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HCMWorks Insights

What Does a Services Procurement MSP Relationship Look Like?

Posted by HCM Works on 10 May 2017

It's essential for sourcing professionals working in services procurement, who are using a Managed Services Provider (MSP), to have a clear understanding of what the MSP is supposed to do, why, and what to focus on when evaluating their performance.

For example, the services of an MSP that supports a contingent workforce management program typically involve: overall program management, vendor selection, training and evaluation, implementation and oversight of full-functionality sourcing applications, tracking and reporting, ongoing support, and enforcement of an organization’s procurement policies to ensure 100% adoption.

There are three main reasons why companies choose to engage an MSP, and these reasons tend to define the relationship:

  1. MSPs have extensive expertise in contingent workforce sourcing strategies, including that of Statement Of Work (SOW) based procurement. Furthermore, they are able to lend their expertise to the development and configuration of Procure-to-Pay (P2P), Software As A Service (SaaS), and hosted applications, in order to help meet procurement objectives, manage compliance-related policies and enable detailed visibility.
  2. MSPs are Subject Matter Experts who can function in multiple time zones, on or off client premises, and ensure that all procurement “transactions” are supported in such a way that the level of service provided by the vendors involved surpasses expectations. This helps clients ensure the adoption of the program and facilitates the evolution to other categories of spend under management.
  3. Through detailed Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), an MSP ensures that all program vendors meet the expectations of an organization in such areas as response time, rate card compliance and the quality of the resources they provide. This has the effect of providing an increased share of the revenue to those vendors who perform best while also lowering the overall costs for the client.

One of the major benefits of using an MSP is the offloading of the administrative and tactical aspects of a contingent workforce program, allowing sourcing professionals to remain focused on more strategic and high value activities. 

Finally, with an MSP serving as the single source of contact within a contingent workforce management program, the procurement department can dedicate more of its time to aligning itself with corporate objectives. This allows the company as a whole to leverage further their core competencies and reap the benefits of a strategic sourcing organization.

Managing Your Independent Contractor Program

About HCMWorks

We are a contingent workforce service provider helping organizations gain better access to talent through the use of independent contractors, consultants, temporary workers, freelancers and other non-payrolled employees. We provide the expertise, the technology, and processes to help you reduce your workforce costs, mitigate against misclassification and co-employment risks, and increase the efficiency and timeliness of your contingent recruitment process. Read more about what our clients say about us here.

Tags: Procurement, Managed Services Programs

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