Today’s contingent workforce management (CWM) programs run on two key elements: talent and technology. As CWM initiatives continue to progress to keep up with the demand of the agile enterprise, core solutions, like Vendor Management System (VMS) technology, have become the foundation in which procurement and HR executives drive ultimate value from the non-employee workforce. We chatted with Shashank Saxena, co-founder and CEO of VMS provider VNDLY, about the solution’s place in the greater CWM market, VMS’ role in the Future of Work, the role of artificial intelligence in the new world of work, and much, much more.
Christopher Dwyer: Shashank, thanks for spending some time with us. Tell us a little bit behind founding the company and the thinking behind the name VNDLY.
Shashank Saxena: The name VNDLY is a combination of two words that generally do not go together, the words “Vendor” and “Friendly.” That is one of the key founding tenants of our company as we think of our technology as a supplier collaboration platform. We share data with suppliers in real time to help them improve their fill rate and cycle time that will eventually help benefit clients.
CD: In just a short period of time, VNDLY has established itself as a disruptive solution in the VMS market. What do you attribute your success to?
SS: Thanks for the kind words, but we’ve only just begun. We’re definitely fortunate that multiple clients are buying into our strategic vision and have signed up to partner with us on this journey. One of the founding theses of our company is around “value creation.” Historically, the way value was created in the MSP/VMS space for the past 20 years was by bill rate and rate card management. Managing supplier markups and margins across the supply chain has helped clients save millions of dollars over the years. However, that juice has been squeezed. Suppliers today don’t make the same margins they used to 10-to-15 years ago. The next 10 years of value creation across second-generation programs will come by redefining the VMS value proposition for clients and suppliers. That’s the journey we’re on.
CD: Would you agree that the ultimate survival of a VMS platform lies within its ability to evolve as the market does? How is this reflected in VNDLY’s functionality?
SS: That statement holds true for every business, but yes, specifically in the VMS space, clients’ expectations from a VMS are changing. Clients today expect more than just timekeeping and invoicing features from a VMS. The role of the VMS has evolved into a talent acquisition platform. This moves the VMS from a back-office MSP enablement application to a front-office tool used directly by managers. Hence, our application applies human factor engineering to simplify the user experience so VNDLY can be used with no training. Our focus on automation also enables this cause. We’ve architected our solution as a lightweight, API-enabled, flexible platform that enables ecosystem partners, is easy to deploy, and simplifies change management.
CD: We’ve written here on CPO Rising about the important of analytics and intelligence in CWM. How do you feel VNDLY’s AI- and machine-learning-led analytics fit into this new “age of intelligence”?
SS: To the earlier point of changing customer expectations, we want to automate manual processes to make our clients and MSP partners more efficient. Data is a critical asset that fuels this journey. It’s still the very early days of AI but we’re doing some really interesting things with clickstream data analytics in real time to drive decision models. We want to move the needle on key customer pain points like hiring, attrition, etc. We’re using data beyond just retroactive reporting and analysis.
CD: How important is it that your solution promotes total talent acquisition? With the veritable mix of talent sources available today, this seems like a critical piece for businesses in 2018 and beyond.
SS: Total talent acquisition is a huge focus area for us. Our partnership strategy is heavily-focused on enabling total talent acquisition. As Gig Economy platforms continue to gain mainstream adoption with enterprise customers, the demand for gig workers will continue to increase. This also ties into my earlier point around the evolving role of the VMS. Customers won’t want multiple point solutions (FMS, VMS, ATS, etc.), but rather a comprehensive ERP that converges these features into an easily-deployable suite. We believe the industry is on the cusp of this transition.
CD: How do you feel VMS fits into the Future of Work
SS: The VMS will, to a large extent, drive the Future of Work concept. As work is broken down in smaller chunks that can be easily outsourced and executed remotely by gig workers, the labor mix within the enterprise will continue to shift towards non-employees. This will continue to elevate the role of the VMS within the enterprise. We believe enterprise customers will rely more on their VMS (or the new evolution of what the VMS becomes) to drive tasks and work throughout the enterprise.
CD: What’s the ultimate mission of VNDLY?
SS: Our mission is to be the world’s most customer-centric enterprise software company. We do not measure our success by revenue or profitability but rather by Net Promoter Score. Customer satisfaction is extremely critical to our mission. As long as we stay focused on this, we will be a pivotal platform for procurement and talent acquisition teams for their talent needs.
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