As solutions, they have been around longer than any other workforce management offering in our industry. As brand names, there may be no bigger logos than those synonymous with some of the largest in our space. And, as the extended workforce continues to grow in size, impact, and scope, they have evolved to meet the dynamic needs of businesses across the globe.

The Managed Service Provider (MSP) model has long been a powerful force across the contingent workforce management and traditional recruitment spectrums, offering an end-to-end, outsourced array of tailored, customized, and global offerings that help businesses tap into key staffing suppliers, standardize extended workforce management operations, and enhance the overall approaches to how talent is engaged and managed.

The non-employee workforce was once less than 20% of the average company’s total talent, as recently as a decade ago. With the stratospheric rise of this labor over the past ten-plus years, we’ve collectively experienced and leveraged a slew of both innovative, consistently-progressive outlets (such as VMS and extended workforce platforms), solutions that are actively capturing the power of direct sourcing, and digital staffing and talent marketplace offerings that enable real-time access to top-tier talent and expertise.

The Future of Work demands that business operations be dynamic, repeatable, and scalable. And, to boot, nearly half of the total global workforce is considered “extended” or “agile” in some manner. For service-oriented solutions like MSPs, the question becomes, “How does this model fit into the Future of Work movement?”

The answer is actually quite simple: an evolved model that blends traditional managed services with technological overlays for various “pieces” of the extended workforce lifecycle, combined with key integrations and partnerships with innovative platforms that address niche areas of talent engagement and talent acquisition.

One just has to look at the current landscape of MSPs ruling the day: some are some of the most mature in our industry and are revolutionizing the way services and technology interact, such as Randstad Sourceright and KellyOCG. RSR is reimagining SOW management and services procurement, as well as its bringing its unique TalentUX tech overlay to areas like direct sourcing. KellyOCG’s digital Helix infrastructure could be a gamechanger.

PRO Unlimited is advancing a “platform approach” that solves every need of the current workforce management program while pushing the criticality of data and intelligence; the solution has made incredible strides within direct sourcing, DE&I, and other key facets of extended workforce management. Talent Solutions TAPFIN is refashioning the market with a fresh approach to SOW management/services procurement and integrated, data-led offerings around workforce advisory and direct sourcing.

Solutions like GRI offer near-unrivaled, powerful, and self-service analytic modules that help clients design better business outcomes (GRI is also a robust provider of Managed Direct Sourcing (MDS) solutions).

Organizations like Atrium and nextSource are transforming how diversity, direct sourcing, and tech-led approaches can help the mid-market thrive. RightSourcing is actively helping a struggling industry (healthcare) take advantage of an evolving labor market whilst offering wide-scale support for those medical facilities that need it coming out of the latest COVID surge.

Pontoon continues to lead with its innovative service delivery models and technological foundations, while Guidant Global is building on its vast expertise, global reach, and progressive direct sourcing offerings. Even newer solutions, like Evaluent, are proving that there’s incredible room for innovation in our industry.

Tomorrow, Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange will unveil the 2022 MSP Solution Advisor, an industry guidebook that will serve as the definitive guide for businesses seeking new insights on the mature MSP solutions market, allow them access to the necessary information to guide solution selection journeys, and enable contingent workforce program leaders to better understand how each MSP offering differentiates itself from the competition.