The VMS world can be overwhelming. I have told colleagues and clients throughout my career that it takes years to understand the breadth and depth of features. Why? Because every organization is a little different and functionality is often added to the code-line that only a few turn on. Does that mean a lot of the functionality is useless? No, it just means one size does not fit all.
So what’s important? My suggestion would be to focus on what you’re actually going to use. I always suggest that companies build RFPs with use cases and scenarios specific to your company. This is very important. Don’t worry about the VMS’ slick light industrial functionality if you only have office workers. Don’t worry about its language capabilities if your entire program operates in English. Don’t worry about pretty graphs if you’re just going to take the raw data and plug it into your own data warehouse. And don’t worry about executive dashboards if your executives will never actually log in. Document your process flows and requirements. Then judge providers on their ability to provide functionality to meet your needs.
Generally speaking, functionality can be broken down very broadly into three basic areas:
Traditional Contingent Process Management
- Requisitioning / sourcing
- Assignment management
- Contract creation
- Onboarding
- Extensions
- Rate changes
- Offboarding
- Time and expenses
- Invoicing and payment
SOW Process Management
- RFI/RFP
- Bidding
- Agreement creation / management / close-out
- Assignment management
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Payment requests, time and expenses
- Invoicing
Miscellaneous Features
- Reporting
- Tactical
- Strategic
- Market intelligence
- Freelancer / independent contractor management
- Integrations
- Client systems
- Supplier systems
- Mobile applications
- Language and other localizations
- Infrastructure
- Supplier management
- Supplier registration
- Evaluations
Of all these items, maybe only some of them apply to you, and maybe some are more important than others. Don’t let the VMS vendor tell you what they think is important. Tell them. You’re the customer.
Here are some key questions to ask yourself:
- Are all features of equal value or are some more critical than others?
- How big is your scope?
- How complex is your organization?
- Do you have SOW work?
- Do you have independent contractors?
- Is your MSP going to be doing a lot on behalf of the managers?
- How often will your managers actually login to the application?
- Do you care about the supplier experience? If so, what are their needs?
- What type of reporting do you need to make your business decisions and who is responsible for providing it?
So, what’s not as important? Industry / sector experience. Believe it or not, the contingent workforce management process, especially from a VMS perspective, is often the same from industry vertical to industry vertical, with some exceptions. I know certain vendors like to say they "specialize" in pharma or in financial services or in manufacturing. The fact is service categories are more important than industry verticals. Industrial labor is very different from IT or business professionals. Medical professionals are very different from call center workers. Management consulting is very different from administrative/clerical work. Services category differences lead to workflow variation, new functionality and new modules.
The world of VMS applications can be complex. The biggest players in the market have added hundreds and thousands of new features in the past decade and spent millions of dollars doing so. But you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed with this richness, nor should you feel ashamed if you only use a fraction of it. In fact, the best solution is usually the simplest.
Steve Knapp is senior associate with Brightfield Strategies, which helps Fortune 500 companies with contingent workforce strategies. He can be reached at sknapp@brightfieldstrategies.com.
