That鈥檚 why the latest recognition from two of the industry鈥檚 most respected research firms鈥擜rdent Partners and Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)鈥攎eans so much to us at 麻豆原创. Their findings reinforce what we see every day: isn鈥檛 just keeping up with the industry, we鈥檙e setting the standard for innovation, execution, and customer value.

Market leadership confirmed by independent analysts

named 麻豆原创 Fieldglass a 鈥淢arket Leader,鈥� a distinction reserved for providers with universal strengths and top-tier execution. The evaluation looked at every aspect of our portfolio, from supporting the full scope of managing the external workforce鈥攔equisitions, candidates, projects, direct sourcing, SOW/services procurement, integrations, and AI鈥攖o our execution ability, client success, references, talent ecosystem, product vision, and future of work readiness.

We鈥檙e especially proud to be recognized as an 鈥淓lite Performer鈥� in four critical categories: AI Innovation, SOW and Services Procurement, Direct Sourcing, and Total Talent Management. Ardent Partners highlights 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� deep integration with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, 麻豆原创 Build Work Zone, and the AI solution Joule, positioning it as a strategic hub for managing external talent and optimizing services procurement. Joule is transforming how users interact with the portfolio, offering conversational, data-driven guidance for requisition creation, SOW intake, job description design, and workflow acceleration.

also confirms 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� global leadership. The portfolio operates in more than 180 countries, supports 22 languages, and enables invoicing in 118 countries, making it the largest footprint in the industry. This extensive reach is further underscored by consistently strong customer retention, reflecting the deep trust and satisfaction 麻豆原创 Fieldglass enjoys among global enterprises.

Customer-validated leadership

Recognition from leading analyst firms is important, but what matters most is the experience of our customers. 麻豆原创 Fieldglass has also been ranked as a category leader by , a respected platform for verified customer reviews. TrustRadius rankings are based on direct feedback from real users, making it a powerful complement to analyst evaluations. While analyst reports validate market position and strategic capabilities, TrustRadius highlights the day-to-day value customers experience, such as ease of use, depth of functionality, and overall satisfaction. This dual endorsement, from both industry experts and actual practitioners, reinforces 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� commitment to delivering solutions that can meet business needs and exceed customer expectations.

Innovation at the core: AI, automation, and analytics

Innovation is at the heart of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� value proposition. The portfolio鈥檚 embedded AI solution, Joule, helps users initiate job requisitions, design and translate job descriptions, and accelerate approvals through a conversational interface. Rate benchmarking helps ensure customers stay competitive with market rates. Document AI can automate structured SOW creation, while machine learning and skills ontology models can power advanced candidate matching and workforce planning.

SIA notes that 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� 鈥淎I-first鈥� product strategy is embedding intelligence into every workflow, emphasizing seamless data extraction, intuitive user experiences, and impactful use cases across applications. The business intelligence suite delivers real-time and historical analytics, benchmarking tools, and persona-based dashboards, empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions at every stage of the talent lifecycle.

Comprehensive capabilities for a modern workforce

What distinguishes 麻豆原创 Fieldglass is its wide-ranging and comprehensive set of features. The portfolio allows users to effectively manage all kinds of external labor expenses鈥攚hether that’s contingent labor, services procurement, independent contractors, high-volume workers, or field services. It offers streamlined onboarding, advanced and customizable tools for global compliance, AI-driven workflows, and robust skills extraction, helping to ensure depth and efficiency in every area. Additionally, its compliance and audit capabilities, mobile accessibility, and dashboards supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion help create a holistic solution.

SIA鈥檚 research, based on 23 in-depth VMS surveys and 36 customer assessments, found 麻豆原创 Fieldglass excels in supplier management, time/expense/billing, SOW capabilities, candidate sourcing, technical functionality, and customer perceptions. Customers cite the portfolio鈥檚 innovation, influence over roadmap evolution, and ability to scale with their programs. The open API framework, pre-built integrations, and strong MSP partnerships create a connected ecosystem that can support even the most complex workforce strategies.

Customer experience and ecosystem strength

Customer experience is another area where 麻豆原创 Fieldglass shines. SIA鈥檚 customer perception data shows high marks for platform stability, ease of use, integration quality, adaptability, and support. Customers appreciate the portfolio鈥檚 innovation, the ability to influence roadmap evolution, and its capacity to scale with their programs.

Both Ardent Partners and SIA emphasize 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� commitment to continuous innovation. The 鈥淎I-first鈥� and 鈥渟uite-first鈥� strategies focus on embedding intelligence into every workflow and delivering seamless, end-to-end business processes across the 麻豆原创 ecosystem. Key areas of ongoing investment include skills-based hiring, AI, enhanced analytics, and high-volume workforces for SOW management.

A portfolio for the future of work

The latest findings from Ardent Partners and SIA reaffirm 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� leadership, vision, and relentless focus on customer value. Combined with customer-driven recognition from TrustRadius, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass stands as a proven leader in delivering solutions that can empower organizations to unlock the full potential of their extended workforce鈥攖oday and for the future of work.

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Amber Roth vice president of Global Presales & Strategy for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

External talent already represents a significant share of the labor: about 20% in the UK and 40% in the U.S., with projections reaching 50% globally by 2050. This surge reflects the growing demand for specialized skills and flexible cost structures.

A and conducted by Economist Impact captures this shift. Drawing on insights from more than 2,000 C-suite executives across industries, the report, 鈥淔rom Cost to Capability: Redefining External Workforce Strategy in 2025,鈥� reveals how the external workforce is evolving from a transactional resource into a core capability that drives adaptability and resilience in the AI era.

The findings underscore a critical imperative: organizations must rethink how they engage talent, integrate technology, and foster collaboration across procurement, HR, and finance to unlock the full potential of external workers.

From cost to capability: a strategic pivot

In 2023, nearly one-third of organizations cited risk reduction as their primary reason for using contingent labor and service providers. By 2025, that number dropped to just 6%. Today, cost efficiency (74%) and access to specialized skills (62%) dominate the list.

Cost efficiency is no longer about short-term savings. It鈥檚 about managing broader business risks, from financial exposure to talent scarcity. As Professor David Ulrich of the University of Michigan notes in the report, 鈥淭o mitigate risk, businesses need to reduce fixed costs, and labor is often a high fixed cost that needs to be seen as a source of growth.鈥�

Leaders increasingly view external talent as a long-term solution for project-based and technology-driven work, especially in fast-moving fields like AI, automation, and data science. Looking ahead, 64% of executives plan to expand their talent networks within three to five years, up from 54% last year鈥攃lear evidence that external workforce strategies are becoming integral to workforce planning.

Building a holistic talent ecosystem

Economist Impact鈥檚 research points to the rise of holistic talent supply chain management鈥攁 model that unites HR, finance, and procurement to forecast talent needs, close skills gaps, and treat the workforce as a dynamic ecosystem rather than a fixed headcount.

This evolution builds on the themes from previous Economist Impact reports, where procurement shifted from cost controller to strategic orchestrator of risk, sustainability, and innovation. Forward-looking organizations now embrace 鈥渢otal talent management鈥� models that integrate people, platforms, and partners while aligning culture and communication across internal and external teams.

Breaking down silos and embedding digital tools for real-time visibility will be essential to managing an integrated, skills-based workforce that adapts quickly to business needs鈥攚hile ensuring external workers feel valued and connected to enterprise goals.

Procurement at the center of workforce transformation

Procurement leaders are moving beyond sourcing and compliance to orchestrate entire talent ecosystems built on governance and collaboration. Yet the function faces challenges: confidence in procurement鈥檚 workforce management skills fell from 51% in 2024 to 43% in 2025, reflecting the complexity of its expanded scope.

CFOs and COOs are also taking a more active role, linking external workforce oversight to financial, compliance, and ESG performance. This trend echoes Economist Impact鈥檚 鈥溾�� report, which showed procurement鈥檚 remit expanding as risk management becomes central to business strategy.

To succeed, procurement must double down on visibility, digital integration, and strategic alignment. Platforms that unify workforce data鈥攆rom contingent contracts to skills mapping鈥攚ill enable teams to balance cost optimization with agility and governance.

AI: driving agility and accountability

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organizations manage external talent. According to the report, 68% of procurement leaders cite AI proficiency and ethics as their top development priority over the next 18 months. AI can predict workforce needs, automate sourcing, and fill gaps in emerging fields like agentic AI and automation. The payoff: higher productivity and faster decision-making.

But AI also raises a critical questions: who benefits from efficiency gains? How should productivity improvements be measured? Answering these will require new cost models and shared accountability across the enterprise.

As seen in earlier Economist Impact research, AI is once again a catalyst for transformation, redefining how organizations manage, measure, and mobilize external talent.

The external workforce of the future

The evolution of the external workforce underscores a broader truth: agility, capability, and collaboration now define competitive advantage.

Organizations that treat external talent as a strategic asset鈥攊ntegrating governance, data, and culture across internal and external teams鈥攚ill be best positioned to respond to technological change and seize new opportunities.

To meet these demands, companies are turning to solutions like and , which help connect procurement and external workforce management. These solutions can deliver the visibility, intelligence, and agility needed to manage today鈥檚 dynamic workforce ecosystem.

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at 麻豆原创.

This challenge reflects broader trends in the 麻豆原创-sponsored Economist Impact report titled 鈥�,鈥� which dives into how companies like Capgemini are leveraging external workers to meet skill deficits and productivity demands. The report highlights how organizations are turning to innovative technologies and strategies to seamlessly integrate external talent, ensuring they stay competitive in a rapidly changing workforce landscape.

In Capgemini鈥檚 case, it used to help manage its contingent workforce program across more than 30 countries. The cloud-based solutions can integrate with other 麻豆原创 solutions and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to help optimize external workforce management, helping companies stay resilient in an evolving talent landscape. With the addition of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, Capgemini has managed contractors and temporary workers across its entire supply chain. The company has successfully leveraged data from over 50 countries, seeing a 26% increase in unitary cost savings with a 50% increase in productivity from the internal procurement services team.

鈥淭he increased visibility into all external workforce-related outcome and process steps has enabled sharpened insights, along with smaller fulfillment time frames, higher fill rates, and improved compliance,鈥� says Andreas Hettwer, group procurement category director at Capgemini. 鈥淲e have truly optimized functions around the external workforce.鈥�

Smart and efficient talent acquisition

In today鈥檚 dynamic business environment, the external workforce鈥攃omprising freelancers, contractors, consultants, and gig workers鈥攈as become a critical component of many organizations. However, efficiently hiring and managing this diverse talent pool while staying adaptable to future workforce needs can be daunting.

This is because talent acquisition for an external workforce requires finding the right people at the right time, often under tight deadlines. The Economist Impact report also shared that internal skills and talent gaps have increased the demand for proper recruitment of the external workforce.

Capgemini serves as a prime example of how this approach works in practice. When it experiences a surge in demand, its preferred suppliers are notified and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions pull recommendations from distribution lists of candidates who have the necessary skill sets. This helps accelerate the hiring process and can ensure Capgemini is choosing from the best possible pool of potential candidates. The data is developed in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions and extracted into Capgemini鈥檚 various dashboards, instantly providing a comprehensive snapshot of each supplier鈥檚 performance.

Robust data maximizes ROI

Managing an external workforce is a delicate balancing act that involves countless variables. Beyond sourcing talent, it requires tracking budgets, ensuring compliance, and measuring performance. AI-powered automation can help streamline these processes, making it easy to capture, compare, and collaborate on critical information about non-payroll labor. This empowers companies to make informed decisions that maximize their return on investment (ROI).

When inflation surged in 2023, Capgemini fielded a large volume of rate increase requests. Through constructive and fact-based discussions with its supply base, the company managed a cost-rate evolution and shared inflation impact KPIs with its board. This increased executive trust in the global contingent workforce鈥檚 ability to deliver productivity. At the end of the implementation, Capgemini fulfilled 80% of its eligible contingent worker demand.

鈥淲e have full visibility,鈥� Hettwer says. 鈥淲e know the number of contractors, we know our demand per geography, per business line, and we know the cost rates we pay for certain roles, and we measure how the cost rates evolve over time.鈥�

Capgemini is also exploring new ways to use the large amount of data coming from the global deployment of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, including AI. Economist Impact data reinforces Capgemini鈥檚 perspective, as executives cited integrating traditional systems with AI and machine learning as a top priority over the next three to five years.

鈥淎I will certainly be an important factor in our business,鈥� Hettwer says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being patient and methodical in order to make sure that we introduce it safely and effectively.鈥�

Driving workforce excellence through innovation and insights

Capgemini’s journey with the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass portfolio demonstrates the transformative power of leveraging advanced technology to manage and optimize an external workforce. By enhancing visibility, streamlining processes, and utilizing AI-powered insights, Capgemini has achieved significant improvements in talent acquisition, supplier performance, and cost efficiency. This resulted in the firm capturing 98% of its global contingent workforce spend with a 60% quicker fulfillment time compared to the start of the program.

As the workforce landscape continues to evolve, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions can equip organizations with tools that enable them to manage the complete lifecycle of their external employees, from requisition and engagement to offboarding and evaluation. These capabilities are vital to remaining resilient, agile, and data-driven while transforming external labor into a versatile, value-driving resource.

Capgemini鈥檚 strategic focus on innovation and compliance sets a benchmark for businesses aiming to unlock the full potential of their contingent workforce in today鈥檚 competitive global environment.

Amber Roth is vice president of Global Presales & Strategy for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

Looking ahead to 2025, several key trends are poised to reshape the landscape, promising both challenges and opportunities for forward-thinking organizations. To gain insight into what lies ahead, we鈥檝e reached out to Intelligent Spend and Business Network executives at 麻豆原创 for their predictions.

The AI-Powered Procurement Revolution

Etosha Thurman, chief marketing officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, envisions a future where artificial intelligence (AI) takes center stage in procurement:

鈥淚n 2025, AI and cloud-based solutions will position procurement at the heart of data-driven decision-making, enabling real-time insights and freeing teams to focus on high-impact initiatives. The future belongs to procurement professionals who blend strategic thinking with relationship management and a combination of functional and technological expertise. These skills will be crucial in fostering cross-functional collaboration and advancing corporate goals, from supply assurance to compliance to sustainability. In the digital age, spend management expertise extends to not just supporting, but also steering the business.鈥�

This prediction underscores the critical role that AI will play in transforming procurement from a support function to a strategic driver of business value.

Streamlining Processes Through Orchestration

Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, highlights the growing importance of process orchestration:

鈥淭he technology landscape is rapidly evolving, and organizations are grappling with a heterogeneous mix of solutions. Many companies now employ multiple systems to meet their end-to-end business needs, leading to siloed processes and confused employees. Procurement, in particular, often suffers from fragmented systems handling everything from purchase requests to supplier onboarding, creating inefficiencies and frustration.

To address this challenge, we鈥檙e seeing a shift toward process orchestration 鈥� a centralized approach that connects disparate systems, streamlining procurement inquiries and status updates. Our newest solution, 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management, can tackle this head-on by automating request creation and providing a single point of entry so that organizations can empower employees to adhere to policies and regulations without the burden of manual corrections. This approach can not only save valuable time and resources but also drive user adoption and increase compliance and efficiency, positioning companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.鈥�

The Rise of a New Generation of Procurement Leaders

Jeff Collier, chief revenue officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, predicts a significant shift in procurement leadership:

鈥淚n 2025, a shift will occur in the procurement landscape as a wave of fresh faces step into the chief procurement officer role. AI-driven procurement strategies, ever-evolving requirements, and changing demographics have created the perfect storm for new leaders to emerge. As the industry stands on the precipice of transformation, organizations must prioritize nurturing existing talent, upskilling their workforce, and attracting bright young professionals to the procurement function. The stage is set for junior procurement leaders, who have proven their mettle during the challenging COVID-19 years, to rise to the occasion, particularly those who can showcase tangible achievements in sustainability, AI integration, or risk management. Brace yourselves for a year marked by new names, fresh perspectives, and a reshaped procurement industry in 2025.鈥�

The Power of AI Across Business Networks

Val Blatt, chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 Business Network, offers insights into how AI will transform business networks:

鈥淚n the near term, AI is already making waves by optimizing process efficiency and information sharing within and across companies in a supply chain. As we move into 2025 and beyond, we鈥檒l see AI do more to synthesize intelligence and efficiency across areas like risk, demand, and inventory planning, as well as manufacturing and delivery. This evolution becomes even more relevant because no business does business alone, and AI can synthesize and be predictive across company boundaries. We鈥檒l see AI decision support evolve into decision-making 鈥� and, ultimately, automated process execution. These advancements will occur as the need for AI to sense and predict situations with proposed planning recommendations grows, spanning across related functional areas and processes that involve trading partners in a supply chain.

In its Network Adoption Research Study* sponsored by 麻豆原创, IDC found that 鈥淒igital Champions鈥� who use modern, cloud-based tools like AI, analytics, and business networks have grown over 140% in revenue and profit performance indices from 2016 to 2021. As AI capabilities expand to sense, predict, and execute across organizational boundaries, businesses will gain next-level efficiency, visibility, and compliance. This will enable them to maintain a resilient supply chain that delivers on customer promises, especially in times of disruption, by leveraging the collective intelligence of their entire business network.鈥�

The Evolution of Travel and Expense Management

Christopher Juneau, SVP and head of 麻豆原创 Concur Product Marketing, Intelligent Spend and Business Network Marketing & Solutions, (T&E):

鈥淎s leaders strive to position their company for growth in 2025, they will still attempt to maintain employee spending at 2024 levels. Inflation drove higher spending beginning in 2023, resulting in fewer trips in 2024. As inflation slows, many leaders are likely to expect that their T&E budget 鈥� even if flat year over year 鈥� will go further in 2025.

Meanwhile, finance teams and travel managers will adjust their T&E policies to account for AI as more tasks and processes become automated. Will managers need to approve every expense report? Will they need to review them at all? How can policies and rules be modified so that travelers spend as little time in T&E tools as possible? These are some of the questions they will start to ask in 2025.

Investments in technology innovation and security infrastructure will be top priorities. The risks associated with security and privacy incidents will only continue to grow, which means companies are looking for technologies that deliver greater value to customers with lower risk. It is really a balancing act to move fast without disregarding the very important aspects of security and privacy when architecting solutions 鈥� internally and for customers.鈥�

Looking Ahead

As we look to 2025, it鈥檚 clear that the world of spend management and supply chain is on the brink of transformative change. The convergence of AI, sustainability imperatives, and interconnected business ecosystems will reshape how organizations operate and compete.

At 麻豆原创, we鈥檙e not just observing these trends 鈥� we鈥檙e actively shaping them, working to ensure our customers are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of tomorrow鈥檚 business landscape.

For a deeper dive into the future of procurement, be sure to check out . We will also be hosting a global webinar on these findings on February 4, 2025 titled 鈥�.鈥� This is an excellent opportunity to gain comprehensive insights and stay ahead of the curve. We encourage you to read the report and sign up for the webinar to learn more about the exciting developments shaping the industry.

The future may be uncertain, but one thing is clear: those who embrace these emerging trends and technologies will be best positioned to thrive in the dynamic world of 2025 and beyond. As we continue to design and deliver spend management and business network solutions that drive efficiency, leverage AI responsibly, and create greater visibility for businesses of all sizes, we look forward to partnering with our customers on this exciting journey of transformation and growth.

Cindy McKendry is a director for Intelligent Spend and Business Network Corporate Communications at 麻豆原创.

*Source: 鈥淚DC Network Adoption Research Study eBook: Driving Best-in-Class Supply Chain Collaboration with a Business Network,鈥� #US5084723, August 2023, page 18

With new integrations for , , and , as well as the incorporation of new generative AI features, we aim to automate and streamline procurement, supply chain, and external workforce management processes. These innovations will help empower organizations to access real-time spend data and focus on proactive decision-making, ultimately increasing their visibility and effectiveness.

As businesses continue to embrace advanced technologies, the integration of responsible, relevant, and reliable business AI and , 麻豆原创鈥檚 natural language, generative AI copilot, into the 麻豆原创 suite of solutions represents a significant leap forward in optimizing business processes and accelerating strategic initiatives. By harnessing the power of supply chain data alongside business AI and generative AI, we are setting the stage for practical procurement and workforce scenarios to thrive.

Joule Combined with 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud Can Improve Procurement Processes and Supply Chain Planning

Digital transformation has brought on endless potential for procurement teams, as embedded generative AI and increased access to data across the supply chain can lead to better visibility into spend. That is why we鈥檙e announcing further integration of Joule into our procurement solutions.

Later this year, will be generally available in 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions. Through this update, sourcing managers can utilize intelligent product and supplier recommendations to develop proposal requests. The combined platform will consider cost-effectiveness, sustainability ramifications, compliance regulations, and previous transactions.

Another new generative AI-based feature in 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions will migrate data from to help provide customers with a 360-degree buying user experience to enable a simple, agile, and collaborative process to identify products and skills in the same purchase order, otherwise known as spend bundling. Buyers can describe their purchasing needs with natural language prompts, and the system will deliver intelligent and personalized recommendations. This will help increase flexibility for buying materials and services, creating a collaborative and straightforward process from searching for products and services through order fulfillment.

To this end, we revealed a version of our generative AI-powered 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower at 麻豆原创 Sapphire. The command center, which can provide a single location for enterprise-wide spend analytics, can identify tail spend, improve compliance, and constantly identify rapidly increasing costs. This will help create meaningful value for organizations by increasing end-to-end visibility to drive efficient spend performance. Find out how to take advantage of the solution鈥檚 native connections to other 麻豆原创 applications and improved insight to action .

Optimizing 麻豆原创 Fieldglass with Generative AI to Mitigate Risk

HR departments and procurement teams often struggle to collaborate, creating silos that limit the ability to identify proper external candidates who can fill skills gaps in organizations. The latest update to 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions will introduce embedded AI to help reduce risk and increase the value of the external workforce.

We are leveraging generative AI to produce scope of work (SOW) descriptions, job descriptions, and job description translations for external workers, automatically identifying the required skills and qualifications for each organization. This will help remove data silos to enable total workforce management, an organizational strategy to provide visibility into all temporary and permanent employees.

Additionally, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions enhanced with generative AI can rank candidates based on salary preference, skills, and experience. Procurement teams can then identify the best candidates in an unbiased manner to reduce the time to hire, ultimately accelerating strategic decision-making. These added facets will help enhance planning and preparation for all external talent scenarios.

Introducing New Enhancements to 麻豆原创 Business Network

One of the highest priorities for any supply chain professional is to ensure their people, processes, and technology are resilient. Supply chain resilience extends beyond being able to withstand disruptions 鈥� it includes visibility into all activity and agility to react quickly to find and secure alternative sources of supply.

In fact, 麻豆原创 was recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2023 Vendor Assessment* and by TrustRadius as a .

Our latest modernization of 麻豆原创 Business Network helps enhance customers鈥� communication channels with trading partners for increased visibility and agility. Improved integrations between 麻豆原创 Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration and 麻豆原创 Business Network Material Traceability can allow suppliers to share product genealogy data to help ensure full traceability and compliance across the supply chain. Additional links between 麻豆原创 Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration and 麻豆原创 Business Network Freight Collaboration will help automate updates for inbound deliveries, simplifying management of carrier appointments and shipments.

Enhancements to the 麻豆原创 Business Network Asset Collaboration solution will help increase access to millions of supplier profiles from whom alternative products can be found. These new features across 麻豆原创 Business Network solutions will work to reduce silos between and within organizations, resulting in significant time and cost savings with fewer manual steps in processing work orders.

Strategic Investment Across the 麻豆原创 Suite of Solutions

麻豆原创 has augmented integrations across its entire portfolio of spend management and business network solutions, aiming to improve efficiency. By investing in technology that provides catered and end-to-end solutions, customers can have all-encompassing visibility to all business processes, from procurement of raw materials to delivery of the final product.

What we shared at 麻豆原创 Sapphire will only improve relationships between buyers, suppliers, logistics providers, and service providers across the supply chain, developing a larger view of all functions and employees. This will lead to better decision-making, increased productivity, and improved agility.

Manoj Swaminathan is chief product and technology officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

*Source: 鈥�,鈥� #US49948423, December 2023.

This recognition is especially gratifying as we continue to invest in enhancements and new functionality that make the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass portfolio the benchmark for VMS innovation. Every day, we focus on empowering organizations to:

• Automate the procurement of external workers and services
• Build a strong external workforce and talent ecosystem
• Enable visibility across their extended workforce
• Use analytics and machine learning to engage and manage top talent
• Track and report on all their external workers
• Onboard, manage, and pay multiple resources for multiple assignments

Because of our focus on innovation, we all know the best is yet to come. New enhancements include the use of generative AI to help create and translate job descriptions, as well as to help produce statement of work descriptions. Even more powerful AI enhancements are planned for later this year that will continue to enhance productivity and streamline processes across hiring and workforce management. We will also continue to improve the user experience. And for midsize organizations, we are planning to deliver out-of-the-box solutions that are simpler to deploy.

We will continue to deliver innovations that enable organizations to deploy 鈥� referred to as 鈥渢otal talent management鈥� by Ardent Partners 鈥� across the enterprise.

Recognizing the Strengths of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass

鈥淲ith a firm commitment to extended workforce innovation and the integration of AI-based tools into total talent management, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass continues to deliver next-generation automation and powerful value within the Future of Work movement,鈥� said Christopher J. Dwyer, SVP of Research at Ardent Partners and author of the new study. 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass remains an ideal platform for both procurement and HR leaders to reimagine their contingent workforce initiatives and transform the ways non-employee talent supports work optimization.鈥�

In its assessment of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, Ardent Partners highlighted some of the portfolio鈥檚 strengths. Here are excerpts from the report:

• Spend management integration: 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass is a pioneer in delivering the 鈥榮pend management鈥� attributes of extended workforce management via on-demand supplier intelligence and guided, proactive spend and financial data. With its tight integration into 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Vendor Management System enables users with a series of real-time insights into the critical spend components of the external workforce.鈥�
• Automation of statement of work (SOW) management: 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass offers a powerful SOW management and services procurement module that was designed to optimize this extended workforce subcategory in a data-driven, value-added manner. This solution offers a unique and flexible design that enhances SOW creation, management, and reconciliation.鈥�
• A 鈥渙ne-stop鈥� experience for talent information: 鈥溌槎乖� Build Work Zone offers real-time visibility into all workforce (both extended and traditional) attributes through a centralized entry point that brings together 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, other 麻豆原创 systems (particularly 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and 麻豆原创 Ariba), and third-party integrations. 麻豆原创 Build Work Zone can serve as a powerful 鈥榦ne-stop shop鈥� experience for critical talent information.鈥�
• AI leadership: 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass is at the forefront to AI revolution with its fully-embedded generative AI capabilities, including advanced job description automation, real-time talent recommendations, and on-demand pay rate intelligence. The company has built on its already-robust predictive analytics and scenario-building capabilities with added AI-led functionality that provides real-time rate guidance.鈥�
• Total workforce management: 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass is focused on delivering comprehensive 鈥樷�� with an offering that combines external workforce and FTE management with a single, global view. Key integrations with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors build on this solution with connections into 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud reporting, human capital offerings (like learning and development), candidate experience automation, and a 鈥榬ecommendation engine鈥� that is embedded across the talent acquisition process.鈥�

Ardent Partners鈥� assessment also praised how 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions can simplify assignment management, calling it a 鈥渃ore differentiator.鈥� For managing light industrial, blue collar, and services-heavy labor for asset-heavy industries, the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass portfolio includes end-to-end capabilities like timeclocks and badging, purchase order management, equipment tracking, resource management, and dynamic bill rate management.

Recommendations from Ardent Partners

How do 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions fit the needs of organizations looking to purchase a new VMS, or upgrade from their current one? 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass deserves strong consideration from enterprises that are seeking a trusted, global, innovative, end-to-end provider that presents cutting-edge technology that converges with total talent management and artificial intelligence,” Ardent Partners concludes. The report suggests the portfolio deserves consideration for these customer scenarios:

• 鈥淏usinesses that desire AI-led tools and technology to guide talent decisions, fuse intelligence into workforce management, and provide real-time staffing insights.鈥�
• 鈥淐ompanies that need a VMS partner that can optimize enterprise-level services procurement spend and SOW management with innovative functionality.鈥�
• 鈥淥rganizations that seek a VMS platform that focuses on Future of Work readiness and skills-based hiring.鈥�

Vish Baliga is chief technology officer for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

Ardent Partners鈥� 2024 Vendor Management System (VMS) Technology Advisor is designed to help procurement, human resources, human capital, and talent acquisition executives navigate the complex and mature VMS solutions marketplace. This report analyzes and assesses the primary VMS solution providers in the marketplace today. You can .

is a leading international bank headquartered in London with a presence in 59 markets. With over 83,000 employees and almost 14,000 external workers, implementing a strategy was crucial for the bank to remain competitive and compliant. Guided by a workplace culture that champions innovation, technology, and sustainability, Standard Chartered supports customers from around the world to open opportunities in new markets and to live up to its brand promise to be here for good.

鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 really important to have that total workforce management view, where we鈥檙e starting to think about workforce planning and skills planning as the future of work,鈥� said Melinda McKinley, global head, HR Strategy and Digital Transformation, Standard Chartered. McKinley key insights from Standard Chartered鈥檚 HR transformation at 麻豆原创 Sapphire Orlando.

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Due to changing regulations, the banking sector has faced an increasing demand for workers with specialized skill sets to meet IT and cybersecurity requirements. This has led many finance organizations like Standard Chartered to tap into the external workforce. Today, Standard Chartered鈥檚 external workers are integral to how the organization operates. But initially, it lacked the technology and insights to effectively manage them.

The bank had an over 20-year-old HR system that made it increasingly difficult to innovate and respond quickly to changing business and regulatory requirements, according to Steve Leighton, head of HR Digital Enablement, Standard Chartered and a member of the team undertaking the HR transformation journey since it began in 2017. 鈥淲e wanted to replace that legacy system, transform, simplify, implement a global process, and really make an improvement in the experience.鈥�

One strategic requirement stood out as key to the success of the HR transformation: 鈥淗ow do we join together our permanent employees and our contingent workers to get a total view of the workforce across the organization?鈥� said Leighton, who presented the project results at 麻豆原创 Sapphire Orlando. 鈥淭his is a building block in our long-term ambition of being able to perform our strategic workforce planning.鈥�

HR Transformation Wins 麻豆原创 Innovation Award

Standard Chartered adopted a total workforce management strategy by integrating with solutions in the cloud to help deliver a truly holistic capability across its permanent and contingent workforce. 鈥淭hat kind of integration 鈥� [麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass] together 鈥� was key for this particular transformation,鈥� Leighton said.

With the implementation of position management, a foundational capability in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central that helps organizations create and manage job positions to maintain a desired org structure, the organization achieved a breakthrough in its HR transformation journey as the result of its clear strategic vision.

鈥淥ne of the key things that set us on a path for a future-ready workforce was really embracing the foundational architecture that position management brings,鈥� McKinley said. 鈥淭hat meant immediately we had a visualization of our total workforce 鈥� our contingent and our employee base. It is leading to much stronger data-driven hiring decisions.鈥�

Standard Chartered remediated 75 interfaces to third-party systems, including outsourced payroll solutions, and migrated 3.5 million data records from its legacy platform. It overhauled processes to achieve an 87% reduction of HR reports. With improved visibility of the entire workforce, where legally permissible, it can now capture richer data for diversity and inclusion metrics to further enable its inclusive culture.

A clear focus on employee experience has significantly contributed to the transformation鈥檚 ongoing success. Applying a 鈥渄eep鈥� experience approach, the team evaluated each phase and decision in the project for its potential impact on employee experience. Approximately 200 colleagues participated in user acceptance testing, providing valuable feedback through surveys and interviews. Collecting insights post-deployment also enabled the team to continuously innovate and improve the experience. Among the resulting innovations is a new employee portal with a modernized interface that integrates adoption nudges and chatbots to support colleagues during the hiring process.

鈥淧osition management was a key tenet of being able to facilitate this single workforce capability,鈥� said Leighton, who shared learnings from the project, including the effort required for change management to educate and prepare stakeholders and the diligent approach to the data integration. He noted that this effort paid off by 鈥渃learly culminating in that success.鈥�

Standard Chartered recently for its success in delivering on total workforce management with a focus on experience.

Strategic Vision for Future-Ready Workforce

鈥淲ith 麻豆原创, we now have a truly holistic view of our permanent and external workers,鈥� McKinley said. 鈥淭his has not only improved the employee experience and given us richer insights into our entire workforce but has also helped set the foundation for strategic corporate planning, integrated talent management, and management of regulatory requirements.鈥�

Standard Chartered is now focused on leveraging and expanding future-ready workforce capabilities by using the 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud solution for workforce planning. McKinley described how the collaboration of the HR and finance teams is building success for the organization: 鈥淲e鈥檙e working closely with our finance colleagues to bring finance and HR data together a little more seamlessly through the use of 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud, with a view to actually making a difference to bottom-up planning through our corporate plan.鈥�

She noted, 鈥淭he value that will create, by moving agreed workforce modelling into the position charts, I think will be a game changer for us in terms of our future workforce planning and skills planning.鈥�

Total Workforce Management from 麻豆原创

A total workforce management strategy allows businesses to keep the whole workforce in focus for increased agility, productivity, and bottom-line impact. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions combined with 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions can deliver value and efficiency by providing a single view of the entire workforce, allowing managers to onboard, oversee, and pay employees and contingent workers in one place. Organizations using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions 57% greater HR process speed, 54% reduction in time spent by managers on administrative HR, and 40% less time required to fill positions. Organizations using 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions saw 7.81% savings through competitive candidate sourcing and 16.4% lower project budgets.

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I recently had the pleasure of participating in a webinar with Ian Lawless and David Rae of , during which we discussed effective talent strategies for this unprecedented period. We touched on the changing workforce, the impact of turbulence, and how procurement can build effective talent strategies for 2023.

Talent is a topic that is close to my heart and one that we are hearing is top of mind for procurement executives. Here are three key takeaways from our conversation that procurement leaders can apply to address talent strategies in 2023 and beyond.

1. Focus on Attracting and Retaining Employees to Overcome the Ongoing Talent Shortage

The polycrisis has changed the workforce, and it is time to change with it. , the COVID-19 pandemic, arguably the first and most significant event of this recent polycrisis, has caused long-lasting disruption to the workplace, creating 鈥渁 once-in-a-generation 鈥� or even once-in-100-years 鈥� opportunity to question some of our long-held assumptions about how we work.鈥�

Being able to nurture existing talent, being able to upskill existing talent, being able to recruit young talent to the procurement function 鈥� these are all top concerns. And not just in procurement: logistics is another area where we鈥檙e seeing increased demand for that skill set but where we do not have the capacity or enough capability in our current organizations, especially not to meet the demand that continues to build.

2. Engage and Manage External Workers as a Pillar of Your Strategy

罢辞诲补测鈥檚 workforce must be viewed holistically to include external resources, a practice that is growing more common as businesses seek to gain flexibility and control.

In the most forward-thinking companies I have seen, the CHRO and CPO have a collaborative relationship. It鈥檚 one where they are building a total workforce strategy together that looks at the capabilities within the full-time employee base and being sure that they are recruiting and training to have those critical skills. They are also thinking about what is the best way to leverage contingent workers and service providers to get global reach, specialization, or agility 鈥� to be able to have flexibility to expand or contract the workforce without having to go through the emotional task of restructuring or downsizing.

3. In Times of Turbulence, Meet Workers Where They Are

Agility is key to fulfilling the evolving role of procurement, as well as the demands of the talent pool. Living in a polycrisis has shown that we need different ways of thinking and working. In a dynamic environment, procurement teams must strengthen and regain capabilities that were previously unused or lost given the years of fairly consistent supply chain stability. Businesses must employ new methods to access crucial skill sets while mitigating risk, such as investing in the external workforce and providing flexibility to workers.

In a lot of areas, the last few years have made us very risk weary. CFOs are saying, 鈥淗ow can I better mitigate risk? We鈥檝e been through a roller coaster. I really want to take more risk out of our business.鈥� And one of the ways to do that is to have a dynamic workforce where you can efficiently shift labor or capability where you need it, when you need it.

In this age of uncertainty, procurement responsibilities have increased and are even more in the spotlight. Upskilling procurement talent is a vital part of being more effective and meeting the growing expectations of business stakeholders. But you can鈥檛 do it alone. Thankfully, technology is here to help you manage the complexities and the risk, and make proactive, informed decisions. At 麻豆原创, we continue to listen to the market, to not only address the challenges encountered today but to bring the solutions that will help procurement evolve into the future.

To learn more about the webinar and read a full summary, check out this white paper: .

Explore these solutions from 麻豆原创 that can help procurement leaders navigate through challenging times:

Don鈥檛 miss the opportunity to learn more about the full range of 麻豆原创鈥檚 procurement and total workforce solutions at in Vienna, Austria.

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing and solutions officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

This also complies with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The environment is assessed annually by a certified third-party assessment organization (3PAO) to adhere to NIST 800-53 controls with FedRAMP Parameters. This allows government agencies and highly regulated industries in the U.S. to adopt 麻豆原创鈥檚 market-leading cloud applications for external workforce management and services procurement with an enhanced, enterprise-grade security model.

麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions are available in the 麻豆原创 NS2 Commercial Regulated Environment (CRE). This is a significant milestone for our regulated customers, as it ensures that the data stored within our system adheres to the regulations put in place by their industry and remains in country.

麻豆原创 NS2 offers the following 麻豆原创 Fieldglass external workforce management solutions: , , and .

History of External Workforce Management

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on increasing labor shortages, organizations were quickly evolving the ways they staffed their teams. One aspect of this evolution was the realization that temporary workers offer a valuable way to address staffing and skill gaps. An found that 42% of workforce spend was dedicated to the external workforce, composed of service providers and other non-payroll workers.

More than two years later, this percentage is projected to rise. A sponsored by 麻豆原创 found that 50% of surveyed organizations plan to increase their use of external workers. This includes the public sector, U.S. state and local governments, and regulated industries such as aerospace and defense, utilities, higher education, life sciences, manufacturing, high-tech, and financial services. Each of these industries are expected to rely on the expertise of external workers.

Managing External Workers in the Public Sector: Uniquely Challenging

Like any other organization, governments and highly regulated industries use external workers to do basic things such as deploy and manage IT, build infrastructure, and perform back-office functions. But unlike the private sector, the need for security is magnified tenfold. When employing external workers, government and highly regulated industries must comply with and adhere to strict and constantly evolving privacy and security standards.

Given the public sector鈥檚 heightened requirements for security, the realities of external workforce management can make things more challenging:

• External workers may have access to critical systems and data. Managing an external workforce means there are temporary and contingent workers who may not be committed to the long-term success of an organization, and these resources may be working with sensitive data. Therefore, it is critical that external workers are securely managed from onboarding through offboarding to help ensure only vetted and trusted resources are allowed into the organization.
• External workforce data must be protected to the highest standards. When hiring and onboarding through a workforce management solution, a worker鈥檚 highly sensitive data is stored within the application. Personally identifiable information (PII), location, and other employee-specific data is highly targeted by bad actors, so it is crucial to protect it according to government-attested regulations.
• Highly regulated organizations require an upgraded innovation model. Organizations need a solution that balances security with innovation. A solution that provides enhanced security based on industry needs, uses a local deployment model, and stays ahead of the innovation curve creates a strong barrier between cybersecurity threats and systems.

麻豆原创 Fieldglass Through 麻豆原创 NS2: Secure, Local, Sovereign

The necessity to comply with local data sovereignty regulations, store data in-county, and control who can access data based on regional requirements were key drivers in bringing 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions into the 麻豆原创 NS2 environment. 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions delivered through 麻豆原创 NS2 provide:

• Localized protection of data: All 麻豆原创 Fieldglass data is deployed and stored on U.S. Amazon Web Services鈥� infrastructure that is dedicated to addressing the needs of highly regulated industries within the cloud. 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions are deployed on infrastructure located within the U.S. From initial deployment to ongoing support, all facets of the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions are maintained in-country.
• Innovation backed by in-region, expert resources: 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions are protected via a security model that provides local, credentialed resources who understand innovation, business drivers, and U.S. compliance regulations.
• Automated security: 麻豆原创 NS2 leverages tools such as vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection, and continuous monitoring to help ensure data stays protected under an automated and enhanced cybersecurity

麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions delivered by 麻豆原创 NS2 provide a critical line of defense for protecting organizations and ensuring the individuals handling everyday operations are recruited and managed within a highly secure environment. Our sovereign cloud offering mitigates the risk of external threats by limiting system management, providing in-country deployment, and leveraging an enterprise strategy to control data access, data residency, and data sovereignty.

In other words, we keep your data secure so you can focus on what鈥檚 important: your mission.

Lillian Chang听 is senior vice president for 麻豆原创 National Security Services.
Vish Baliga is chief technology officer for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

However, insurance companies that rely on this staffing approach find that the external workforce becomes a huge part of overall spend. Often, they overlook tools to help manage this workforce.

In fact, a recent found that insurance companies now spend 40% of their workforce budget on external labor. And nearly three-quarters of companies say that these workers are important to their ability to meet market demand or operate at full capacity.

The external workforce is a key lever in enabling business performance. It is important to meet market demands, improve the customer experience, and reduce risk. With these facts in mind, it鈥檚 easy to see why managing the external workforce should be a priority.

Increase Insight into Your External Workforce

Companies often use traditional procure-to-pay systems to help streamline external workforce management. Yet many insurance companies still don鈥檛 have the insight they need to get top value from their spend.

For example, found that just 34% of companies use procurement technology for contingent workforce management. Some of the respondents use this technology to manage their service providers, but only 20% were able to track and manage their engagement from statement of work to purchase order to invoicing.

Companies also lack insight into fundamental issues such as who is doing the work, the contract terms of each engagement, and the responsibilities of each worker. The challenge is that digital security breaches present risks to the organization, as external workers can take advantage of their digital access if they are not onboarded and offboarded properly.

The research highlighted several other issues that can compromise the value of the external workforce. Nearly half of respondents reported compliance issues and more than 40% reported quality issues regarding resources and projects with external workers. In addition, 44% reported unauthorized spend with contingent workers.

Standardize and Streamline External Workforce Management

What鈥檚 the best way for insurance companies to manage each external workforce engagement so that they get the value they pay for 鈥� and the best possible business results?

Advanced digital solutions for external workforce management can help.

With these solutions, managers can standardize worker onboarding and offboarding processes. They can quickly and intuitively grant access to systems and assets 鈥� and disconnect that access when a worker鈥檚 contract expires. And the technology helps ensure that workers have the right certifications. This is a great way to reduce risk.

Best-in-class solutions let you use any type of proof of service 鈥� such as timesheets, milestones, and deliverables 鈥� on a recurring due date or price-per-unit basis. This feature helps you align payment with the value provided.

You can tailor workflows based on category of service or work provided. For example, you might want to include tiered vendors in the requisition process or require approvals needed for invoicing to ensure your company鈥檚 organizational guidelines can be easily followed.

Increase Bottom-Line Business Value

Other features let you monitor supplier KPIs, such as response time, cycle time, and hire rates. With this insight, you can facilitate reviews and negotiations with suppliers.

Improving your external workforce management processes can also help you provide a better experience for candidates and workers. Intuitive workforce management solutions can make your company more attractive to younger workers who prefer to interact with you using digital technologies. They allow you to manage who is working for you, where workers are located, what they are doing, how much you are paying them, and what access they have to your systems and facilities.

What鈥檚 more, the right procurement technology can help you generate significant cost savings. Modern tools generate reports that enable immediate visibility into contingent workforce and services procurement spend. Analytics features can help you identify opportunities to further operationalize your procurement processes and create new cost efficiencies.

You鈥檝e developed a valuable external workforce. Now, advanced technologies can help it boost your business鈥� bottom line.

Toni Tomic is global head of Insurance at 麻豆原创.

That鈥檚 just how we did it; there was no other option. Or so it seemed.

Then came the pandemic. Businesses were forced to figure out at a moment鈥檚 notice how to stay productive despite closed offices, necessitating many of their on-site people to work at home in spare bedrooms, kitchens, and basements.

Of course, we have had the means to work remotely for a long time. I鈥檒l never forget the first time I attached a whiny modem to a phone line so I could work remotely from my apartment. And like it or not, video conferencing has been around for years.

The pandemic took things to a whole new level. It was like a wake-up call that prompted us to question our long-held beliefs about jobs, locations, and careers.

A new eBook from IDC, sponsored by 麻豆原创, takes a closer look at the lasting effects of our pandemic wake-up call. examines how the disruptions of the past few years have impacted the world鈥檚 supply chains and how businesses have been forced to adapt. It also offers forward-looking strategies to increase workforce resiliency in times of disruption.

What We Learned from the Pandemic — and What It Means for the Future of Work

Workers want flexibility. For many workers, this was their first opportunity to prove to themselves and their employers that remote work is not only possible, but it can also be effective. Many also found that working remotely could lead to a better work/life balance. People have come to like the idea that they don鈥檛 have to commute to the office every day. They also like having a more flexible schedule to accommodate other aspects of their lives.

This need for flexibility impacts the way we work in different ways. Workers are now more likely to ask to work remotely as a term of employment. Alternatively, employers have more flexibility in recruiting because remote working removes geography as a factor in hiring. For example, if you鈥檙e staffing a software development project where the core team is based in Chicago, you aren鈥檛 precluded from hiring a developer in Toronto or someone in the far suburbs. It also frees you to consider contingent workers to fill specific skill gaps for a defined period of time.

Workers are reevaluating what they want from their careers. For so many of us, the harsh realities of the pandemic have been a rude awakening, showing just how quickly life can shift from 鈥渘ormal routines鈥� to something completely foreign. You start thinking, 鈥淲hat am I doing with my life? Why am I so engrossed with my work? Am I in the right job, or should I be doing something else? How can I make time in the day to do other things that I just can鈥檛 seem to get to?鈥�

I鈥檓 sure this has helped fuel what we have come to know as 鈥渢he Great Resignation.鈥� But I would like to think of this as more of a great adaptation than resignation. Many people are no longer interested in working insane hours to make big money, stuck to one company, location, or job. Instead, they鈥檙e asking what they can do to enjoy their working life, or is it 鈥渓ife while working鈥�?

As economic conditions change, it鈥檚 not clear who has the upper hand. Clearly, the exodus of workers during the pandemic put many employers on the defensive. But continuing inflation, fears of recession, and the coinciding possibility of fewer employment opportunities are giving workers reason to reconsider jumping ship.

Job growth in the U.S. has been very strong, with the nation returning to its pre-pandemic employment level in July. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that , which was lower than the month before but still represents significant growth. It鈥檚 unclear how many of these jobs are new and how many are the result of early retirements or workers who have chosen other paths, such as doing gig work or joining the contingent workforce.

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What Employers Are Doing to Avoid Talent Shortages

Regardless of where the economy takes the job market in the coming months and years, employers have been put on notice by the hard-earned lessons of the pandemic and the Great Resignation. From , IDC has identified key strategies organizations are adopting to mitigate the risk of talent shortages. They include:

• Strategic workforce planning: Organizations are emphasizing strategic workforce planning to balance job requirements with the necessary organizational capabilities. This includes evaluating the need to operate functions remotely with centralized capabilities that leverage talent across multiple geographies and worksites.
• Hybrid work models: Nearly all industries, including those which have never before been considered to have remote-work potential, are evolving and innovating to adapt to the demand for hybrid work. For instance, the pandemic has driven manufacturing to embrace a mix of in-office and remote working. IDC predicts that by 2023, 40% of G2000 companies will develop all new processes based on remote-first designs.
• Employee training and engagement: To retain employees and increase skills, businesses continue to invest in training and certification. Additionally, they are using sustainability programs and technology adoption to increase engagement, enable transparency, and build a culture of trust and innovation. The emphasis is on working with technology rather than technology replacing the meaningful components of work.
• Improved recruitment practices: Organizations are proactively building and expanding candidate pipelines, regardless of current hiring needs. They鈥檙e also enhancing the interviewing and sourcing skills of hiring managers, automating recruitment practices, partnering with educational institutions, and using apprenticeships to cultivate a wider talent pool.
• The contingent workforce: Organizations that face a shortage of local talent may end up outsourcing jobs internationally or contracting parts of their processes to a third party. If they lack in-house skills, they might also hire contract workers or turn to managed services to supplement their workforce. Organizations are also turning to contingent labor to right-size the number of employees on the payroll and give them the ability to flex. Using or SOW-based contracts offers businesses the flexibility to act nimbly when business requirements change. Technology enables these organizations to predict requirements for contingent workers, strategize their onboarding, track their productivity and performance, and balance labor requirements with outcomes.

A Workforce in Progress

Adapting to the changes in the workforce we have seen over the past few years is a work in progress. Worker attitudes will evolve, as will business strategies to address them. Technology solutions that organizations use to stay ahead of the trends will continue to prove invaluable to forward-looking business leaders as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of the post-pandemic workforce.

Vish Baliga is chief technology officer at .

鈥淭he pandemic has allowed for a once-in-a-generation 鈥� or even a once-in-100 years 鈥� opportunity to question some of our long-held assumptions about how we work,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ssumptions like needing to work on-site have been reshaped, and we have an opportunity to rethink things at a very fundamental level.鈥�

Once in a hundred years is a pretty long stretch.

But I think he鈥檚 right. As the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report observes, the pandemic and other unprecedented global disruptions have created 鈥渟eismic shifts鈥� in how we work, where we work, and with whom we do business.

Workers sense these shifts and feel empowered. Likewise, events haven鈥檛 escaped the attention of business leaders. Last year, a survey of 232 global executives by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services revealed that 96% of respondents have made or are making alterations to workplaces because of recent business disruptions, while 92% said organizations need to adopt new workplace strategies to remain competitive.

We are in a historic moment, a 鈥渙nce-in-a-generation鈥� opportunity to rethink workforce management at a fundamental level. What do we do with this opportunity? The Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report offers some valuable insights, of which I would like to highlight a few.

Procurement Function for External Workforce Emerges from Its Silo

We鈥檝e been talking about this for a while 鈥� the idea that as businesses come to see the strategic value of procurement in external workforce management, it is emerging from its silo.

You might make the same case about human resources鈥� involvement with the external workforce. The integration of HR and procurement is exactly the kind of change we need. As companies increasingly rely on services procurement and contingent labor, HR and procurement will collaborate more closely and rely on the expertise of each other.

The collaborative process would go like this: HR works with internal departments to identify requirements and validate compliance and how external workers are going to be engaged and managed. Meanwhile the procurement team finds the right sources for talent and creates the contracts with rates and other terms and conditions. Then, the business uses these artifacts to engage the personnel, governed by these contracts. HR, procurement, and other departments can then monitor performance and compliance and report back to the appropriate parties.

Of course, while this type of collaboration is important, it is mostly moving the tactical aspects to the business while setting up necessary guardrails. Moving forward, businesses will need these functions, and other business functions, to collaborate in developing workforce strategies designed to achieve specific business outcomes.

Insourcing versus Outsourcing

It鈥檚 one thing for a business to decide it will use more external labor. It鈥檚 another to make strategic decisions about when and where to use this labor to achieve business outcomes.

鈥淢y sense is that many businesses are still handling hiring and recruitment tactically as opposed to what is the right approach for the business,鈥� says Philip Ideson, managing director of Art of Procurement, in the report. 鈥淭hey should be asking, 鈥榃hat are the outcomes we鈥檙e trying to drive? What鈥檚 our position on insourcing or outsourcing services?鈥欌��

The concludes that 鈥渃ompanies will continue to grapple with the pros and cons鈥� of outsourcing versus insourcing. This is another area where HR, procurement, and other business functions need to engage in strategic discussions.

Of course, any such discussions will undoubtedly come around to the topic of business flexibility. If the past few years have taught us anything, it鈥檚 that flexibility gives businesses 鈥渟uperpowers鈥� that enable them to stay resilient in the face of disruption. Outsourcing is a source of flexibility, for example, allowing businesses to incur fewer fixed costs than with full-time employees. It also helps them adapt quickly to surges in demand, slowdowns, or unexpected events that could derail their success.

The Role of Technology in Strategic Workforce Planning

As the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report observes, 鈥淒igital solutions have long been used to boost efficiency and savings in other areas of the business, and their value is equally key in enhancing external workforce outcomes.鈥�

Vendor management systems like enable organizations to search a wide employee landscape to find and hire the external workers they need to fill roles and staff projects. These solutions can also show where the business is using temporary labor and whether it鈥檚 relying too heavily on one supplier or region. This enables proactive action to minimize service disruption.

麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions can open opportunities for procurement professionals to focus on strategic, value-add work instead of manual processes that can be automated. Ideson envisions a scenario where 鈥渢echnology will move us to more of a self-service environment where business stakeholders can procure the services they need faster and more efficiently without the involvement of the procurement function.鈥�

As Ideson says, procurement teams could see technology as 鈥渁n existential threat to the profession or an opportunity.鈥� However, given our 鈥渙nce-in-100 years鈥� opportunity, I hope you choose to focus your expertise on strategic workforce planning, not repetitive processes. As you find new ways to use services procurement and contingent labor strategically, you鈥檒l realize significant benefits, including:

• Budget flexibility through fewer fixed costs associated with full-time employees
• The ability to create workforce capacity on demand and scale up or down to meet changing project needs
• Less risk for the business as responsibility for worker results shifts to services companies
• Better value from the ability to actively manage every aspect of external worker engagement
• Optimized results with tools that enable outcome-based performance assessment

This is the promise of vendor management system technology. It can free you from a sometimes overwhelming amount of tactical work, allowing you to realize greater benefits with true strategic workforce planning.

Vish Baliga is chief technology officer at 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

That鈥檚 the hallmark of successful people and businesses. We adapt.

Of course, adapting to traveling less has been fairly easy for me. I can work from home and still be productive. Unfortunately, in other ways the pandemic and the so-called 鈥淕reat Resignation鈥� have made it difficult for organizations to adapt to changes in the workforce. Employees are leaving their jobs or are absent for extended periods. Additionally, it can be harder to find specific skills within a 鈥済ig鈥� workforce that sometimes operates outside traditional staffing practices.

Seeing Things Differently, Doing What Works

In my role as chief technology officer for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, I watch trends to see how organizations are using contingent labor to be nimbler and more resilient, even in the face of adversity.

For me, the past two years were not simply a series of bad news stories and downward trends, but also an opportunity to witness how companies and people are adapting to the situation. I鈥檝e seen smart business leaders do the right things for their companies, and for their employees. In some cases, they鈥檙e picking up on trends that started before the pandemic. Here are some thoughts about what I鈥檓 seeing.

Businesses are finding creative ways to get things done and help their employees. At the height of the pandemic, businesses faced tough choices about their workers. With business slowing down, could they afford to keep them on or were furloughs necessary? At the same time, other industries, like logistics, biotech, and healthcare, were experiencing an uptick in demand for workers. Companies made it possible to 鈥渓end鈥� furloughed employees to businesses that needed them, with the idea that when the business climate stabilizes, they can return to their regular jobs. People unable to go to on-site jobs were 鈥渁vailable鈥� to do remote or jobs that did not need them to be in a location.

The 鈥渇lex workforce鈥� is helping businesses stay resilient, adaptable, and productive. By flex workforce, I mean workers who can come in and do the work you need done, and you do not have to keep them on your payroll for extended periods. Plus, as we鈥檝e learned through the pandemic, these workers are used to working remotely, which means you can recruit talent from around the world. Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e planning a three-month technology project, but you cannot find people with the right expertise in house or within the local labor market. An external workforce strategy makes it possible to seek out temporary workers —听 literally from around the world, often at more economical rates. Teams from different locations and different employers can come together to work collaboratively and part ways once work was done.

Business leaders are discovering the value of shared candidate portals. It is a trend that started years ago and picked up with the pandemic. Instead of keeping information about their favorite external workers to themselves, increasingly businesses are willing to share this information within more public 鈥渃andidate portals.鈥� In exchange, they get access to a wider roster of temporary workers with information supplied by other businesses. This additional information helps them evaluate potential candidates. Right now, we鈥檙e developing candidate portal capabilities for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass software. It will be a lot like LinkedIn for temporary workers — only better, because it provides more resources for candidate evaluation.

Assignment management gives businesses greater flexibility to use temporary workers. During the pandemic, employees might become unavailable to work for weeks, maybe months at a time. Businesses needed the flexibility to use external workers to fill the gaps. Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e a manufacturer and you have a skilled tradesperson who can do a couple, maybe two or three, different things. You may ask them to do welding one day and fill in as shop steward the next. The problem is, different jobs have different pay scales. This requires immense flexibility to keep track of what they are doing, the hours they worked, and the correct hourly wage. Fortunately, assignment management software gives companies the flexibility they need to use the varied skills of workers when and as they鈥檙e needed.

Companies are devising distribution strategies to tap into the “Gig Economy.” Before the pandemic, there was the Gig Economy. Along with it came specialized freelance management systems to help external workers find work. Think of these as niche, regional, sources for contingent labor, often specialized for one labor category; for example, technical writers in San Francisco. Now, think about how businesses did things before these systems existed — they sent requisitions to select staffing vendors. Today these same businesses are developing what I call 鈥渄istribution strategies,鈥� in which they reach out to their favorite staffing vendors and to the relevant freelance management systems. This allows them to expand their searches to gig workers not associated with staffing companies. More good news: 麻豆原创 Fieldglass software can help听 streamline these distribution strategies.

Reasons for Optimism

I see many reasons for optimism. First, the external workforce will continue to help companies stay adaptable and strike a balance between the full-time employees they need to move forward, and the temporary workers who fill gaps and take on essential project work.

And second, in challenging times — when there is the greatest need for adaptation — that鈥檚 when creative minds do their best work. I can鈥檛 wait to see what trends and innovations are incubating right now, waiting to reveal themselves.

is a cloud-based, open that helps organizations find, engage, manage, pay, and unlock value from the external workforce — anywhere in the world. It enables you to proactively manage everything from costs and compliance to security and quality of work. Stay ahead of the competition by leveraging a connected ecosystem of global talent and partners.

Vish Baliga is chief technology officer for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

Fast-forward to today and we are still witnessing the ongoing effect of the pandemic wreaking havoc worldwide with widespread supply chain disruption, the “Great Resignation,” and variants continuing to cause uncertainty.

In 2020 we saw panic buying leading to toilet paper shortages; this year we鈥檙e grappling with the impact of the microchip shortage in the automotive and high tech industries. And for those of us who didn鈥檛 start holiday shopping before Halloween, we may not see our gifts arrive until the new year. On top of this, every industry from restaurants and retail to manufacturing and logistics are struggling to fill vacant jobs to meet growing business demand as COVID-19 restrictions continue to evolve.

On the bright side, companies are continuing to rebound and are looking for solutions to manage their ongoing sourcing, supply chain and labor challenges. We asked our global leaders for their perspective on what to watch for in 2022. Here鈥檚 what they had to say.

鈥淭he impact of the pandemic-driven lockdowns underscores how the global economy is a networked economy. Companies know that no business does business alone — success depends not only on one company鈥檚 ability to deliver, but the abilities of all companies in its entire supply chain. To adapt to ever-changing business challenges, procurement and supply chain leaders will increasingly look to cloud-based and network-aware solutions to deliver the innovation they need to continually align their spend strategy to their business strategy.鈥�

鈥�听, president, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, 麻豆原创

鈥淐logged cargo ports, backlogged rail yards, microchip and gas shortages: 18 months later and we are still feeling the economic aftershocks of the disruption brought on by COVID-19. We had hoped that business would get back to 鈥榥ormal鈥� in 2021. As we enter a new year, we realize that 鈥榙isruption is the new normal鈥� and resilience is a top priority. In 2022, companies need to formalize resilience, building sustainable supply chain execution that supports business growth. Despite the volatility, organizations must take a step back and look at spend holistically. An integrated spend management approach spanning procurement, external workforce and travel and expense management, will provide customers with the visibility and agility they need to adapt to changes in their markets while continuing to drive their business objectives.鈥�

鈥�听, chief marketing and solutions officer,
Intelligent Spend and Business Network, 麻豆原创

鈥淚t has been nearly two years since the pandemic began wreaking havoc on the world鈥檚 businesses, exposing the fragility of linear supply chains and the need for a more networked economy. During this time, many businesses have changed their view of procurement from cost watchdog to that of a strategic enabler. As we enter 2022, many procurement leaders are tasked with aligning every spend decision to their overall corporate strategies. To best deliver on this responsibility, these professionals will need an integrated view of total spend across the enterprise and deep into their supply chain. This level of visibility will enable the necessary information sharing and collaboration needed to contribute to stronger business benefits, including better inventory management, more predictable lead times, alternative sources of supply, stronger supplier compliance, and, of course, continued cost savings.鈥�

鈥�听, chief revenue officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, 麻豆原创

鈥淎s global markets continue to face unprecedented labor shortages across industries, businesses will see an increased need to master external workforce management and maximize talent utilization. Tapping into contingent workers and service providers will continue to gain momentum beyond the pandemic as businesses are realizing the benefits: improved productivity, agility and resilience, reduced costs, increased access to quality talent, and flexibility. With an estimated 70% of executives anticipating they will hire more temporary workers and freelancers over the next two years, external workforce will remain a top priority across organizations. With this comes the need for leaders to have complete visibility into their usage of external workforce to make more calculated, timely decisions about who is doing the work, at what cost, where, and for how long. Digitalizing and automating external workforce management processes and improving visibility will help companies reduce inefficiencies and gain the most value out of its flexible resources.鈥�

鈥�听, chief technology officer, , 麻豆原创

鈥淭his has been the year of supply chain disruption. People who have never heard the term supply chain before are now talking about it as everyone is experiencing stock shortages in stores and lack of availability of the holiday gifts we had planned to buy. Recent events like COVID-19 and Brexit have shown that traditional, linear, fragmented supply chains no longer work, and no business can do business alone. Companies will look to move beyond enterprise-centric systems toward those that are designed for cross-company transparency and collaboration. A digital network approach can transform fragmented supply chains into unified, collaborative, intelligent networks for supply, logistics, asset management, and service. With tighter collaboration between trading partners on a trusted network, companies can better anticipate shifts in supply and demand, deepening their competitive edge in the face of profound disruption.鈥�

鈥�听, senior vice president and head of Business Network, 麻豆原创

鈥淚f 2021 has taught us anything, it is that even the best of predictions failed to anticipate some of the challenges the world has seen. What did occur though was that procurement organizations moved away from simply managing and optimizing processes to becoming pivotal in solving critical business problems. In 2022 procurement professionals should be bold in embracing this mandate and propose solutions that help companies navigate troubled, uncertain waters. Creative procurement solutions can address some of the biggest challenges businesses continue to face today: managing supply shortages, rethinking a globalized supply chain, leaning on a vibrant external workforce in the face of the ‘Great Resignation,’ and focusing on working capital at a time of increasing global inflation. Let鈥檚 be bold and re-define traditional paradigms to tackle these challenges.鈥�

鈥�听, head of Market and Solution Strategy, Procurement Solutions, 麻豆原创

鈥淏y now, it鈥檚 fair to assume that all the big gains to make the internal combustion engine more efficient have already taken place. There will always be a place for it in our world, but to make impactful change at this point a bigger pivot is needed, for example, to electric vehicles. I think about automated expense reporting in a similar way. Technology providers can spend increasing amounts of resources to make incremental gains, but a big pivot is needed to usher in the next wave of efficiency and innovation. That big pivot is a shift to settlement. Creating an expense report is never the ultimate goal; the goal is to settle payments for employee-initiated spend. While the expense report isn鈥檛 going away any time soon, more innovation will lead to bigger improvements in capturing, processing, and verifying expenses, driven by increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence. With this pivot, we will shrink and evaporate expense reports, with a subset of expenses moving to automated settlement and skipping the traditional expense report process entirely.鈥�

鈥� , senior vice president and 麻豆原创 Concur solution area leader, 麻豆原创
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鈥淪ustainability and social responsibility are some of the most pressing issues we鈥檙e dealing with today. The recent 听(COP26) brought representatives from nearly 200 countries together in the fight against climate change. Individuals and businesses alike must heed the urgent call to make drastic changes to help the environment and to stick to ethical principles. I believe that procurement can play an essential role in leading the charge to create a long-term strategy that embeds sustainable and ethical factors in the process from start to finish. While new and emerging solutions are on the horizon to enable these long-term plans, leaders will look to their digital procurement solutions in use today to support environmental, social, and governance goals like reducing carbon emissions or banning child labor. Over the next few years, we鈥檒l see further investment in core procurement technology to help businesses achieve more than just operational efficiencies and cost savings, but also to drive risk mitigation and increased visibility into the supply base and supply chain processes to achieve ESG goals.鈥�

鈥�听, senior vice president and chief product officer,
Procurement Solutions, 麻豆原创

鈥淟istening to understand customers鈥� business operations, goals, and expectations is the foundation to building a relationship as a trusted advisor. We have moved well beyond traditional inside-out views of a customer鈥檚 situation and transactional sales cycles toward outcome-focused experiences. With the lingering disruption and chaos caused by the pandemic, siloed approaches of solving problems reactively are no longer good enough. Especially as companies are embracing the cloud to increase innovation and propel their digital transformation journeys. Next year we will continue to see many more instances of agile customer-led engagements across channels. These will connect all interactions into an end-to-end solution that addresses customers鈥� holistic spending needs from procurement to managing an external workforce to capturing travel and expense.鈥�

— , Global Procurement Success partner, 麻豆原创

To learn more about our 2022 predictions, follow 麻豆原创 Ariba on Linkedin and join our upcoming Linkedin Live with Etosha Thurman and John Wookey along with Hackett Group Analyst Kurt Albertson on Wednesday, December 15, at 11:00 am ET. .

Gratitude shapes the perspective we all need to evaluate what truly matters most in our lives. Typically, it鈥檚 the people around us. At home and in our communities, we cherish our family and friends. In the workplace, meanwhile, it鈥檚 our colleagues and customers who cheer on each other鈥檚 successes and reinforce a sense of shared purpose.

For businesses grappling with the disruption associated with COVID-19 since last year, that shared purpose has been put to the test. Amid fractured supply chains, logjammed seaports, and uneven public health measures, an agile workforce has often meant the difference between maintaining operational continuity and falling short on promises made to customers. Business leaders seeking to extend competitive advantage in these uncertain times have had to rethink how to recruit and retain an agile workforce and 鈥� just as importantly 鈥� how to manage it to sow customer success.

In nearly every instance I鈥檝e observed since the coronavirus crisis began, businesses that adapt successfully to rapid shifts in supply and demand have relied on the contributions of highly skilled external talent, ranging from contingent labor and independent contractors to freelancers, consultants, and temporary staff. These non-traditional workers supplement the skills of their traditional counterparts by lending organizations the flexibility they need to instill resilience, ride out labor shortages, and come out stronger on the other side of the pandemic.

Just as external workers have proved crucial to enabling businesses to take steps toward recovery, cloud-based technologies have become increasingly essential to providing the visibility needed to manage these workers effectively. Research that external labor accounts for 42% of workforce spend overall. But even though 70% of business leaders indicate they use digital platforms for services procurement, only half as many turn to technology to help manage their contingent workforce. Thus, nearly two in three business leaders fail to capture significant value created by these vital workers. Yet the need to reap maximum value from them remains acute, particularly as COVID-19-related disruption tightens its grip on supply chains across many regions and industries.

Performance unmeasured equals value untapped and, ultimately, ambitions unrealized. Customer satisfaction typically rises or falls in direct relation to an organization鈥檚 agility and responsiveness to the accelerating pace of change. That鈥檚 why the external workforce is so consequential to strengthening operational interdependencies. It鈥檚 also why cloud-based platforms for managing this pool of talent deepen the resilience of businesses and their customers alike, even as ongoing disruption bears down on both. Visibility into the engagements of the external workforce 鈥� as well as into other core, increasingly integrated operational processes 鈥� improves an organization鈥檚 predictive capabilities, restores regularity to its trading patterns, and augments its ability to meet or exceed customer expectations.

For nearly two years, the external workforce has played an indispensable role in keeping commerce flowing 鈥� and customers satisfied 鈥� across all industries. Some of the most vivid examples include those associated with infrastructure critical to us all: the nurse practitioner who, pulling a double shift, renders aid to the ill and lends comfort to anxious loved ones; the truck driver who, passing fewer open petrol stations than there used to be, replenishes remote grocers with fresh produce; the safety engineer who, after reminding her children to turn in their homework online, works the night shift at the nuclear plant to ensure the lights stay on for millions.

As we raise a glass this holiday season, acknowledging the many people in our midst for whom we鈥檙e grateful, let鈥檚 be sure to include a special word of thanks for the external workers who鈥檝e made our lives fuller, safer, and healthier 鈥� and for the technologies that magnify the favorable outcomes of their sacrifice on behalf of us all.

Thomas Bamberger is president of 麻豆原创 Customer Experience & Engagement.

Hundreds more companies also renewed licenses and went live with solutions from 麻豆原创 to optimize spend management.

麻豆原创 maintains the largest share of the procurement applications software market, according to the recently published 鈥溾�� report.* IDC estimates听that 麻豆原创鈥檚 market share has grown to听32.8%, maintaining its position of having the largest share of the market 鈥� more than the next 11 vendors combined.

IDC Vice President of Enterprise Applications and Digital Commerce Mickey North Rizza said, 鈥溌槎乖� clients have told us collectively that they have chosen 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for the extensive benchmarking across industries and spend categories and integration with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. They also love the guided buying experience in the 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions. Many others have told us 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions have helped improve their services procurement processes for engagement with consulting firms, marketing agencies, field services, maintenance and business process outsourcing.鈥� According to the report, IDC estimates that the market has grown 5.4% to $6.2 billion in 2020 alone.

Ongoing shifts and imbalances in supply and demand have led companies across geographies and industries to recognize how critical digitalizing operations is to procuring goods and services and keeping the global economy running.

鈥淩ight now, business leaders are recognizing the power of procurement and flexible workforces to help them achieve more than just cost savings,鈥� said Etosha Thurman, Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e believe our market leadership is one of the reasons why they are turning to 麻豆原创 to help increase agility and reduce risk in a world where supply and demand is volatile, disruption is expected and risk in various forms is more pervasive than ever before.鈥�

Highlights from the third quarter include:

Grupo KUO, a Mexican industrial conglomerate, selected 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions for contingent workforce management. By digitalizing and automating its processes for sourcing, hiring and managing external talent, the company aims to comply with Mexico鈥檚 recent labor outsourcing regulation while also improving the experience for its workers and talent suppliers.

Mubadala Investment Company, a global investment group based in the United Arab Emirates and owner of the Acelen oil refinery in Brazil, has chosen 麻豆原创 to support its growth strategy. Acelen will adopt the RISE with 麻豆原创 offering, combining 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, and the 麻豆原创 Analytics solution to unify operations under one robust platform. In addition, cloud-based 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Concur, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions will help transform spend management and total workforce management so Acelen can maximize savings and deliver a better human experience for all workers.

The Palace Resorts hotel chain in Mexico has selected RISE with 麻豆原创 to support its IT strategy of digitalizing business processes in the cloud. The hospitality group also chose 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to help transform its procurement function and improve the buying experience and collaboration with its suppliers.

Petrobras, the Brazilian energy company, is accelerating its digital transformation with 麻豆原创. Taking a phased approach following the adoption of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, this quarter the company went live with 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for guided buying and catalogs to help improve its procurement and supply chain processes and provide a better user experience for employees and suppliers.

Siemens Energy AG, based in Munich, Germany, is focused on shaping the energy transition worldwide to help protect the climate while meeting growing energy demand with its strong and resilient portfolio. It selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to help improve, harmonize and automate procurement operations across the organization.

Waters Corporation, the Massachusetts-based analytical laboratory instrument and software company, selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions 鈥� after a highly competitive evaluation and selection process 鈥� to help digitally transform its supply chain and improve its procurement operations with standardized and automated processes. Connecting to a digital network and aligning stakeholders and trading partners to a common plan will help Waters gain real-time visibility to anticipate and respond to changes in demand more quickly and orchestrate its multitier supply chain more effectively, with the goal of improving inventory management, customer service and on-time shipments.

Zijin Mining is one of China鈥榮 largest gold mining companies. To support its rapid global expansion, the company selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to help improve the transparency, intelligence and compliance of its procurement system, strengthen group governance, and meet different procurement requirements around the world.

For more information, visit the听麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at听.

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as a sustainable intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 麻豆原创 customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into sustainable intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit听.

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*鈥淚DC Worldwide Procurement Applications Software Market Shares, 2020: Digital Became the New Normal鈥澨齬eport听(Doc #听US47984421,听August听2021).
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
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鈥淐ompanies need an integrated, holistic system that brings information together in a unified way for greater visibility across operations,鈥� said Chris Willcocks, vice president and head of Intelligent Spend Management at 麻豆原创听ANZ. 鈥淭hey can monitor, measure, and manage the entire contractor engagement life cycle in real-time to ensure that procurement and health and safety policies and processes are consistently enforced. In an environment where human lives are at risk and unplanned shutdowns can cost millions per day, doing this right is absolutely critical.鈥�

Balance External Workforce Safety with Productivity

Research from an conducted in collaboration with 麻豆原创 Fieldglass showed that, across all industries, 42% of workforce spend is on external labor. What鈥檚 more, industries like mining, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals, and heavy manufacturing typically average higher percentages of contingent workers as part of their overall workforce population. The trouble is, external workers often face additional time pressures, potentially increasing safety risks.

Findings from FEFO Consulting鈥檚 confirmed this challenge. The index benchmarked feedback about safety, engagement, leadership, and systems from over 200,000 respondents in asset-intensive companies primarily based in ANZ. Compared to employees, contract workers were 24% likelier to feel pressured to compromise safety to complete a job and 10% likelier to have seen colleagues compromise safety for the sake of shortcuts.

鈥淓xternal workforces often consist of short-term labor that鈥檚 expected to carry out complex, specialized work at speed as they interact with numerous stakeholders,鈥� said Mark Wright, managing director at FEFO Consulting. 鈥淚n driving a high-performance culture, don鈥檛 put productivity before safety. That leads to a culture of rushing to get the job done, as opposed to looking after your workmates and coming home safely.鈥�

Minimize Risk with Tech and Culture Change

Asset-intensive industries face growing regulatory pressure in Australia. Industrial manslaughter laws and punishments can amount to fines in the tens of millions with executive liability that could mean lengthy imprisonment. To prevent incidents, Wright recommended a combination of technology innovations plus workforce culture change.

鈥淭ake a pragmatic, risk-based approach by focusing on compliance requirements that will actually add value. Apply technology to simplify, gain efficiencies, and improve the user experience,鈥� said Wright. 鈥淢ake culture changes by setting clear expectations that balance safety before production. Recognize positive performance and create a great experience so external workers can easily follow processes and model behaviors that meet both compliance and productivity objectives.鈥�

Digitalization for Business Results

To operate safely and efficiently, asset-intensive industries need to capture and understand mountains of data that reflect workforce activities spanning recruitment, hiring, and daily on-site performance. For many organizations, has profitable business impact.

A global mining company with major operations in Australia increased workforce visibility, process efficiencies, and cost savings by integrating 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions with its core 麻豆原创 ERP system. The company improved regulatory compliance across external workforce processes, from engagement through offboarding. Supervisors reduced their workload significantly by eliminating time-consuming administrative steps such as service entry sheets for the external workforce. They also saved costs by having one consistent system for worker types and rate cards.

Pandemic-Era Business Resilience

Although the pandemic didn鈥檛 hurt Australia as much as other harder-hit countries, remotely located industries were affected due to their heavy reliance on a more transient workforce. These people often travel across state borders within Australia or fly in from other regions of the world. Earlier lockdowns contained the pandemic鈥檚 spread but restricted the flow of contingent workers.

鈥淭he smartest organizations have learned from the pandemic鈥檚 challenges. They鈥檙e looking at risk beyond likelihood and consequence to consider the velocity and speed of how major risks can impact them,鈥� said Willcocks. 鈥淔or example, we just launched , a solution designed for asset-intensive industries. Companies can quickly assign large volumes of workers by task, tracking and managing spend for complex plant maintenance scenarios and, most importantly, helping to ensure health and safety compliance.鈥�

External Workforce Brings Innovation Opportunities

The pandemic鈥檚 speedy, devastating impact is now kindling innovation. Wright urged organizations to move beyond purely compliance-based external workforce selection and management and consider new ways suppliers can add value.

鈥淚nstead of asking your external workforce suppliers hundreds of questions about their risk and injury statistics during pre-qualification and annual reviews, ask targeted questions on how they think you can innovate,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f someone can improve your safety with innovations, that will help you quickly adapt to fast-moving threats.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.

Centralizing and standardizing contingent workforce management has enabled Red Hat to enhance processes and increase visibility into spend for better talent decision-making. Since the rollout of the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass application, Red Hat has lowered its costs and increased compliance for managing its in North America by adhering to market rates and regulations.

鈥淭o be the top provider of enterprise open source solutions in the industry, you need a workforce that鈥檚 specialized yet flexible, adaptable and open to growing with you,鈥� said Jennifer Dudeck, senior vice president, chief people officer, Red Hat. 鈥淥ur contingent workforce is a major contributor to our innovation and growth. Our work with Monument Consulting and the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass application has enabled us to improve the visibility and value of our contingent workforce, helping us access top talent, accelerate hiring and streamline onboarding, all while reducing costs.鈥�

As an open source leader, Red Hat鈥檚 community-powered approach is central to its business, evident in both its culture and the solutions it delivers to customers. Its contingent workers play a key role in the company鈥檚 operations and success. They fulfill a variety of roles, from program and project managers who lead large enterprise projects to marketing specialists with specific campaign experience.

Red Hat historically relied on manual processes across multiple staffing vendors to source and manage the highly skilled contingent workers it needed. To maximize the value of its contingent workforce program, Red Hat needed to increase visibility into spending, headcount and quality of work while also standardizing processes across its North American operations. The company selected 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management to do that. Monument Consulting, Red Hat鈥檚 managed services provider, helped roll out the solution in just 90 days.

Enabled by the cloud-based 麻豆原创 Fieldglass application, Red Hat鈥檚 innovative and industry-leading approach to managing contingent labor includes:

• Speed and efficiency integrating and assimilating contingent workers. The application allows for faster hiring and better access to top talent with streamlined interviews, onboarding and offboarding, resulting in a better experience for candidates and hiring managers and improved workforce planning.
• Greater visibility of contingent worker spend. Red Hat consolidated and streamlined its disparate contingent workforce management processes, including supplier management and payments.
• Increased capabilities for future global expansion. The data and workflow integration provides a highly configurable solution with a wide range of functionality and features, including the consistent implementation of local tax and employment regulations across locations.
• Comprehensive data and reporting tools. Equipped with real-time data and embedded analytics, Red Hat has enhanced its contingent workforce management in North America and is realizing cost savings from its staffing supplier network.

鈥淭he way we work is changing, and Red Hat is proving to be at the leading edge of that evolution,鈥� said 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Chief Technology Officer Vish Baliga. 鈥淭he company, well known for its community-driven approach to innovation, understands that to achieve its full potential, it must adapt to the unique demands of the contingent labor market and innovate with it to better engage highly sought-after talent. Red Hat now has a digital external workforce management platform that can efficiently grow with its business as it continues to advance open source technology around the world.鈥�

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 麻豆原创 system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit

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Red Hat and the Red Hat logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
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鈥淲e have seen significant growth this quarter with companies around the world continuing to prioritize improving their spend management operations,鈥� said John Wookey, president of 麻豆原创 Intelligent Spend and Business Network. 鈥淏y modernizing and digitalizing critical business processes across procurement and external workforce management, our customers are gaining visibility and insights that enable them to control costs, reduce risk and drive innovation and growth for their businesses.鈥�

Highlights from the quarter include:

Alcon Vision, the Fort Worth, Texas鈥揵ased company, is a global leader in eye care, specializing in surgical medical devices and nonsurgical vision care products. Alcon selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for sourcing and procurement for direct and indirect materials. The company also selected the Qualtrics XM for Suppliers solution to help build stronger and more collaborative relationships with suppliers. With a new and improved intuitive source-to-pay experience, Alcon aims to foster simplicity, speed and user-friendly buying services with increased data transparency and compliance.

Refrigeration and air conditioning technology manufacturer BITZER SE has implemented the 麻豆原创 Ariba Buying solution with guided buying capability to help streamline and digitalize its procurement operations. With the 麻豆原创 Ariba solution, BITZER, based in Sindelfingen, Germany, aims to drive a more efficient, paperless, transparent process from sourcing to payment as it expands globally.

The Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for sourcing, contracts, buying and invoicing, and commerce automation to modernize its statewide procurement system with a cloud-based solution. DMS plans to standardize and automate procurement processes across the State of Florida, increase spend visibility and control, and enhance savings statewide.

Aligned with its innovation and sustainability strategy, Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. de C.V., one of the largest financial holdings companies in Mexico, continues its procurement transformation with the renewal of 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions. By further digitalizing its procurement processes and strengthening its supply lifecycle management automation, Banorte will help improve the experience of more than 21,000 suppliers while enhancing process efficiency and spend compliance.

Molson Coors made a strategic investment in 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to help modernize its global procurement operations, building on its implementation of the 麻豆原创 Ariba Contracts solution and adding the 麻豆原创 Ariba Buying and Invoicing solution with commerce automation capabilities. With the new solutions integrated with its multiple ERP infrastructure, the company, headquartered in Golden, Colorado, and Montreal, Canada, intends to standardize on best practices from source to pay, improve efficiency in supplier relationship management and minimize risk.

Promigas SA ESP, a leading Colombian provider of natural gas, has selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for digital procurement as it continued its transformation journey with 麻豆原创. Building on its existing transportation management system based on 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, Promigas will adopt the cloud-based 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to help standardize and automate its procurement processes, increase purchasing efficiencies and reduce costs and risks.

Roca Sanitario SA, a global leader in bathroom equipment, selected 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for strategic sourcing, buying, commerce automation and supply chain collaboration. The Spanish company will adopt the digital to help improve, standardize and automate spend management processes across the organization. The company expects to increase visibility into spend and supplier performance to optimize costs and operational efficiencies.

For more information, visit the听麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at听.

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 麻豆原创 system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit .

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For customers interested in learning more about 麻豆原创 products:
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Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
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The solution simplifies assigning and managing work projects across multiple workers and variable pay rates, enabling operations managers to quickly deploy assignments, minimize downtime and maximize return on investment.

Companies in asset-intensive industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, utilities and mining rely heavily on contractors to perform ad hoc maintenance and project work. These external workers are often assigned simultaneously to multiple projects. But each project may be managed individually under separate contracts, often across disparate systems. This makes it difficult to find and deploy the right resources with the right skills for each job, pay those hourly workers on time while enforcing contract compliance, and track hours and costs against purchase orders, cost centers and work orders.

鈥溌槎乖� is providing a solution on a single platform on which companies can manage the complexity of multiple projects with several contractors under one supplier agreement,鈥� said Mickey North Rizza, IDC Program Vice President of Enterprise Applications and Digital Commerce. 鈥淭his solution limits up-front sourcing for every project and reduces overall supply agreements while extending information into the manufacturing operation systems and ERP.鈥�

External labor accounts for 42% of total workforce spend, according to a recent report by 麻豆原创 and Oxford Economics. Although 55% of the executives surveyed said that their company would be unable to conduct business as usual without an external workforce, many organizations lack visibility and insight into this large, strategic spend category. The 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Assignment Management solution helps provide transparency, flexibility and control with a single interface to simplify how organizations manage contractors deployed on an as-needed basis within gated facilities.

鈥淎s the portion of business spend on external labor grows, companies need full transparency into their external workforce operations,鈥� said 麻豆原创 Fieldglass General Manager Arun Srinivasan. 鈥溌槎乖� Fieldglass Assignment Management enables organizations to better control their costs with a highly configurable, integrated tool. Businesses in asset-intensive industries can be confident that highly skilled contractors have access to the right facilities to complete the critical maintenance work while ensuring billing is done accurately and labor regulations, including worker safety, are followed.鈥�

Already an industry leader in external workforce management, 麻豆原创 is responding to customer demands with the release of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Assignment Management to empower organizations with:

• Visibility to improve cost control and results. Pay rules help manage compliance at the contract and location level, and businesses can track standard time and overtime on a daily basis.
• Flexibility to increase speed and productivity. Integration with gate pass systems and embedded smart logic help ensure more accurate calculation of working time with fewer errors, enabling organizations to help keep their maintenance crews and operations running smoothly to minimize downtime and disruptions.
• Confidence to manage compliance and security risks. Better tracking and management of work assignments help ensure contractors have access to the proper facilities and that on- and offboarding are standardized across workers. This helps to mitigate risk and increase compliance with local labor regulations.

To learn more about 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Assignment Management, visit .

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 麻豆原创 system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit . From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from 麻豆原创 TV.

For customers interested in learning more about 麻豆原创 products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1麻豆原创 (1-800-872-1727)

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Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
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With the growing complexity of business processes and the need to minimize risk in times of economic uncertainty, 麻豆原创 customers require future-proofed technologies that can support their unique needs.

Global procurement is complicated. Each day, more and more 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass customers are turning to application extension partners to add value and achieve efficiencies at each stage of their source-to-pay process. 麻豆原创 evaluates and certifies these third-party solutions to help ensure they complement existing 麻豆原创 solutions for procurement and extend functionality beyond core 麻豆原创 offerings.

For enterprises committed to digital transformation, application extension partners fill the gaps created by company, industry, or geography-specific requirements. Each partner brings its own unique blend of expertise, skills, and services to deliver solutions 麻豆原创 customers need. They enhance customer experiences by speeding time to value and the delivery of innovations across the entire procurement portfolio.

Compliance and Risk Management

The global supply chain compliance landscape is more dynamic today than ever before. As companies continue to focus on compliance and reducing supply chain risk, there is a greater demand for visibility and transparency, communication and collaboration, and compliant business execution. Application extension partners deliver solutions to help identify, assess, and control risks arising from operational factors. Using key performance indicators (KPIs) and predictive analytics, customers can make better decisions that balance risk with any associated benefits.

Analytics and Intelligence

The increase in the amount of data available has opened doors to new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Application extension partners extend and accelerate the output of these intelligent technologies to help 麻豆原创 customers make better business decisions. For example, AI and machine learning are used to support the extraction and analysis of key terms, clauses, and entities from various contracts, which allows users to locate contract terms quickly, aggregate ongoing contact intelligence, and address concerns about lawsuits or data breaches.

Efficiency and Savings

Effective supply chain management is crucial to long-term business growth. Organizations are thinking more strategically about spend 鈥� investing in spend management strategies that not only identify new areas for savings but also create revenue-driving opportunities. They are also taking a closer look at business processes to understand those that work well and those that do not, which can lead to compliance problems or increased costs. Application extension partners offer solutions that empower finance, lines of business, and procurement leaders to do their jobs more effectively by providing visibility into business processes and spending.

External Workforce Management

To thrive in the digital economy, organizations are increasingly leveraging external talent. Many of the skills needed to compete in today鈥檚 ever-changing business environment are not available in the traditional workforce market. Moreover, many organizations struggle with how to find and source the right talent and how to manage the full life cycle of that talent. Application extension partners offer solutions that provide access to unique talent groups, improve employee experience, offer total workforce visibility,听and streamline project and investment tracking for听projects听that utilize contingent labor.

The 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass ecosystem of application extension partners is growing. 麻豆原创 is committed to supporting partners as they invest in additional areas of innovation to bring our customers the unique solutions necessary for success in the digital economy.

Learn more about application extension partners and browse available solutions on .

Bob Baker is global vice president, Application Extension Partners, 麻豆原创 Procurement.

With the company鈥檚 extensive experience constructing IT systems, Kobelco Systems responds to its customers鈥� diverse needs by providing integrated, comprehensive solutions that are optimized for each client from planning down to operation. While the number of customer requests for IT system projects has increased rapidly, Kobelco Systems has faced personnel shortages because of the rising severity of contract terms with the company鈥檚 supplier partners and the competition for top talent in the IT industry overall.

In light of these challenges, Kobelco Systems increasingly relies on the external workforce, including contingent workers like independent contractors and services providers like IT outsourcers. To help increase productivity and reduce risk, Kobelco Systems needed a solution that provided visibility into all external workers and enabled active management of this key workforce segment. The company implemented 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions in late 2019 to satisfy these requirements.

By adopting 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions and streamlining its external workforce management, Kobelco Systems plans to:

• Standardize processes for increased efficiency in sourcing, managing and paying external workers as well as stronger compliance to regulations
• Have clear and credible insight into various data points, including occupational categories, departments, costs, project durations, contract terms and performance evaluations for better decision-making and workforce planning
• Grow an external talent pool of IT project personnel who can be matched to future work assignments with greater efficiency based on skills, cost and quality of past projects

Based on its successful rollout, Kobelco Systems intends to help other 麻豆原创 Fieldglass customers with their implementation projects.

Visit the and the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
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Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2020 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Healthcare, food, manufacturing, logistics, and retail are among the hardest hit industries, struggling to find people who can quickly come up to speed. From keeping supermarket shelves stocked with food to retrofitting factories that can quickly churn out PPE equipment, the challenges are mind boggling.

To find out more, I reached out to Arun Srinivasan, general manager at 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, after watching him in a event session. Srinivasan talked with customer Lisa Zak, director of Indirect Supply Management for Human Resources (HR) and Contingent Labor at Medtronic, a global medical technology company with more than 85,000 employees worldwide.

鈥淭he supply and demand equation in markets worldwide is so dynamic, and being disrupted so significantly, that practices considered the norm one week ago 鈥� in some cases, days or hours ago 鈥� are no longer valid,鈥� Srinivasan said. 鈥淐ompanies are adapting talent sourcing channels to quickly get the right external workers they need to the right places while also managing risk. We are seeing a tremendous uptick in activity volume in certain sectors, including healthcare and retail.鈥�

Most urgently, hospitals are adding traveling nurses, technicians, ER-certified staff, and outpatient management staff. Food suppliers need more pickers, packers, warehouse workers, and drivers to get food to communities.

Widespread Staffing Disruption

The cascading impact of COVID-19 is causing havoc with staffing supply and demand just about everywhere. With mandatory shutdowns, remote workers need higher levels of network connectivity, more IT, and other equipment 鈥� not to mention set-up help and ongoing support while they are at home. The airline industry may be effectively shut down for fun trips, but millions of call center staffers are working remotely to help would-be travelers navigate restrictions that have left many in limbo 鈥� whether they鈥檙e stranded or at home, worrying about booked itineraries.

In certain industries, worker mobility is another huge challenge for organizations that are trying to shore up staffing levels. For example, the pandemic鈥檚 impact varies across states, provinces, and countries. For all those companies looking to hire external workers, travel restrictions might force them to compete for people in smaller local talent populations. Worker health and well-being is just as important when it comes to travel.

鈥淥ur customers want to make sure they are exercising caution and appropriately tracking the movement of external workers,鈥� Srinivasan said. 鈥淏efore bringing these workers on board, and as they move between worksites, organizations want to conduct health checks, protecting the health and safety of the broader workforce as well. At any point in time, it鈥檚 important for companies to have a holistic view of workforce spend for faster response and accurate planning.鈥�

Communication during this crisis is also paramount. This includes contingent workers and service providers who represent 42 percent of workforce spend according to conducted before the pandemic. With more visibility into the external workforce, Srinivasan said that 麻豆原创 Fieldglass customers are staying in touch with all workers as consequential health and safety notifications spike.

Pandemic Sparks External Workforce New Normal

Staffing agencies, consulting companies, freelancers, and others have long been part of the modern talent pool. In the same research from Oxford Economics, almost 60 percent of executives said the external workforce helped them compete in a digital world. In addition, 74 percent of executives reported that the external workforce was critical to operating at full capacity. One question is how COVID-19 and its aftermath will change workforce norms even more.

鈥淪takeholders in HR and procurement had begun to fundamentally rethink how work gets done with a combination of traditional employees and external workers,鈥� Srinivasan explained. 鈥淣ow there鈥檚 a greater need to build elasticity in the workforce so organizations can ramp up quickly, supplementing the existing employee base through various sources of talent when demand grows.鈥�

He added that many organizations, pressured by the pandemic, have changed how they balance control and efficiency. Some have found that it makes sense to fast-track hiring processes for external workers while following company guidelines and legal regulations.

Workforce Management in Post-Pandemic World

While it is too early to predict what will happen as COVID-19 recedes, more organizations will likely realize the strategic value of external workers.

鈥淚n times of crisis, having a solid external workforce strategy that complements your broader workforce approach is what helps companies thrive in the best of cases, and survive during challenging times,鈥� Srinivasan said. 鈥淚n this fast-evolving market, companies are finding strategic ways to differentiate. Eventually, organizations will look at their entire talent pool to find the best people for the job. One thing is certain: The way work gets done has forever changed.鈥�

Follow me: @smgaler

.