VMS Archives - Page 3 of 5 - The Future of Work Exchange

Key Providers for 2022: Magnit

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/21/2022

The Background:

In addition to the many accelerants brought about by the Future of Work movement over the past few years, there has been another evolution that has been steadily aligning itself alongside the greater transformation of work, talent, and business leadership: the full-on progression of Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Vendor Management System (VMS) solutions and their parallel advancements with the fluid concepts of work optimization.

Enterprises today require advanced solutions that can not only transform the way they find, engage, source, and manage talent, but also technology that positions them to not only survive, but truly thrive as the business arena continues to evolve at a rapid clip.

Enter Magnit.

Why They Were Selected:

Over the past two years, Magnit (formerly PRO Unlimited) has redefined the “MSP” and “VMS” acronyms by introducing its Integrated Workforce Management Platform, an end-to-end platform that addresses the critical elements of contingent workforce management as well as services procurement, SOW management, direct sourcing, next-generation analytics, and intelligence-led service offerings.

When the solution rebranded to Magnit just two months ago, it represented a culmination of aggressive market activity that has coalesced into one of the market’s most robust workforce management providers. Through major industry acquisitions (WillHire, GRI, Workforce Logiq), unique partnerships (eightfold, Ceridian, etc.), and new product launches (Direct Source PRO, NorthStar, etc.), Magnit has reinvented the role of workforce technology within the Future of Work movement…and now has become a frictionless source of end-to-end automation and innovation.

In Their Own Words:

Magnit™ is a global leader and pioneer in contingent workforce management. Our industry-leading Integrated Workforce Management (IWM) Platform is supported by 30+ years of innovation, modern software, proven expertise, and world-class data and intelligence. It enables companies to optimize talent and diversity goals while achieving operational and financial success. With Magnit, companies can adapt quickly to the evolution of work to grow their extended workforce with greater agility, transparency, and speed. Visit magnitglobal.com.

The Outlook:

Two years ago, when the company was still known as PRO Unlimited, CEO Kevin Akeroyd laid out a firm vision for the solution’s future: become a true workforce management technology platform that could serve as a seamless foundation of automation and high-touch managed services for an evolving world of work.

Magnit has realized that bold vision and then some: the solution is a market leader that excels in several arenas, including driving real workforce agility, providing total talent intelligence, redefining talent acquisition, emboldening the power of advanced services procurement, and establishing a core foundation of dynamic functionality and white-glove service. The company has become a Best-in-Class center of transformation for key elements of the modern workforce, particularly direct sourcing, world-class data, and vigorous analytics that can drive strategic value.

The Future of Work movement is a progressive set of ideals that represents the convergence of technological and essential accelerants that have forever changed the way businesses get work done. Magnit is a true reflection of these transcendent advancements, serving as a quintessential platform for today’s revolutionary world of work and talent.

Key Providers for 2022: Beeline

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/03/2022

The Background:

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has found that nearly 65% of businesses plan to adopt extended workforce management technology by 2024, an idea that signals the natural evolution of contingent workforce management (CWM) into something more expansive and dynamic. Of course, when nearly half (47.5%) of the average organization’s total talent is considered “non-employee,” there needs to be some level of innovation in how businesses tackle their growing extended workforce.

The advent of extended workforce platforms, which meld Vendor Management System (VMS) functionality with progressive HR, talent acquisition, and contingent workforce management functionality, has been a powerful facilitator of control, visibility, and, most importantly, a better candidate experience.

Enter Beeline.

Why They Were Selected:

In the traditional world of VMS technology, it was typically rare to see “talent” prioritized as much as cost savings or compliance. However, as the business arena changed and the evolution of talent began, enterprises required their technology to become candidate-centric models.

Beeline is a platform defined by innovation. Over its tenure as the largest independent provider of VMS technology, the company was a forerunner for Future of Work elements such as direct sourcing, workforce intelligence, and advanced, AI-fueled talent analytics. Today, 18 months after introducing its extended workforce offering, Beeline has become a talent-centric solution that is tailored for the next generation of workforce management solutions.

In Their Own Words:

Beeline powers the future of work with the world’s first extended workforce platform. Our intelligence-driven, cloud-based platform manages more than 30 million contingent, shift-based, project-based, and independent workers and enables total talent visibility into the entire workforce.

As the pioneer of vendor management systems (VMS), Beeline understands the Future of Work is fueled by technology that enables the limitless potential of every business and every individual. Our AI-powered software delivers insights and tools needed to manage the modern world of work.

With the most seasoned team of contingent workforce solution professionals around the world, we help businesses across more than 120 countries meet their most critical talent needs. To learn more, visit www.beeline.com.

The Outlook:

Beeline’s acquisition by Stone Point Capital earlier this year was just a precursor to the platform expanding its overall reach, with a recent move to snatch up Utmost a clear indicator that the company is all-in on capturing the essence of the Future of Work movement. Beeline has considerable runway due to its robust suite of offerings, one of the most powerful instances of AI-fueled analytics in the space, the industry’s deepest ecosystem, and an overall commitment to a talent-centric technology model that is very much aligned with the direction of the market as its continues to evolve.

Beeline represents the next great generation of not just workforce technology, but also people technology. It is an idyllic and innovative platform that enables flexibility, insights, and true business agility. The company’s core offerings are deep and expansive, touching all facets of the transformative world of work and talent: services procurement, SOW management, candidate experience enhancement, recruitment, direct sourcing, global worker intelligence, and extended workforce management. And, as the industry moves closer and closer to achieving real “total talent management,” it will be solutions like Beeline that pave the way.

Key Providers for 2022: Prosperix

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 10/18/2022

The Background:

The world of talent and work is on an upward trajectory, with a vast majority of businesses actively anticipating the adoption of revolutionary strategies, platforms, and solutions to truly optimize the way they get work done. According to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research, not only do 72% of enterprises expect to implement a “total talent acquisition” strategy before 2024, but 76% of businesses also anticipate extending HR- and talent-acquisition-like competencies and experiences into their extended workforce management programs within the next 18 months.

What does this mean? Enterprises across the globe crave innovation from their workforce management technology and services, essentially requiring an extra edge of progressive functionality that can transform contingent workforce programs into initiatives that resemble the Future of Work in terms of candidate experience, hiring manager experience, direct sourcing, talent intelligence, etc. In essence, what the business arena needs now is automation that enables agility, scalability, and flexibility.

Enter Prosperix.

Why They Were Selected:

During its near-decade run as Crowdstaffing, the solution now known as Prosperix revolutionized the technological concepts behind digital staffing, direct sourcing, and workforce management. Under the Prosperix brand, the company is doing the same with the Future of Work. Prosperix is known for its innovative VMS Network approach to Vendor Management System (VMS) technology and dedication to enhancing both the candidate and hiring manager experiences.

Prosperix’s unique approach to the talent acquisition and workforce management technology market is further enhanced by the arrival of its new, bundled service offering, Prosperix Xponential. The idyllic blend of tactical and strategic elements of Xponential provide businesses with the necessary power to manage all facets of today’s dynamic workforce, from talent engagement and the candidate experience to managed services, payrolling, and access to the solution’s deep network of candidates and suppliers.

In Their Own Words:

Prosperix is accelerating innovation in hiring and workforce management, enabling every business to build an extraordinary workforce. Our end-to-end software incorporates network effects, automates processes, and simplifies human interactions, while delivering actionable insights and improved outcomes. With our best-in-class solutions, we fuel our client’s biggest dreams by elevating human, workforce, and business prosperity.

Prosperix’s innovations, including the industry’s first (and patent-pending) VMS network and the newest addition, Prosperix Xponential, are garnering attention and giving clients the ability to achieve exponential scalability, agility, resilience, and business outcomes. We serve clients from a wide range of industries such as financial services, insurance, technology, entertainment, and utilities. They engage tens of thousands of contingent workers in professional and non-professional roles including IT, marketing, sales, finance, HR, customer support, manufacturing, and healthcare technology.

Founded in 2012 in Silicon Valley by CEO Sunil Bagai, our company has evolved into one of the industry’s leading technology providers, but with a significant difference – we focus on the combination of technology and people to build a prosperous ecosystem. By balancing the needs of businesses, suppliers, and workers, we help every client establish and maintain a high-quality workforce that meets current and future hiring needs. Visit www.prosperix.com for more information.

The Outlook:

When the company announced its rebrand last year, the main focus was on the “prosperity” of workers and the businesses that employed them. The innovative approach was certainly a progressive marker of where the world of work was heading, as two-plus years removed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises find themselves requiring fresh ways of attracting, engaging, and managing talent from various sources, whilst realizing that a talent acquisition and HR focus was the ideal means in leveraging today’s evolving workforce to truly thrive during challenging times.

Prosperix’s VMS Network is a Best-in-Class platform that effectively serves as an agile convergence of digital staffing technology and next-generation VMS functionality. The amalgamation of direct sourcing, candidate experience management, end-to-end contingent workforce management, and digital staffing, combined with the newly-bundled Xponential offering, position Prosperix as a powerful platform that represents the very best of Future of Work-era technology.

Key Providers for 2022: Utmost

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 10/13/2022

The Background:

Heading into 2022, Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange identified, amongst other key pressures, two major issues for businesses across the globe: 1) the need to “reimagine” workforce management processes and strategies in the wake of worldwide disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic (as stated by 84% of enterprises), and, 2) a greater need to automate key elements of talent acquisition and workforce management with new and innovative technology (as indicated by over 70% o enterprises).

Today’s workforce management solutions cannot simply rely upon the automation required by organizations during pre-pandemic times, but must now offer a wide range of disruptive, intelligence-led functionality that can lead businesses into the Future of Work era.

Enter Utmost.

Why They Were Selected:

Utmost’s inception was positioned as an extended workforce platform that was buoyed by its seamless integration with Workday to provide users of that software with an agile means of managing both traditional and non-employee workers. Today, it is an end-to-end Vendor Management System (VMS) powerhouse that leads with innovation and talent-fueled functionality. In just four short years, the company blossomed into one of the market leaders in the extended workforce technology landscape, owed to its total talent intelligence capabilities, convergence of HR- and procurement-led functionality, and unique product vision that will enable its clients to traverse into a new era of total talent management and work optimization.

In Their Own Words:

Utmost transforms the VMS by managing the entire extended workforce lifecycle from sourcing to paying all workers in one global talent network for high-growth, dynamic companies. A network of enterprises, workers, and suppliers ensures speed of sourcing/deployment, and Utmost Front Door provides a single place for managers to request workers or work to be done across every channel of sourcing. Utmost supports all talent categories (staff augmentation, service providers, freelancers, SOW, consultants, etc.) in a single module with flexible workflows to cover complex and changing business needs. Utmost was founded in 2018 by industry leaders Annrai O’Toole, Dan Beck, and Paddy Benson, and is backed by Greylock Partners and Mosaic Ventures. Visit www.utmost.co for more information.

The Outlook:

Utmost offers a variety of robust functionality that bodes well for its future in the VMS technology market; its “Front Door” offering is an omni-channel portal (augmented by a seamless user interface) that serves as a dynamic module for finding, engaging, and sourcing Best-in-Class talent, while its native integration with major HRIS platforms is a boon for those business leaders seeking to harness the relative power of total talent intelligence.

Utmost represents the next evolutionary step in the journey of VMS software, as its integration-friendly platform and intuitive functionality position the solution as a powerful offering for organizations seeking a next-generation source of agile workforce management automation. By placing “work” and the overall “talent experience” as the nexus of the platform, Utmost remains a Future of Work-led VMS platform that will only continue to thrive in the months and years ahead.

Key Providers for 2022: SAP Fieldglass

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 09/27/2022

The Background:

The extended workforce comprises over 47% of the average company’s total workforce, according to recent Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research. In addition to the growth of this talent over the past several years, businesses across the globe require the proper technology and automation to ensure that non-employee labor can effectively drive value across the greater organization.

While the Vendor Management System (VMS) model is not a new solution, many of these platforms have undergone radical evolution in the face of continuous business change…especially during pandemic times, when the extended workforce became a cornerstone of operational survival. In fact, the innovation in the world of VMS technology has become a veritable linchpin to truly thriving in a business arena that essentially requires progressive functionality, Best-in-Class data capabilities, and a commitment to the Future of Work movement.

Enter SAP Fieldglass.

Why They Were Selected:

Over the past two years, SAP Fieldglass has reconfigured its core functionality to reflect the ongoing transformations within the greater world of work and talent, introducing several key innovations to its wide-ranging product suite. Through its deep integrations and connections to SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, and other facets of the SAP line of technology, SAP Fieldglass is enabled with the ability to effectively manage all facets of total talent in the face of a transformative world of work.

SAP Fieldglass has demonstrated its pledge to progressive, Future of Work-era automation through a blend of industry maturity and next-generation product offerings. Its configurable, integrated workplace (SAP Work Zone) merges SAP technology (such as SAP Ariba and SAP SuccessFactors) with other critical enterprise systems to generate a holistic, end-to-end view of a user’s total workforce, while the solution’s Active Guidance functionality is perhaps the industry’s deepest proactive insights tool.

In Their Own Words:

SAP Fieldglass, a longstanding leader in external workforce management and services procurement, is used by organizations around the world to find, engage, and manage all types of flexible resources. Our cloud-based, open platform has been deployed in more than 180 countries and helps companies transform how work gets done, increase operational agility, and accelerate business outcomes in the digital economy. Backed by the resources of SAP, our customers benefit from a roadmap driven by continuous investment in innovation. To learn more, visit www.fieldglass.com.

The Outlook:

SAP Fieldglass is well-positioned to become an idyllic, Future of Work-oriented workforce management platform due to its robust integrations with other key SAP solutions (particularly SAP SuccessFactors), scale of offerings that provide real-time and AI-augmented visibility, and inherent flexibility that cascades down into how its users manage the complexities of today’s agile workforce.

With its Visualizer analytics tool, strong services procurement automation, assignment management technology (for enhancing control over the burgeoning light industrial contingent workforce), and abilities to drive both total spend management and total talent management, SAP Fieldglass is a force in a Future of Work-driven business world.

The Future of Work is Magnetic: PRO Unlimited Rebrands to Magnit

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 09/15/2022

Magnets are colloquially known for their attractiveness properties, drawing metal (well, iron) objects and substances within its field. For the contemporary business in 2022, the very notion of “attraction” is a desirable trait: these enterprises cannot thrive in uncertain economic times, and especially facing a volatile labor market, without some crucial level of allure to its culture, workplace, and overall brand that can effectively attract top-tier talent and skillsets.

This morning, veteran integrated workforce management system PRO Unlimited, known across the globe for its powerful Managed Service Provider (MSP) offerings and Best-in-Class Vendor Management System (VMS), announced that it has rebranded itself under the new name Magnit. The new brand reflects the solution’s overall commitment to being a magnetic force in how businesses leverage its innovative technology to draw people to work in an effective manner.

“The new name, Magnit, reflects both the evolution of our industry and how far PRO Unlimited has come as the industry-leading integrated workforce management platform,” said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of Magnit. “Magnit is a reflection of our vision for the evolution of work. It also aligns with our position as the company of record in how businesses attract, engage, and source top-tier talent that tightly aligns with their goals and objectives. This is an exciting new chapter that will culminate in Magnit realizing PRO’s original goal: serve as a true, end-to-end platform comprised of modern software, proven expertise and world-class data and intelligence for workforce management.”

Perhaps the most critical facet of the rebrand is how the provider is approaching its end-to-end offerings: the move to Magnit is not just a simple rebrand, but rather a culmination of two years’ worth of consistent market activity, including acquisitions (WillHire, GRI, Workforce Logiq), partnerships (eightfold, Ceridian, etc.), and new product launches (Direct Source PRO, NorthStar, etc.). The new brand is an opportunity for the company to cohesively blend all of its core products and services under a unified architecture within a single brand.

It is expected that, over the next six months, any fragmentation of offerings will be streamlined and integrated under the new Magnit brand. This is a key attribute of the rebrand, as the company counts several “buckets” of products just within the data/analytics space, with ENGAGE Talent, Envision Analytics, and NorthStar (as well as its RatePoint offering) soon to be merged into a more interconnected solution.

Magnit will continue to work towards its “platform vision,” as laid out by PRO Unlimited back in 2020. With an array of innovation at its fingertips, Magnit is an ideal position to capitalize on an evolving business arena that requires top-tier skillsets to thrive; the rebrand can be considered a catalyst for the organization to continue its innovative work in becoming a platform of choice for not just the extended workforce, but also a source of agility for enterprises across the globe.

“The move to the Magnit brand represents the next bold age for our integrated workforce management platform,” said Vidhya Srinivasan, chief marketing officer at Magnit. “Both the name itself and our new logo echoes our core vision: augment the next evolution in workforce management by drawing people together through modern software and a commitment to the evolution of work. Magnit will be a powerful force for our clients, partners, and suppliers as we link businesses to the agile talent they require to thrive during these dynamic times.”

The definition of a magnet does not just mention the attraction of other metal- or iron-containing objects; it also includes the alignment of itself in an external magnetic field. For Magnit, this means one thing: the solution is positioned to align itself as a centerpiece in how businesses not only find the talent they need, but how they truly optimize how work is done.

The VMS of 2022: The Nexus of Extended Workforce Management

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/25/2022

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).

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

Contingent Workforce Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/04/2022

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 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.

Extended Workforce Evolution and the Modern VMS

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/21/2022

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 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.

“The Ecosystem Effect” and the Future of Work

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/11/2022

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.