In our last blog, titled ‘Contingent Workforce: How to Integrate Your VMS Into Your IT Ecosystem (Part 1)’, we covered just how important it is to integrate a VMS into your company’s IT ecosystem.

Now we know how vendor management system (VMS) integration can take your external workforce management and vendor relationship strategies to the next level, this blog will take a look at how to build a business case for VMS integration along with which systems you can integrate your VMS with.

Building a business case for VMS integration

Once you have decided that integrating a VMS into your IT ecosystem will be beneficial for your company, it’s now time to convince the stakeholders within your organization that it’s the right move for your business.

This isn’t always easy. In the past VMS integrations were complex, slow and often expensive for organizations that implemented them. This has changed significantly in recent years, but you’ll need to convince company executives that it’s no longer the case.

To do so, you need to create a compelling business case for VMS integration that will convince company executives of its importance. You can do this by bringing together a few pieces of information that prove just how effective VMS integration can be:

1. Quantify the costs of manual work: How much time and money will your company save from the complete automation that comes from a fully-integrated VMS?
2. Historical data that proves how incorrect, missing and lost data damages your company: Whether it’s a past compliance fine or the complete lack of visibility that your business has into contingent performance, it’s likely that you can (to some extent considering contingent workforce management chaos is actually often invisible) show the impact that not having an integrated VMS has on your organization.
3. Quantify the cost of human error: With so much data on unconnected systems within your organization, there’s a high chance that your employees will make mistakes when transferring or calculating data. This can have a huge impact on your contingent workforce program, and lead to significant amounts of wasted money.

Which systems can I integrate a VMS with?

When integrating a VMS into your IT ecosystem, your company may decide that the solution doesn’t need to be integrated with every single system. That’s why you should review which systems your business currently uses to achieve its objectives, and evaluate which ones may apply, or be useful, for your contingent workforce management strategy.

VMS integration should generally be focused around sourcing, engaging, managing and paying contingent workers and should integrate with any systems that manage the following tasks:

Sourcing workers:

• Talent channels
• Vendor qualification
• Candidate vetting and experience

Engaging workers:

• Onboarding
• Human resources management system
• Document automation

Managing workers:

• Time tracking
• Workforce planning and activity
• Worker performance metrics
• Worker information database
• Workforce scheduling
• Project management

Paying workers:

• Invoices and payment
• Payroll and compliance
• Offboarding

On a side note, one integration best practice is to always ensure that your integrations are secure.

Cybercrime can be hugely damaging for modern companies. Securing your organization’s systems is an essential aspect of protecting your brand’s reputation and profits, as well as meeting data privacy regulations. Since your company’s data will be transferring through integrated systems, it’s important that you implement security and encryption plans that will keep this information protected.

Ultimately, having a vendor management system that’s integrated into your IT ecosystem will give your business a connected experience that allows for the seamless management of your contingent workforce. This will result in a number of benefits but, most noticeably, will help your business achieve better business outcomes.

How can HCMWorks help?

We know just how critical a vendor management system is to the success of your contingent workforce management. That’s why, as a vendor and technology-neutral managed services provider (MSP), we can help you select the best VMS based on your company's specific requirements and needs.

Not only that, but HCMWorks is an industry expert and leader in the implementation and integration of VMS technology. We can help your organization integrate your VMS into your IT ecosystem, giving your company access to all of the benefits that come with complete integration.

Want to learn more? Contact HCMWorks today. Our team of experts would love to answer any questions you have in regards to vendor management systems or its integration into your IT ecosystem.