When an employer is considering partnering with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), it’s important to consider whether the MSP has the required processes, personal expertise and technology stack to manage the organization’s contingent and Statement of Work (SOW) workforce in part or in its entirety.
Managed Services is one of the fastest growing outsourced talent acquisition solutions today.
As the world of work continues to evolve, employers across the globe are implementing more forms of contingent workers in their workforce strategies.
Why? The flexibility of operating a contingent workforce will help employers gain access to talented, qualified workers who can be engaged on a contract basis when the demand for service(s) arises, saving on many of the costs associated with hiring and managing traditional workers.
Why do you need a Managed Service Provider?
While the rise of the contingent workforce provides many inarguable benefits, it also leaves employers with the complexities of managing temporary workers. A Managed Service Provider comes with many advantages, and one is that it will have the IT infrastructure, expertise and remote monitoring and management solutions in place to provide employers with complete visibility into their contingent workforce.
A Managed Service Provider will help a business to streamline and manage its entire contingent workforce by improving efficiency, controlling costs and mitigating the fines, penalties and reputational damages associated with certain contingent workforce risks.
While early Managed Services models focused on process improvements and cost savings, more mature Managed Service Providers, however, are now seeking ways to increase access and service delivery of high caliber talent while reducing time to hire.
What makes a good Managed Service Provider?
A Managed Services Provider will also:
- Mitigate compliance risks.
- Prevent issues before they arise.
- Quickly deal with issues that do arise before they affect internal staff, clients and customers.
- Understand the latest security threats.
- Deliver exceptional candidate experience.
- Meet technology demands.
- Review current supplier and vendor contracts.
- Manage contingent and SOW worker contracts.
- Provide reporting and analysis.
- Manage supplier base.
- Manage and pay staffing suppliers.
- Provide strategic advice on key labor trends.
- Creating and implementing business intelligence solutions tailored for workforce needs for the organization.
Is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) right for me?
An MSP will require organizations to have a minimum amount of contingent worker spend in order for the relationship to be successful and self-sufficient. When deciding whether or not an MSP is the right solution for your organization’s needs, there are first some basic and more complex factors to consider.
First, it’s critical to understand how much contingent workers are currently costing your business. It’s a unique number to an individual organization, yet can be difficult to account for, as nearly 60 per cent of contingent worker costs is unaccounted for in the average business.
How to choose a Managed Service Provider
If your organization is considering Managed Services, the right Managed Service Provider will deliver a level of service expected of your organization’s key stakeholders, clients, customers and staff – while also helping employers to manage their contingent business needs. Here’s what to consider when choosing a Managed Services Provider:
Is the Managed Service Provider an expertise in its respective industry categories?
When choosing the right MSP provider, it’s important to make sure to look for a provider that has tenure in its respective industry categories. A good Managed Service Provider will have the reputation of being a thought leader and Subject Matter Expert in its field(s). An organization’s relationship with its MSP should be a long lasting engagement, as such, it’s also important to ensure the provider has healthy relationships with current clients.
Can the Managed Service Provider deliver the candidate experience expected of your employer brand?
Negative employer branding makes it all the more difficult for organizations to hire top talent, with 55 per cent of job seekers abandoning an application after reading a negative company review online. Now, more than ever, the candidate experience matters. Good Managed Service Providers will execute a comprehensive review of your employer brand and make sure your brand architectures are demonstrated at each stage of every engagement with candidates and vendors.
Can the Managed Service Provider scale to business business growth?
A good Managed Service Provider will understand an employer’s business operations and business goals. It’s important to enter into a business relationship with an MSP who has the technology infrastructure and expertise to contribute to the evolution of your organization with insights into shifts in technology and market trends. As such, employers must make sure to determine whether the MSP can maintain and grow their organization’s IT infrastructure in line with business goals and technology needs.
Does the MSP have a proven track record of maintaining industry best practices?
Managed Service Providers must demonstrate they have the expertise, technology and experience to follow best practices.
They should be able to show you that they have the knowledge, technology, and experience to partner with you. They should know how to follow these industry practices, so they can ensure the seamless migration from one existing infrastructure to another, in order to apply the latest technology without sacrificing uptime or security. Your MSP should be able to offer customized IT services and solutions that will keep your data protected and your hardware running smoothly.
Does the MSP provide transparency?
Transparency in the MSP’s process in managing your contingent workforce is essential. Employers should have access to all relevant reports and analytics as they pertain to screening and onboarding processes, payroll accuracies, compliance and more.
Does the MSP have an in-depth understanding of the latest advances in Cyber Security?
When evaluating a MSPs technical expertise for your IT needs, their approach to cyber security should be a top consideration. A qualified MSP must demonstrate deep technical expertise in today’s threat landscape, as well as a proactive, layered defense strategy that evolves with the pace of cyber threats.
An effective MSP will embed cyber security protections across its entire services portfolio, not as an add-on, but as a foundational element of its essential services. This includes regular security audits, secure network management, continuous threat monitoring, and robust incident response plans to protect sensitive data and systems. Just as important is their understanding of cloud services—a good provider should be able to protect hybrid and multi-cloud environments with the same rigor as on-premise systems.
Look for a provider who offers integrated disaster recovery and business continuity services, and who understands how vulnerabilities can impact operations across connected systems and external tools. Their security protocols should include encryption standards, role-based access controls, and the ability to manage endpoint threats across your network.
What is the MSP’s order fulfillment history?
Engaging talent quickly and cost-effectively is critical; how fast can the MSP fill a job order? It’s important to be aware of the provider’s job order fulfilment rate. This data will help manage costs and improve the quality of contingent candidates.
Will the MSP help your business achieve cost savings?
When an organization partners with an MSP, the provider assumes responsibility for the engagement and management of the organization’s current vendors. This provides an opportunity for the MSP to introduce new vendors and negotiate rates with existing ones.
The right Managed Service partner will help to achieve cost savings, while continuously finding ways to increase access and delivery of high caliber talent.
When considering partnering with a MSP, it’s important to make sure to choose a provider that can decrease costs, reduce IT and compliance risks, while also source and manage qualified talent.
RFP Checklist for pre-identified contractor payroll vendor selection
Are you getting the most out of your contractor payroll program? Every organization’s needs are different, but there are several crucial elements to keep in mind when evaluating a contractor payroll program. These include:
- Infrastructure and expertise
- Worker management
- Onboarding
- Rate management
However, there are other, less obvious criteria that still make a big difference in cost, compliance and satisfaction.
The Procom Difference: Talent-Led, Strategy-Focused
While a Managed Service Provider can bring structure and oversight to large-scale contingent workforce programs, many organizations still need a trusted recruitment partner focused on precision talent delivery. That’s where Procom excels.
As one of North America’s leading IT staffing and recruitment firms, we specialize in helping businesses source, screen, and engage qualified professionals for a wide variety of in-demand IT roles. With deep market knowledge and a consultative approach, we align talent strategies with your business objectives.
If your organization is looking to optimize its workforce without the complexity of a full MSP engagement, Procom offers a flexible, targeted alternative.
Download the Essential RFP Checklist for Contractor Payroll Evaluation
If you’re evaluating a new contractor payroll provider or would like a tool for assessing whether you’re getting the most out of your current program, download your detailed RFP Checklist for pre-identified payroll vendor selection below:
