With so many options available, here are some fundamental observations on the best approach to choosing a Vendor Management Software (VMS) for your contingent labor program.

Size – How big is your company and your contingent labor needs? If you spend less than $20 million in staffing services, you are likely better off to partner with similar-sized VMS providers. You gain more high-touch customization, collaboration and customer support. Bigger is not always better, so look for a cultural fit.

Space – It makes a big difference if you are a software development company needing IT talent, or if you are a 3PL or manufacturer looking for blue-collar talent and have significant swings in headcount due to your business model. Each of these spaces calls for a very different VMS configuration, and there are providers who specialize in each. If you have primarily light industrial staffing needs, look to a VMS that knows your space.

Scope – If your company has a large amount of spend across multiple job classes, a large footprint of locations (especially if you are global and have SOW, RPO and other extended workforce needs), some of the more prominent VMS providers have tools built with this kind of scope in mind. However, if you use a smaller number of suppliers across a relatively small number of locations, a smaller partner with powerful but less robust applications is probably best for you.

Simplicity – Complexity is the enemy of efficiency. Whatever the size and scope of your company and staffing program, VMS ease of use is paramount. Simplicity breeds easier, more willing adoption and allows you to get the most benefit from the functionality you really need to better run this critical area of your business. If the VMS is not simple enough for everyone who touches the tool, it’s probably the wrong one.

Scalability – Does the VMS understand that you want your business to grow, and that the management of contingent labor is critical to that goal? The configuration of the technology needs to not only address where you are but also where you are going. In partnering with a VMS, you need a technology platform that grows with you. You need the right talent to realize your future, so an appropriately scaled and expandable extended technology platform is imperative.

Strategy – Is the VMS configuration customized or boilerplate? Does your technology partner work in concert with you? Information doesn’t equal intelligence, and technology alone doesn’t make you more efficient. It’s all in the configuration, application, execution and management of these configurations where real value is created. Cut through the rhetoric, and look for a VMS which provides practical, smart features that work in reality, not just in theory. When looking at the technology, look for a partner that listens and collaborates.