Image credit: Michael Bartalos via ComputerWorld
I’ve been doing a significant amount of research of late in preparation for an upcoming deep-dive series on the services procurement market (more on this tomorrow). My research had me speaking with dozens of practitioners, VMS (vendor management system) providers, and MSPs (managed services providers) about what they see as working (and not working) with the programs they’re either managing or engaging in currently. On the practitioner side, I’ve had the chance to talk to both procurement and HR-types who are running contingent programs for their companies (this itself presents a great subject for further exploration some other time). What I’ve learned from both customers of contingent workforce programs as well as the providers that serve them are two quick tips that will almost universally hold true regardless of industry, organization, or geography.
The first tip could not be easier: carefully understand — and articulate — the ideal role of the MSP throughout the lifecycle of a contingent program. For example, while it most certainly is the contractual responsibility of an MSP to act as an intermediary between your organization and staffing companies, MSPs are not necessarily the ones who can best serve the internal role of interfacing with the business, evangelizing on the role and potential of contingent programs that help them as well as shareholders…
