4 October 2021

How to Identify the VMS Functionality "Bells and Whistles" You Actually Need

Wayne Burgess
Wayne Burgess

More employers than ever before understand the importance of gaining visibility and control over their contingent workforce. When done successfully, companies are able to improve workforce quality, access talent faster and reduce costs. 

To do this, many are turning to technology to better monitor, manage and evaluate the staffing agencies they use to source these workers.

A vendor management system, also known as a VMS, is the natural solution. 

What is a vendor management system?

A VMS system is a platform that acts as a system of record for your entire staffing agency process. A vendor management system automates and centralizes all staffing vendor processes from hiring and onboarding workers, tracking payments, measuring staffing agency performance and so much more. 

As a result of using a vendor management system, your organization gains complete visibility and control over its staffing agencies and externally-sourced workforce. 

These insights improve your future contingent workforce decision-making, ensuring that you access top-quality workers to meet your workforce goals, save money, improve internal processes, and speed up the time-to-hire process.

What are the common features of a VMS? 

According to an article from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), the functionality of the typical vendor management system can be broken down into three basic categories: 



#1 - Traditional Contingent Process Management

  • Requisitioning / sourcing
  • Assignment management
  • Contract creation
  • Onboarding
  • Extensions
  • Rate changes
  • Offboarding
  • Time and expenses
  • Invoicing and payment

#2 - SOW Process Management

  • RFI/RFP
  • Bidding
  • Agreement creation / management / close-out
  • Assignment management 
  • Onboarding
  • Offboarding
  • Payment requests, time and expenses
  • Invoicing

#3 - Miscellaneous Features

  • Reporting
  • Tactical
  • Strategic
  • Market intelligence
  • Freelancer / independent contractor management
  • Integrations
  • Client systems
  • Supplier systems
  • Mobile applications
  • Language and other localizations
  • Infrastructure
  • Supplier management
  • Supplier registration
  • Evaluations

Most VMS brands have bells and whistles that you’ll never use

In the software world, there is a common issue known as “feature creep”. Shopify defines feature creep as:

“When you add excessive features to a product that make it too complicated or difficult to use. Any additional features that you introduce into your product add to the complexity of your design. In turn, this can diminish the usability of your product.”

Feature creep occurs when extra features are added to a product. These features go beyond the basic function of the product, resulting in the design of a product becoming a feature-led experience rather than a user-centric one.

While these features are useful for some companies, they aren’t for most. Instead, having bells and whistles that you never use can lead to a frustrating experience that reduces the ROI your business realizes from using the product.

This is particularly true when it comes to vendor management systems. 

The large majority of VMS systems, especially those by “known brands”, are complex. They have more functionalities than most clients will ever need, let alone the businesses which only have small contingent workforce budgets. 

As a result of these complex functionalities, implementation takes longer, ease-of-use is dramatically reduced and businesses that don’t need these features simply waste time and money navigating a technology solution that’s way too powerful for their requirements. 

What are the VMS bells and whistles you actually need?

Many of these powerful tools are created by ‘big name’ developers and have nearly endless bells and whistles. But do companies, especially those with smaller contingent workforce budgets, really need all that stuff?

Do you really need all of that functionality just to manage a few staffing suppliers? 

Why deal with the complexities, high prices and frustration of the big-name VMS providers when you can implement a scaled-back VMS solution with all of the functionalities you’ll ever need. 

Some examples of core functionalities you need to manage your contingent workforce and staffing agencies include: 

  • Worker hiring and onboarding
  • The consolidation of staffing agencies into one centralized platform.
  • The automation of vendor management processes.
  • Time and Expense Management Invoicing.
  • Vendor guidelines so all hiring managers are following standardized rules. 
  • Scalability, so your tech can grow with the demands of your business. 

Conexis VMS has been designed to provide companies with smaller contingent workforce volumes with a VMS system that is designed without the complexities of the big-name VMS providers. 

We’ve designed an innovative vendor management system that is simple, effective, easy to use and incredibly fast to implement into your company’s day-to-day processes. Not only that, but we also have a cost-effective pricing program that’s perfectly suited for businesses with smaller contingent workforce budgets.

Interested in learning more? Get a free demo of Conexis VMS today

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Wayne Burgess

Wayne Burgess

Wayne Burgess is the President of Conexis, a technology company focused on helping organizations get control of their Contingent workforce.

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