Although decades removed from what is considered to be the Millennial age range, I’m not a Luddite. In fact, I’m a fairly avid consumer of all sorts of technology. If I’m not to be confused with Bill Gates, please remember my college technology class was called Data Processing and my first known operating system was DOS (that stands for Disk Operating System, folks). I was even obsessively enamored with floppies until I entered a 12-Step program.

Now, apps are my best friends, other than my wife, and I rarely purchase anything without using some icon on my pocket computer/phone. Even trips to the bank have been preempted by snapping a photo of the check (What was that again? A form of currency? On paper?) and depositing it electronically.

I consider Amazon, Vanguard, Google, Facebook, and so many other apps, absolute necessities and believe that life would lose much of its meaning and function without them. My better half often orders our groceries on her iPhone and, presto, the items are ready when she arrives at the closest grocery store. My garage contains more empty Amazon Prime boxes than the total number of items in my wardrobe.

I also work in a world that is driven by contingent workforce applications called VMS (Vendor Management Systems). Although I don’t work in them as frequently as my team of millennials, altogether, we interface with nearly a dozen different tools daily, which can be a bit overwhelming. Even with training.

Training?

Why bother?

I was never trained on Amazon and I may have personally been responsible for much of its revenue gains over the last five years. The Amazon app is simply one example. Other apps offer similar essential features: intuitiveness and simplicity.

Was my wife trained on how to order groceries online? Absolutely not! She claims even I could figure it out in short order, but I digress.

And that’s what consumer-centric (dare I say, people-centric) technology does for us. And that is what a VMS should do for CFOs, CHROs, and even the local Plant Manager, HR Director and Line Supervisor. You shouldn’t need a manual or a 6-hour webinar to order the talent you need or have visibility into your spend and supplier performance metrics. They should be able to figure all of that out through a little trial and error and a few clicks, at the worst.

If only it were actually that simple.

But shouldn’t it be? Of course it should!

But, maybe I’m living in a dream world called VMS Apptopia. Maybe it’s really not that simple, but I will rage on in my madness of thinking it at least can be simpler, if not training free. I’m even willing to say that something better already exists for companies who have no technology, or overly complex tools, to manage their critical extended workforce. I’m willing to bet I can find you a platform that doesn’t swallow you whole in cumbersome processes and endless navigation.

It may be that you have partnered with an MSP that’s tied to the cumbersome traditional tools, tools that aren’t so easy to implement and use. Or that you don’t have any technology – heaven forbid – to make your talent acquisition and staffing life immeasurably easier.

I believe that, while your company may be too small for most MSPs and VMSs to be thrilled to manage, you can still have the high-touch support, intuitive technology and vital customization that you deserve. In fact, it may be even better than your larger competitors. And, it can be outrageously simple and cost-effective, radically altering your paradigm of managing staffing and suppliers.

I’m so convinced, I’ll give you this type of VMS free for 90 days if it’s the right fit for your company. If you don’t like it or don’t believe it helps your organization, cancel with no charge. If you fall in love with it, funding it won’t be a problem since everyone in the talent acquisition supply chain benefits from simple, scalable, smart technology solutions.

Welcome to Staffing Apptopia.