"Transacting temp labor requisitions in VMS applications have been commoditized. To lead the VMS pack, it's now all about statement of work and project-based services procurement."

A C-level vendor management executive on why SOW is all the rage

The VMS space is more than 10 years old at this point, and the functional requirements for conducting temporary staffing transactions are mostly understood. Accordingly, while even new VMS entrants may be lacking in flexible architecture or hosting infrastructures, they can understand and successfully transact temporary worker staffing orders and invoices.

As contingent workforce programs seek to replicate the benefits earned in temporary worker staffing in other sectors of the non-employee universe, such as statement of work (SOW) and project-based services, leading VMS companies are embracing this expansion as a new opportunity to deliver value to clients and differentiate themselves from competitors. Most leading VMS players have been in the SOW and project-based services space for at least a few years, some even internationally. However, all would agree that there is still value on the SOW table and more feature-functionality yet to be deployed and perfected.

Whatever advantages the VMS has offered customers in terms of automation -- savings, metrics, and/or compliance -- these will obviously apply to the SOW world. Customers presumably can hope to realize savings and at the very least gain time. We don't know how the SOW world will unfold. Will it see hundreds of competitors, similar to staffing firms currently competing for the same temporary worker business? Only time will tell.