The Nexus of Extended Workforce Management

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Vendor Management System (VMS) platforms are automated solutions that offer end-to-end management of the core and critical facets of contingent and extended workforce management. The VMS model (frequently paired with Managed Service Providers or “MSPs”) is perhaps the most mature platform in the workforce solutions market.

While the earliest incarnations of VMS technology functioned as automated procurement for staffing suppliers, these platforms have evolved to become the true “nexus” of all activity related to contingent and extended workforce management. In fact, the very foundational elements of today’s VMS solutions revolve around the many tenets of the Future of Work movement; the Vendor Management Systems available in today’s fast-moving, globalized technology market have all made great leaps in regard to managing the “extended workforce,” a phrase leveraged to describe the next progression of contingent labor.

The past couple of years has reinvigorated the world of non-employee talent in such a way that the collective business market finds itself with nearly half of its total talent (nearly 47%) comprised of contingent labor. The pandemic age has not only reaffirmed the need for businesses to harness the power of VMS technology, but to also take advantage of the many ways these platforms are reinforcing the many accelerants within the Future of Work movement.

Recently, the Future of Work Exchange announced the publication of the much-anticipated VMS Technology Advisor, a report that assesses and evaluates 11 of the major Vendor Management System platforms that are currently helping organizations around the globe automate key extended workforce management processes, provide access to talent intelligence, and reinforce contingent workforce spend management.

The new report, which is available here, evaluates Beeline, Coupa Contingent Workforce, ELEVATE, Eqip, Pixid, Prosperix, PRO Unlimited, SAP Fieldglass, Utmost, VectorVMS, and VNDLY (a Workday Company).

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Defining the VMS Technology Market: New Future of Work Exchange Research Study Now Available

Contingent WorkforceSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange have long been preeminent sources of analysis of the extended workforce industry and its associated technologies and solutions. With the introduction of our Technology Advisor (and Solution Advisor) series several years ago, the analyst team has been able to assist thousands of business leaders with the necessary information, insights, and intelligence as they traverse the complex solutions landscape within procurement and spend management, procure-to-pay, contingent and extended workforce management, direct sourcing, and digital staffing.

Today, we announce the publication of the much-anticipated VMS Technology Advisor, a report that assesses and evaluates 11 of the major Vendor Management System platforms that are currently helping organizations around the globe automate key extended workforce management processes, provide access to talent intelligence, and reinforce contingent workforce spend management.

The new report, which is available here, evaluates Beeline, Coupa Contingent Workforce, ELEVATE, Eqip, Pixid, Prosperix, PRO Unlimited, SAP Fieldglass, Utmost, VectorVMS, and VNDLY (a Workday Company).

The 2022 VMS Technology Advisor deep-dives into each provider’s strengths within requisition management, services procurement, SOW management, analytics and intelligence, direct sourcing, Future of Work readiness, total talent acquisition, total workforce management, global capabilities, and other key attributes inherent in today’s leading VMS platforms.

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Extended Workforce Evolution and the Modern VMS

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Way back when (say, about 25+ years ago?), businesses required a veritable system-of-record that could effectively serve as an automated outlet for their many, many staffing suppliers, vendors, and agencies. The birth of the first Vendor Management System (VMS) platforms were essentially akin to “eProcurement for staffing,” with a handful of those organizations blending some basic human capital management competencies into the core of their earliest solutions.

The 2008-2009 Great Recession translated into a “perfect storm” for the contingent workforce arena: businesses sought to regain competitive footholds without the ability to rehire those laid off during the worst of the financial crisis, while those who lost their roles began to realize the incredible value of transforming their talents into what would eventually become the freelance economy.

The past couple of years has reinvigorated the world of non-employee talent in such a way that the collective business market finds itself with nearly half of its total talent (nearly 47%) comprised of contingent labor. The pandemic age has not only reaffirmed the need for businesses to harness the power of VMS technology, but to also take advantage of the many ways these platforms are reinforcing the many accelerants within the Future of Work movement.

The veteran platforms in the space, such as Beeline, have managed to meld the traditional elements of VMS with pioneering innovation, such as direct sourcing (perhaps the first VMS solution to embrace this), advanced SOW and services procurement, AI-led functionality, and human capital-fueled offerings that all contribute to its “Extended Workforce Management” technological overlay (not to mention an industry-leading talent technology ecosystem).

PRO Unlimited has revolutionized the concept of “integrated workforce management” through an aggressive mix of key acquisitions (WillHire for direct sourcing, Workforce Logiq for AI-led managed services, GRI for sheer market expansion, etc.) and a commitment to becoming a “platform of choice” for all aspects of today’s extended workforce.

SAP Fieldglass, a fellow long-time solution, has also progressed its offerings in recent years to include a focus on light industrial and shift management (key functionality for an industry that has seen the largest jump in utilization of contingent labor since the pandemic began), next-generation analytics (fueled by a move to a Hyperscaler data warehouse), and enhanced candidate experience management. The platform, when combined with the power of SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, and other SAP technology, will continue to be a trailblazer.

Relative newcomer Utmost has redefined extended workforce management with its incredibly flexible functionality, deep commitment to total talent intelligence, native integration with HRIS platforms, and overall sheen of innovation that has helped it stand out from the rest of the market. Its agile technology has also enabled one of the market’s strongest offerings around candidate management and the candidate experience, as well as an appropriate focus on “how work gets done.”

A solution like Prosperix (formerly Crowdstaffing) is a truly unique and revolutionary platform that has turned the design of VMS on its head. The provider’s “VMS Network” is one of the most disruptive products on the market; Prosperix is a true end-to-end vendor management platform built on a talent marketplace with a candidate-centric model.

Coupa’s Contingent Workforce solution is an idyllic blend of spend management and VMS technology, with robust intelligence offerings (including prescriptive guidance based on a wealth of data and information) and some of the industry’s leading candidate-matching functionality. VNDLY, acquired by Workday late last year, boasts one of the best user experiences in the marketplace, along with its real-deal procurement and HR blend of offerings that are now enabled within the larger Workday suite of solutions (VNDLY’s data and intelligence architecture are also a powerful formula for total talent management).

Solutions like VectorVMS (deep partner network with a mid-market focus), Pixid (one of Europe’s most powerful VMS platforms), ELEVATE (unique omni-channel direct sourcing channel offering and incredibly customizable functionality), Eqip (blockchain-fueled functionality and innovative offerings) and FlexTrack (the only VMS built on a SFDC architecture, which opens new and refreshing doors for CWM programs) are also contributing to the extended workforce management technology revolution, as well.

The VMS technology landscape today looks markedly different than it did even a few years ago, and for good reason: the classic iterations of Vendor Management System software wouldn’t cut it in a world that is founded on flexibility and agility whilst also being more talent-led than ever before. VMS needs to be more powerful, more strategic, and, most importantly, tightly aligned with the true future of how work will be done.

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange will soon release the 2022 edition of its VMS Technology Advisor report, which assesses and evaluates the top providers in the Vendor Management System market and will serve as a guide for those organizations seeking deep analysis of a complex technology landscape as they undertake workforce management solution selection.

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“The Ecosystem Effect” and the Future of Work

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange research peg the extended workforce as comprising upwards of 47% (or more) of the average’s company total talent. This figure is expected to grow in both size and impact when 2022 is said and done, driven by a “Great Resettling” that is a direct by-product of the so-called “Great Resignation” that has seen four-plus million workers voluntarily leave their positions each month since last fall.

Of course, The Great Resignation is mostly driven by a key force: a “Talent Revolution” that has become a catalyst for quits. Workers crave purpose, flexibility, and agility, as well as control and empowerment, and these elements have driven millions of talented professionals into the realm of the extended workforce…a very strong reasoning behind the Exchange’s bullish prediction on this talent community’s expected rampant growth in 2022 and beyond.

“The size, variety, and complexity of this workforce is only increasing as workers ask for different work arrangements with organizations. For example, many IT workers want project-based gigs, digital nomads want flexible remote arrangements, and retirees want to come back to work in a limited capacity,” said Kevin McFarland, Head of Business Development and Alliances at Utmost. “Often, these workers are in critical roles whether in R&D, customer-facing roles, or revenue-generating roles.”

With these movements as a backdrop, business leaders must be more in tune with how they manage their extended and contingent workforce; a failure to appropriately harness the relative power of this type of labor, especially during what may become uncertain economic times, may make the difference between merely surviving the months or ahead, or truly thriving in the future.

Utmost, a prominent provider of extended workforce management and Vendor Management System (VMS) technology, recently unveiled its Utmost Connect platform, a low-code, integration-friendly hub that enables Utmost users to automate core workforce management tasks, tap into third-party applications for “peripheral” attributes of the extended workforce (skills verification, governance, compliance, risk management, etc.), and leverage pre-designed solutions to support flexibility and agility.

“With Utmost Connect, we are enabling our customers to build solutions to achieve their unique business outcomes. Organizations need more than mere integrations that pass data seamlessly between systems, that is a given- they need an ability to automate workflows that span multiple systems with a user experience that reflects how work gets done,” said McFarland. “For instance, many managers operate primarily in Slack to receive communications, like the status of a worker being onboarded, and to conduct tasks, like approve a laptop provisioning request during an onboarding flow. With Utmost Connect, this and many more similar experiences are possible.”

With the extended workforce branching its many complexities across several key enterprise functions and their associated systems, particularly procurement, HR, human capital management, finance, IT, data security, and talent acquisition, it is critical that today’s workforce management platforms offer a robust series of “connectors” and integration-ready applications within a global ecosystem for augmenting key items (like governance and compliance, credential management, project management, etc.).

Utmost has become one of several market-leading VMS solutions due to its innovative nature and flexible software, two attributes that are critical in a world that is now, more than ever, focused on getting work done. As enterprise software traverses beyond mere “supplier management” and “workforce management” and continues to add in Future of Work-era functionality, it will become crucial for businesses to tap into extended workforce systems and a powerful talent technology ecosystem that has the ability to address all aspects of the total talent paradigm.

“At the highest level, companies are increasingly relying on more and more software to get work done. Gartner predicts that the spend on software will increase from $675B to $755B in the next year: 11.8% growth, more than twice the pace of growth of overall IT spend,” said McFarland. “Said another way, we are experiencing a Cambrian explosion of innovative software to support the workforce – everything from new tools to manage access to a growing number of systems to new productivity tools that agile teams use to collaborate across time zones. We are enabling customers to utilize this growing ecosystem of software to deliver the experience they desire across the entire worker lifecycle.”

Utmost Connect is launching with 35 named integrations and use cases, with a vigorous pipeline of additional integrations and automation that will be shared throughout the second half of 2022.

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Instant Analysis: Beelines Receives Major Investment From Stone Point Capital

Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Earlier this morning, global Vendor Management System (VMS) and Extended Workforce Management Platform Beeline announced that the company received a majority investment from funds managed by Stone Point Capital, a leading private equity firm based in Greenwich, CT. New Mountain Capital, existing investor, will remain a minority investor in the solution, and will maintain representation on the company’s board of directors.

The acquisition represents an ideal scenario for the industry’s largest independent provider of workforce management technology, as the move will allow Beeline and its team to execute on a progressive roadmap and introduce new and innovative solutions in a market dominated by Future of Work accelerants.

“New Mountain was a great home for us and we appreciate the opportunity to continue to partner with them,” said Beeline’s CEO, Doug Leeby. “We are thrilled to be part of the Stone Point Capital family; I’m confident that their support will allow us to follow through on our long track record of innovation and growth in this exciting industry.”

The move will allow Beeline to continue operating as the largest independent extended workforce/VMS technology solution, as well as serving as a catalyst for the company to enhance the way its customers find, engage, source, and managing the growing and evolving non-employee workforce.

The Future of Work Exchange highlights the following in its instant analysis:

  • Extended workforce management technology is a must-have in a “Great Resettling”-fueled business world. Ardent Partners and FOWX research have found that 47% of the average company’s workforce is considered non-employee, a figure that is expected to grow in 2022. Beeline already has a long track record of success, however, the strategic investment will enable them with even more support to continue the platform’s global scalability, especially considering the new influx of extended talent that will be entering the market as “The Great Resignation” continues.
  • Beeline will become a major player in the acquisitions market. The workforce solutions ecosystem has never been more robust: talent marketplaces, digital staffing outlets, direct sourcing platforms, and progressive point tools (i.e., candidate assessment and skills validation) are all critical pieces of the Future of Work puzzle. Beeline will have the capabilities to increase its acquisition activity, perhaps by building on moves such as what they did last year with the JoinedUp acquisition.
  • A major strategic investment = more runway to build on the role of VMS in the Future of Work. We know the story by now: VMS was once considered “eProcurement for staffing” until the contingent workforce grew in size and strategic prominence. Today, it’s a vaunted enterprise solution that serves as the nexus of all things related to independent talent. Beeline’s VMS and extended workforce platform is well-positioned to help its clients thrive in a Future of Work-led world with this investment, as it can build on its unique functionality in a way that supports progressive ideas, such as remote talent acquisition and hybrid work augmentation.
  • Data-centric enterprise technology computing will be enhanced across Beeline’s product offerings. The Stone Point investment means that Beeline can devote more R&D to intelligence-fueled functionality and enable its user base to make more data-oriented talent decisions. Data sits at the center of talent engagement and talent acquisition today, and in response, FOWX believes Beeline will continue to invest in its intelligence capabilities to bring more insights into all pieces of the end-to-end workforce spectrum.

“The extended workforce is a critical facet of the Future of Work movement,” said Leeby. “As this workforce grows and evolves, Beeline will continue to do so in parallel. With Stone Point behind us, we have an opportunity to innovate around the unique needs of today’s workforce and provide solutions that can help our customers succeed in a transformative world of work and talent.”

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A Conversation with Colleen Tiner, SVP of Product Strategy at Beeline

Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Beeline has long been a pioneer in the world of workforce management technology. The solution and its offerings have evolved to fit the dynamic needs of the global workforce and the enterprises that leverage the platform to find, engage, source, and manage the growing extended workforce. I had the opportunity to chat with Beeline’s Colleen Tiner, a visionary executive specializing in human capital management technology. She leads Beeline’s business, product, and partnership strategy functions to identify, assess, and drive collaborative development of new solutions that create value for every Beeline customer.

Christopher J. Dwyer: You’ve experienced first-hand how the past two years have played out for businesses regarding their workforce, talent, operations, etc. What has surprised you the most as you look back?

Colleen Tiner: The speed at which companies adapted to change successfully has been remarkable. Some companies, like those in logistics and technology, were faced with unprecedented demands for talent at unprecedented speed. We saw great resilience within our clients because they maximized technology, leveraged their mature supply channels, and implemented new innovative strategies like direct sourcing. The past two years, while a difficult time for many, has also been a catalyst for innovation and business transformation.

The imbalance of demand and supply for skills combined with wage inflation has also been a catalyst for significant bill rate increases. In IT, throughout 2021 we saw supplier bill rates increasing steadily about 2.5% to 3% over the prior year. In light industrial, we saw rates increase by double digits between 11% and 13% over the prior year. This really shines a light on how the processes of building rate card models is outdated. Many clients are examining how to shift to dynamic rate negotiations based on market trends, which makes real-time market rate analytics for bill and pay rates more important than ever.

CJD: We’ve seen so many accelerants over the past two years, from remote and hybrid work to the focus on talent quality. What does this say about the current “state of work”?

CT: Talent acquisition teams, procurement, and their business stakeholders are looking to technology to enable them to “do more with less.” We have not seen this let up. In this new state of work, finding quality talent, bringing them into the organization, and getting them engaged and productive as quickly as possible is the top priority. If you can’t support your business strategy with the talent you need, cost savings is moot. This is giving way to creativity in upskilling and cross-skilling, and to relaxing previously exclusionary requirements like specific degrees and certifications. I see a real “talent-first” approach to contingent workforce programs – of course compliance and cost control are still relevant, but they aren’t the only purpose. HR and procurement leaders have become strategic business partners to their stakeholders.

CJD: A year ago, Beeline introduced its Extended Workforce Management platform; how does it differ from the VMS functionality that the solution is known for?

CT: A typical VMS centers on the requisition, automating workflow and enforcing policy rather than fulfilling the skill needs of the business. Conversely, the extended workforce platform centers on talent and on enabling suppliers, clients, and MSPs to facilitate fulfilling talent needs through a myriad of processes, types of engagements and worker classifications given the skills needs of the business. So, while it does address all the necessary workflows and policy needs, the emphasis is on optimizing the contingent workforce as a strategic asset to the business. That includes providing access to more talent, redeploying proven talent, recommending where to find talent, engaging that talent, and measuring the impact of that talent, including on your DE&I strategies.

We’ve all seen this shift from process automation to talent-centered strategies coming for some time – and we had been evolving to be ready for that shift since 2018. I believe the acceleration of talent scarcity and workforce flexibility needs as an outcome of the pandemic, as well as greater focus on extended workforce diversity, made talent-centered strategies for extended workforce management a reality much sooner than anyone anticipated. The future of work is now.

Beeline’s Extended Workforce Platform solves the complexities of managing the entire extended workforce today, including both assignment-based and shift-based labor, and contemplates the needs of the future by incorporating latest innovation and premier partner products.

From a technology perspective, the platform drives greater ROI through exceptional end user experiences that decrease training time by up to 50% and by enabling efficiency so customers and providers can rapidly scale to contingent workforce demand. For example, one of the platform’s AI-powered features includes the CV/Resume Visualizer, which can make resume screening ten times faster and more accurate by analyzing, comprehending, and highlighting key decision criteria instantly.

CJD: I remember you and I having some wonderful discussions at Beeline’s user conferences over the years. One thing that has always been abundantly clear to me is your passion for the technology side of the industry.

CT: I love the technology side of the industry because technology is the great enabler.  When we can use technology to better connect our clients, supplier and MSP partners to talent, everyone wins. You will hear us talk about our vision and mission: every person, given the right opportunity, is capable of greatness. Every business, given the right talent, is capable of superior outcomes. Our trusted platform connects businesses to the remarkable talent within the global extended workforce. Beeline lives this vision and mission. And this is why I’ve been in this industry and with Beeline for more than 17 years.

CJD: Direct sourcing has become one of the hottest topics in our industry. Where do you see this program, and, by extension, the technology, going in the months ahead?

CT: Direct sourcing is in an exciting growth stage fueled by the demand for skills and the technology that enables directly engaging extended workers. Direct sourcing enables you to supplement your trusted supplier lists with a direct channel to talent attracted to your brand. We’ve seen clients in pharma, banking, and high-tech realize tremendous success using a technology-enabled direct sourcing strategy. Probably the most notable benefit has been significant time savings, reducing time to fill by about 7 days.

What I see next is an opportunity to enable clients’ trusted suppliers with the technology and advantages that have enabled direct sourcing success. This gives them an easier way to interact with their worker populations, ultimately allowing them to bring in more of the right talent quickly. We can help them cut time and cost out of the process and everyone wins.

CJD: If there’s one big thing we’re not thinking of right now regarding the Future of Work, what is it?

CT: We need to dig deeper on the talent scarcity assertion. Is it really that talent and skills are scarce – or are the skills and talent there and we are just not opening our minds and processes to meet them where they are? Are the strategies being used to find, attract, and evaluate talent outdated? Do you treat your connections and channels to talent as “lead sources” or do you treat them as one-and-done processes? When you have 50 candidates for any position, do you choose one and let the others fall back to the competition or do you explore connections to other needs? Are the processes we use for communicating opportunities, interviewing, and engaging talent making companies clients of choice? Are your requirements for skills speaking the same language as the talent you are seeking or are you alienating great talent by having outdated requirements?

Connect with Colleen on LinkedIn and visit www.beeline.com for more information on Beeline’s solutions.

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The Extended Workforce and the Future of Work: A Conversation with Jason Posel, Founder and CEO of GreenLight

Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on

“Transformation” has become a common theme in the world of talent and work. Businesses are grappling with how to effectively manage a consistently-shifting labor market that has become volatile in the wake of The Great Resignation. A major by-product of the ongoing “Talent Revolution” is that more and more talented professionals are choosing a more flexible career path; with this influx of new extended talent, businesses must balance critical attributes such as contractor compliance, adherence to federal and regulatory and labor laws, and, of course, talent visibility.

I had the opportunity to chat with Jason Posel, CEO and founder of GreenLight, a leading technology platform focused on workforce management, global freelancer payments, worker classification, and regulatory compliance, about the Future of Work, the extended workforce, and more:

Christopher J. Dwyer: Jason, it’s great to chat with you. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jason Posel: I’m originally from London, but have spent the majority of my career in the United States – split between Palo Alto and Miami. I’m what they call an industry veteran within the staffing industry. I led a company that did what we do at GreenLight with legacy technology for big names and managed over one billion dollars in spend for them.

CJD: You’ve been in the workforce management technology space for a number of years. If anything, the past two years have brought about incredibly change in the world of talent and work. From your vantage point, what has been the biggest transformation?

JP: I think one of the biggest changes is the worker’s mindset. They want to be independent. In most cases, that’s not possible; labor laws make things complicated and there simply isn’t the infrastructure to make operating as an independent contractor easy. No one who decides to take control of their own careers wants to have to deal with taxes, benefits, invoicing, timekeeping, insurance, etc. That’s why we are focused on fixing this infrastructure gap: by connecting onboarding and risk management with the tools and benefits that people need to be independent.

CJD: The extended workforce is drawing ever closer to encompassing half of all global talent within the enterprise realm. As GreenLight focuses so much on compliance and visibility, what’s the best pathway forward for businesses that want to tap into this growing, agile workforce?

JP: They need to make sure they offer a great experience to their extended workforce – as close as it could get to being an employee. Great HR support, great benefits. You want your extended workforce to be flexible, but you still need to make an attractive offer to make sure they don’t leave before you capture the ROIs of onboarding them. The post-hire experience for contractors is so laggard, especially compared to the innovation focused on finding talent. It shouldn’t be…and we are changing that.

CJD: One of the most impressive attributes of the GreenLight platform is its dynamic slew of functionality that is tailored for the modern workforce.

JP: Yes – the people that take advantage of the extended workforce that goes through GreenLight are educated buyers. Unlike SMEs or startups, they care a lot about risk and work with us to make sure they get exactly what they need. GreenLight’s value proposition goes beyond paying payroll with one click; our platform needs to be ready to accommodate the needs of each of our clients. We’ve been an incredibly intuitive platform with a huge focus on the user experience. We built features specific to managing the unique needs of the contingent workforce, and we made it all accessible through APIs, so we can easily integrate with any type of talent matching technology – direct sourcing, VMS, ATS, and marketplaces. We also offer AI-powered worker classification, integrations with partners like Checkr for background checks, and Berxi for business insurance.

CJD: I’d like to chat a bit about the evolution of talent and how so many more organizations are leveraging talent marketplaces, digital staffing, and human cloud offerings. How does GreenLight provide its users with real-time visibility into these talent sources?

JP: Large enterprises don’t want to have to use another platform, so we bridge the technology gap by integrating with the tools companies already use to source talent. The data that our clients need is then easily accessible either through our UI or via API.

CJD: It’s obvious by now that the average enterprise has experienced a very sharp uptick in the utilization of global, remote freelancers. How does this affect the impact of global payments technology?

JP: This uptick you mention has made apparent the need for new infrastructure that allows companies like us to send and receive payments in a seamless way, with great reporting tools, and with APIs.

CJD: What’s a Future of Work prediction you have for the second half of 2022?

JP: Lots of niche talent marketplaces that focus on one single job function will be born. Those who land big clients that care about risk will need to use platforms like GreenLight to grow. We’ve met platforms that believe they don’t need to care about everything that happens after the job match-makings they facilitate, but come back after a few months to us when they are ready to scale.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn and visit www.greenlight.ai for more information about GreenLight and its technology.

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Prosperity and Disruption: Prosperix’s VMS Network is a Future of Work Innovation

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Vendor Management System (VMS) technology, along with Managed Service Providers (MSP), are typically considered the two most traditional and widely-used solutions in the greater workforce management technology market. Rightfully so: each of these on their own drive services-based (MSP) and end-to-end automation (VMS) for their clients in such a way that there may never be a time when Best-in-Class organizations aren’t utilizing one of the two (or, in many cases, both) to gain visibility and control, and, of course, optimize, the way extended talent is brought into the organization and ultimately managed.

Today, the landscape looks much different than it did even a couple of years ago. The pandemic brought about revolutionary change in how executive leaders perceive their operating structures, finances, technology utilization, and, critically, their workforce. The talent acquisition arena has been permanently altered, with enterprises finding that there is so much more to engaging top-tier talent than simply filling out a job requisition and expecting candidates to flock to open roles.

“To remain competitive, businesses must brace for more dramatic changes than ever before,” said Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix. “The rapidly-evolving landscape requires new solutions and ways of thinking that allow businesses to become more agile, resilient, and more capable of meeting the seemingly endless demands today’s business landscape presents.”

When we examine the talent technology market today, there are many variables that have accelerated just as quickly as those Future of Work attributes (such as remote work, hybrid workplaces, etc.) that were quickened due to the pandemic’s far-reaching grasp. Talent marketplaces and digital staffing platforms enable users with on-demand and real-time access to pre-vetted, top-tier talent that align with dozens of project- and role-based perquisites.

Direct sourcing solutions actively assist enterprises with the ability to curate known and new talent into talent communities, nurture those communities with relevant and engaging content, and ensure that all recruitment streams leverage these talent pools. “Direct Sourcing 2.0,” a concept heralded by the Future of Work Exchange as the next iteration of direct sourcing, involves the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other innovative functionality to drive repeatability and scalability of core direct sourcing mechanisms.

Within 2022’s evolving world of work and talent, San Jose-based Prosperix is taking all of the above into consideration as it launches its new “VMS Network” offering. Prosperix’s core VMS solution is not just a standalone VMS platform, but rather an extended workforce management tool that enables a dynamic connection between enterprises and talent via a robust, on-demand network of suppliers, candidates, and businesses.

“When we built our VMS Network solution, we understood that providing exponentially greater access to talent would be a game changer. And that’s proving to be the case,” Sunil said. “Clients become a node in an open, connected network where their jobs are matched to a network of suppliers and talent pools. This network effect enables jobs to be filled in record time, with amazing quality, and at lower costs. Additionally, the interconnectedness of the network allows us to leverage data and algorithms in ways that were not possible with siloed VMS systems. This is revolutionary for the industry, and we are excited to be the first to bring this compelling new technology to market.”

The Prosperix VMS Network is unique in the sense that it effectively blends a fully-digital talent network (akin to what most talent marketplaces offer) with a powerful, end-to-end series of functionality that leverages modernized reporting, analytics, and intelligence that drive better business outcomes and better matches between candidates and open positions/projects.

And, on top of those features, Prosperix leverages a candidate-centric approach that provides, among other things, candidates with their own career dashboard where they can apply to matched jobs across an ecosystem of clients and stay up-up-to-date on their job applications. This is aligned with the company’s overall purpose as a technology platform: to fuel human, workforce, and business prosperity.

As we wrote about the solution in 2021 upon its rebranding: “Prosperix’s messaging is incredibly unique in today’s workforce solutions market, leading with an edge that differentiates the company from others in the space. Understanding that it is the convergence between the “human” and “technology” elements of workforce management that will help both candidates and businesses prosper in the face of continued evolution across the greater world of talent and work.”

“I don’t think any business is standing still today. Most are adapting just to survive, and those that embrace change as the norm have the potential to thrive. Our VMS Network makes it possible for businesses to achieve greater scalability, agility and resilience, so they can more easily manage the expected while being better-prepared for the unexpected. And they can do all of this while attaining extraordinary hiring outcomes,” Sunil said.

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange believe that there is still much, much more change ahead for the world of talent and work. As “The Great Resignation” continues its rampage and the “Talent Revolution” becomes a foundational element of the Future of Work movement, solutions like Prosperix will be a guiding light for enterprises that not only want to tap into the power of the extended workforce, but also leverage next-generation technology to drive workforce prosperity.

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Results-Driven in the Future of Work: PRO Unlimited Acquires MSP Leader GRI

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

For nearly the past two years, PRO Unlimited has revolutionized the way the contingent workforce solutions market operates. Through its mix of proprietary software, Wand Vendor Management System (VMS), longstanding Managed Service Provider (MSP) solutions, and a mix of exclusive partnerships and key acquisitions, the integrated workforce management platform provider has been perhaps the most aggressive in the industry since mid-2020. Through its unique “platform approach” (as an “Integrated Workforce Management” platform) towards extended workforce management, HR, and talent acquisition technology markets, PRO Unlimited continues to deliver on its ultimate vision.

This morning, the company announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire fellow MSP offering Geometrics Results, Inc. (GRI). GRI has long been an innovative and powerful solution in the MSP landscape (most recently evaluated as a “Market Leader” in the Ardent Partners/Future of Work Exchange MSP Solution Advisor report) through its robust Managed Direct Sourcing (MDS) offering, coupled with one of the industry’s deepest intelligence engines (Envision Analytics) and a dedication to a variety of key market verticals.

GRI is currently owned by MSX International, a technology-enabled business process outsourcing firm, which is a portfolio company of funds managed by Bain Capital Europe. GRI has 150 customers across the world, representing over $4 billion in spend under management (particularly concentrated in the United States, the UK, and India).

The GRI acquisition, according to PRO Unlimited CEO Kevin Akeroyd, is a multi-faceted move that will help the solution expand on many of its forward-thinking goals for the greater industry.

“Our mission is to be the centralized system of record and a truly holistic platform for the extended workforce,” said Akeroyd. “M&A activity is a key piece of our mission, and when we think about satisfying the many “flavors” of how work gets done, including managed services, end-to-end software, data and intelligence, payrolling, and the worker experience, this acquisition firmly supports that vision, allowing us to deliver something very special for the marketplace.”

The GRI acquisition will allow PRO Unlimited to continue expanding its growing market, particular within additional industries that GRI has long specialized and served, including automotive and light industrial. In addition, GRI’s long list of large and mid-market clients will be a nice addition to PRO’s Global 2000 portfolio of customers.

From a solutions perspective, the Future of Work Exchange believes that PRO’s acquisition of GRI is an ideal and complementary piece to key areas within several of the solution’s Best-in-Class offerings, particularly direct sourcing (DirectSource PRO) and data and intelligence. GRI’s Envision analytics tool is one of the industry’s deepest and most powerful, a “gold standard” for total talent data and insights across the workforce management solutions industry. PRO’s agile reporting functionality will benefit from GRI’s on-demand, Envision-driven data and intelligence, which helps users better understand the impact of the extended workforce and how to maximize it by using predictive modeling and scenario-building.

“GRI will harmonize PRO’s analytics and intelligence capabilities, which are already the largest data-led offerings in our space,” said Akeroyd. Pointing to its recent acquisition of PeopleTicker, its stout RatePoint offering, and the “jewel” of the Workforce Logiq acquisition (ENGAGE AI), Akeroyd said, “Envision fits really nicely into all of that and what we’re offering from a total talent intelligence perspective and will be a nice boost to that critical aspect of our solution.”

With the GRI acquisition, the PRO umbrella of solutions will account for over $22 billion in spend under management, a figure which would make them one of the three or four largest MSPs in the workforce solutions marketplace.

“This acquisition will continue to enhance our overall vision, with GRI serving as yet another extension of the end-to-end platform,” said Akeroyd. “Many of the best brands in the world rely on GRI as a world-class MSP; we now have the opportunity to help enable these household-name organizations with world-class workforce management services, worker experience solutions, technology, and total talent intelligence.”

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