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FOWX ALERT!

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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FOWX Alert: PRO Unlimited Continues Aggressive Technology Transformation, Acquires Workforce Logiq

Contingent WorkforceSolution ProvidersTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

[Editor’s Note: “FOWX Alert” – The Exchange’s coverage and analysis of the Future of Work industry’s most important news, including major announcements, M&A, and other breaking stories.]

To say that global workforce management solutions provider PRO Unlimited has been aggressive in disrupting the market is a vast understatement. In the span of less than a year, the company has:

  • Acquired of the industry’s leading rate intelligence solutions, PeopleTicker.
  • Introduced new functionality and offerings that are transforming diversity, equity, and inclusion for the market.
  • Launched an exclusive partnership with Eightfold to push AI-driven talent intelligence into PRO’s technology (particularly its flagship Wand VMS product).
  • Acquired Dutch MSP Brainnet Group.
  • Optimized client hiring decisions through its unique RatePoint tool.
  • Launched its NorthStar HCM consulting and advisory team, which blends market expertise and talent intelligence into an agile add-on offering, and;
  • Been acquired by EQT Partners, which is actively allowing the solution to fulfill its promise of becoming a true end-to-end workforce management platform.

And, this week, PRO Unlimited announced that it will acquire Workforce Logiq, one of the workforce management technology landscape’s biggest and most mature players. This news is yet another indicator that PRO will continue its aggressive approach towards realizing its goal of becoming an on-demand, agile, and flexible end-to-end platform for managing non-employee and extended talent.

What is particularly interesting about this acquisition that both PRO and Workforce Logiq are like-minded solutions; both have industry longevity on their side and offer hybrid Managed Services Provider (MSP) solutions and Vendor Management System (VMS) technology. In addition, both companies have harnessed innovative approaches towards workforce management technology, particularly in the arena of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics (in fact, we just spoke with Workforce Logiq’s Chief Strategy Officer, Joe Hanna, about this topic on FOWX).

“Both companies have a similar “platform” vision with two like-minded executive and product teams,” said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited. “We essentially both saw the market in the same way, so we knew that [the acquisition] was already heading in the right strategic direction. The cultures between PRO and Workforce Logiq are incredibly well-aligned, as well, and there are many talented people that are now part of the PRO family.”

Together, the two solutions will represent a massive disruptor in the contingent workforce management (CWM) solutions marketplace. This acquisition will allow PRO to expand its global reach even further and enable existing Workforce Logiq clients the sheer breadth of offerings under the PRO umbrella. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange instant analysis is as follows:

  • PRO Unlimited will undoubtedly make immediate use of WFQ’s impressive array of AI-led innovation. WFQ seemingly went from a standard MSP/VMS hybrid under the ZeroChaos brand to purveyor of AI-led workforce management solutions in short order when it moved to the Workforce Logiq brand, including its 16 patent-pending analytical technologies and toolbox of AI-led reporting functionality.
  • The ENGAGE Talent factor could be the most interesting facet of this deal. Back in 2019, I wrote that Workforce Logiq’s acquisition of ENGAGE Talent was a workforce management solutions gamechanger. “ENGAGE Talent’s technological sweet spot (predictive AI-powered algorithms) enables users to anticipate talent supply chain gaps, analyze real-time global labor conditions, and develop deep talent-based scenarios for short- and long-term contingent and full-time total workforce planning.” ENGAGE is/was one of WFQ’s most prized and innovative market offerings; we fully expect PRO Unlimited to take advantage of this deep tool to advance its intelligence-led technology.
  • PRO’s industry coverage becomes even more expansive than it was before the acquisition. While both PRO and Workforce Logiq are “household” names in the CWM solutions market, each paved its own path through dozens of unique verticals. PRO’s acquisition of WFQ opens the solution to clients in some very large industries, including automotive, healthcare, and telecom.
  • Strengths of both solutions, particularly DE&I and direct sourcing, will become more robust under the unified company. PRO’s recent enhancements of its direct sourcing and diversity, equity, and inclusion offerings was a strong way to kick off 2021. Workforce Logiq was an early pioneer of the direct sourcing model (even nicknaming it “self-sourcing” back in 2019) and has long been a force when it comes to improving DE&I in staffing and talent acquisition. These two very critical aspects of the Future of Work will become even stronger under the unified PRO/WFQ brand.

Beyond the obvious “scale” factors of the acquisition (such as combining two of the industry’s largest providers from RPO, payrolling, and other standard workforce management operations), there is something much larger – and more critical – at play: the fact that PRO Unlimited now has incredible positioning as an end-to-end workforce management solution that leads with innovation, data, and intelligence. Workforce Logiq’s main differentiators from the MSP pack have always sat in its wide-ranging abilities to plug-and-play real-time labor market, job role, rate, and other forms of deep intelligence into its core managed service operations. That PRO now has these functionalities at its fingertips is a true competitive transformation for the platform.

“There are incredible synergies here between the two solutions,” Akeroyd said. “Adding Workforce Logiq’s deep ocean of data and their innovative analytical tools to PRO’s end-to-end platform are going to be very impactful in how we continue to transform contingent workforce management for our customers. This is an acquisition that truly allows us to accelerate on our vision.”

(Financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in Q4, were not disclosed. Stay tuned to the Future of Work Exchange for more insights on the evolving workforce management technology landscape.)

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