Most vendor management systems (VMS) have a strategy to incorporate direct sourcing solutions into their platforms to meet client needs.  Some have native tools that offer a basic solution that addresses the needs of certain organizations, and can also integrate with third-party platforms.  Unfortunately for most VMS solutions, creating APIs–the modern integration interface of platforms–with a legacy SaaS codebase is time-consuming, requires maintenance, and increases overall technical debt. This makes it difficult to incorporate new solutions and therefore can be limited to the type and the number of talent technology solutions deployed to enable your talent sourcing strategy.  

Fortunately, with the right architecture, it’s now very easy for organizations to access these value-added third-party solutions and embed their extended workforce strategies to get the same effect these staffing suppliers realized.  New VMS solutions architected as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS), like Flextrack, are designed specifically to unify a variety of technologies to achieve a single mission: to help organizations get the talent they need to be successful. 

The core assumption of a PaaS strategy is that one technology solution can’t solve all your problems. With PaaS you no longer have to settle for less than best-in-breed technology or a single solution to address your talent sourcing and management needs. The right infrastructure encourages that ecosystem approach. The variety of integration tools included in a PaaS make it easy to quickly add new sourcing channels for talent. This integration just doesn’t make it easier for an organization to work with a supplier–it makes the supplier more efficient and effective in providing customer support.   

Integrating solutions is one aspect of an agile talent sourcing strategy. Another aspect is how to manage these new relationships. I’ve mentioned that this mindset changes the thinking to be constantly looking for new sources and new suppliers. Therefore, a critical component of this mindset is to have effective tools to track performance.  Service-level agreements (SLAs) and other key performance indicator tracking need to be available and in real-time to both the buyer and suppliers in any talent solution.      Gaps in service delivery need to be identified and escalated as they occur–not during a subsequent executive service review months after the fact. 

Adapting to change and innovation

Flextrack has written about “creative destruction” recently as a way to help develop the new mindsets needed for success in current markets. The idea behind creative destruction is you don’t want to blow up everything you know and start over, but you have to be deliberate in breaking down old ways of doing things to ensure the old isn’t holding you back.  This is clearly applicable to rethinking your relationship with talent sourcing channels. 

Talent sourcing has changed dramatically since the early 2000’s thanks to technology. This has revamped how suppliers source talent and has made them more effective. Organizations can better leverage their supplier network by integrating with this new technology and should not be limited to the constraints of their legacy VMS provider. It’s time to break old ways of thinking about how to integrate talent technology solutions, and that can be accomplished through an organization’s VMS.