Solution Architects - Designing Structurally Sound Workforce Solutions

As I reflect on the state of Managed Service Programs, I find myself wondering, is it just me or has the human capital management landscape become cluttered almost to the point of distraction? When stepping back and taking a good look how MSP solutions have grown more robust in their capabilities, there is a correlated growth in confusion over what solutions, practices, processes and methodologies are best to address any given set of business challenges. To enable organizations to better plot a course through the myriad business decisions involved with selecting the most appropriate MSP program structure, Volt Consulting – Managed Service Programs has incorporated the practice of utilizing Six Sigma methodology in conjunction with its Six Sigma trained Solution Architects, to remove the ambiguity surrounding the selection of a MSP service provider.

One of the first questions that usually comes to the minds of key decision makers for any organization contemplating a managed service program is, why does our organization need this service and what is it really intended to accomplish? Why such a question, why such concern? Over the past decade, the scope of service solution models has blossomed from the fairly simple to the enormously complex. In the past year, Volt Consulting MSP unbundled its MSP services from its VMS solutions and launched itself as a pure play MSP provider. The prescient decision to focus the organization strictly on technology agnostic service offerings was a direct response to the dramatic evolution of the human capital and contingent workforce management industry. In the not too distant past, the vendor on premise model, supported by a proprietary eProcurement tool, was the favorite solution most companies selected to manage their procurement of human capital. In just 10 short years, the blistering pace of innovation and competition in this space has yielded an astounding diversity of specialized solutions, practices, processes and a dizzying array of acronyms. Sourcing models today may include the traditional master staffing models, but now just as frequently include competitive bid models and any number of hybrid sourcing options that apply the most applicable benefits of each sourcing model to the most appropriate elements of the contingent workforce. There has also been an explosive growth in the adoption of Statement of Work (SOW) and project-based engagements.

This multiplication of strategies is not relegated to just sourcing models either. The technologies used in services supply chain management have advanced in unpredictable ways as well. The rise of the Software as a Service model (SaaS) for Vendor Management Systems (VMS) forever altered the landscape as organizations experimented with the idea of fully automating the entire services procurement process. That exercise had the effect of underscoring the strengths as well as the vulnerabilities of increased reliance on technology and helped to redefine the respective roles of the VMS and MSP. It also ushered in an era of heightened customization of human capital management programs and new partnerships between once adversarial VMS providers and MSP providers.

Adding to the growing conflict of ideas are newer and more robust intelligence and analytics capabilities that also impact the nature of solutions design. Dramatically enhanced predictive ability and extrapolative practices based on improved data management, have unlocked efficiencies never imagined by HR and Procurement groups a decade ago. Working to integrate these systems and more importantly learning how to derive actionable intelligence from the vast amount of data they address has added more complexity to the overall endeavor.

Increased emphasis in domestic markets on workplace diversity has also materially impacted how contracts are sourced and awarded. Rapid shifts in global economic factors and shifting locales for emerging low cost labor markets impact workforce planning in ways that frequently outpace organizations’ timetables for reassessment of their existing practices. Every facet of the modern human capital solution is growing in different directions and all at once. All too often the constituencies tasked with contingent workforce acquisition and management within large organizations – HR, Procurement, Finance, IT – find themselves a few steps behind despite their best efforts to stay ahead of innovations and emerging trends.

Leading solution providers, with their deep expertise in such matters, have begun to offer highly consultative service offerings to help prospective and existing customers make sense of it all. Volt Consulting has labeled this selection process component, “Solution Architecture”. Using Six Sigma methodology, the Solution Architect analyzes and sifts through all the variables i.e. the ever growing number of practices, technologies and strategies to arrive at a clear, concise plan identifying exactly what elements must be addressed to provide a solution that meets an organization’s unique requirements. Volt Consulting MSP engages its Solution Architects in a very stringent manner, and infuses the detailed process of solution architecture with the same Six Sigma quality practices that have enabled our organization to achieve the exceptionally high ratings and accolades we receive from our clients and independent industry arbiters, analysts and publications.

Our latest white paper entitled, “Six Sigma Solution Architecture: Building Your Services Procurement House of Quality” chronicles the rise in demand for such a service and illustrates the enormous benefits it provides to organizations who engage it before embarking on the RFx process. Visit here to request your copy today.