CWS 3.0: September 16, 2015

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A go-to VMS integration reference: Read the experts’ guide to best practices

Everyone who’s gone through the process knows integrating any technology is frequently a painful but ultimately rewarding process. As a program manager, what if you had a guide to steer you in the right direction and give you the best practices available for VMS integration? Even better, what if the guide was built and created by experts in VMS technology, program management and MSP who had been through the process many times?

The Staffing Industry Analysts Advisory Group (SIAAG) has just completed its latest in a series of best practices and standards documents for the industry: Contingent Workforce VMS Integration Best Practices. Other guides produced by SIAAG include: Contingent Workforce Engagement Best Practices , Global Readiness Indicator and What's in the Contingent Worker Bill Rate

Based on many years of expertise building, customizing, implementing and integrating VMS technology, the team created a go-to reference of standard integration practices for the industry. This summary of contingent worker system-to-system integration best practices is for contingent workforce professionals from all arenas — program managers, buyers, solutions providers, consultants and staffing suppliers. Created by leading industry experts from all of these areas, this guide serves as one of a series of detailed contingent work best practice guides for our industry that drive standard practices and tested strategies.

Let’s face it, system‐to‐system integrations are key to the success of a well‐run contingent workforce program. Interfaces help keep large amounts of data synchronized between corporate and VMS systems, eliminate errors caused by manual data entry, and allow vendors and service providers (such as MSPs and suppliers) to better concentrate on strategic activities that add value. A VMS is a must-have for today’s large programs and integration is the tipping point that drives success (or failure).

While integrations deliver many benefits, they can also be complicated. A successful implementation and ongoing functionality take work — by both the VMS users and VMS third party providers. Integrations require dedicated time and a healthy financial commitment; done poorly, they can delay an entire project’s go-live timeline and create incredible dissonance among stakeholders. This guide aims to alleviate that scenario for all parties by creating mutual understanding.

Contingent Workforce VMS Integration Best Practices helps you simplify the integration landscape and is primarily focused on integrations between various systems of a typical organization (ERP, HRIS/HCM, AR/AP, etc.) and a standalone third-party vendor management system (VMS). It provides guidance as to which integrations are (and are not) considered best practices, prioritizes, and provides key elements that companies need to consider as they build out their integration strategy and program.

Contingent Workforce VMS Integration Best Practices was compiled via a series of discussions and interviews with stakeholders from across the contingent workforce continuum who are members of the Staffing Industry Analysts Advisory Group (SIAAG), a team of representative industry leaders supporting both buyer and supplier communities with a charter to serve as a collaborative forum for sharing and developing best practices, industry standards and priorities related to key strategic initiatives impacting the future of the contingent workforce.