Earlier in the week, Authoria, a talent management vendor, announced it was merging with Peopleclick, a VMS provider (which also happened to have significant capability in other human capital management / talent management technology areas). The new company will be known as Peopleclick Authoria. Reading between the lines of the announcement — not to mention the early analyst/blogger commentary on the deal — it’s fairly clear that this roll-up of sorts tosses a fairly interesting and somewhat plausible monkey wrench into the trend of procurement organizations taking more ownership of contingent spend as part of a broader services Spend Management umbrella. We could see this trend accelerate further if a talent-management leader such as Taleo, for example, acquired a VMS provider such as a Fieldglass, IQNavigator, or Provade.
In my view, if companies relegate contingent procurement applications to a sub-sector of talent management technology (which remains under the purview of HR organizations), procurement will have a more difficult time taking ownership of its services-spending destiny. This spells potential trouble for companies bent on reducing costs and getting the most from their contingent workforce programs. Now, don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against HR; it can be quite a fun corner of the company to socialize with, and the younger folks getting involved in the HR field tend to be easier to get along with than those in procurement. Moreover, they’re far more likely to split the tab with you when it comes to social outings. (Not that I would know any of this whatsoever based on any personal experience, mind you. Nor am I biased on the subject. Just pragmatic. And cheap…)
