The Role of VMS Technology

Happy New Year, everyone! (Although, I'm really talking to myself since I have yet to advertise my blog link.)

I want to talk a little bit about the role of technology within a managed staffing program. Having experienced working for a straight VMS provider and a few MSP's, I have officially formed an opinion! Well, really it's been formed for a while now.

Part of the client education or sales process is the famed technology demonstration, and boy can they really get fancy! Lots of bells, whistles, and sometimes, smoke and mirrors. Any vendor who underestimates this portion of the sales process or presentation can get burned. 'Cause let's face it: we all love technology. It's cool, it's fun, and definitely stimulates the mind. I usually refer to it as "sexy." However, what is interesting to me is what the client really understands when it comes to administering this technology. The question arises: what will the client be required to use, need to use, and what functionality truly needs to be present?

Having feet on the ground in a production environment, I can say getting user managers to use a new technology is not easy. Even after personal training and user guides, if an application is not a part of the manager's core responsibility or daily operation, it's "out of sight, out of mind." Reallistically, unless the client leadership delivers and enforces a directive that all managers that use contingent workforce must use the technology, the responsibility will fall upon the service provider. But, this brings me to my point... Isn't that the way it should be?

Technology serves the managed staffing client in a few basic but fundamental functions: the requisition-fulfillment process, contractor profiling, assignment management, timekeeping (when applicable), and reporting/business intelligence. If you are a partner in the process, what portions of the entire solution do you wish the client to manage? Well, the client really doesn't need to manage a single thing. The only real exceptions are those environments that require client approvals (requistions, timecards, assignments, rate changes, etc...) If that function is handled internally, as you will often find in Healthcare, then the service provider can, and should, administer the technology themselves. It is the staffing lifecycle, by the way; so, it is a bit silly to expect the client to take on our own responsibilities.

If these points are explained to clients before the technology demonstration, it certainly changes the perspective. "Hey, we have a great technology, but it really doesn't matter because you shouldn't be touching much anyway." One of the major value propositions in all of this is cost savings, and time is money, or should I say cost. Isn't it an additional value to take away every bit of administration possible? I think so... Does the client?