OnForce

Onforce

During the recession, many businesses downsized; oftentimes more experienced, older technology workers were let go or had hours reduced. These tech workers, as others, looked to the gig economy to plug gaps in their income streams. Freelancers traditionally have found work through referrals or by creating their own websites and marketing their skills. As the economy began to recover and companies experienced growth, HR and hiring managers continued to control their permanent labor costs closely utilizing contingent workers far more than prior the recession. In addition, the fast pace of change in IT departments and in the tech sector created a need for employers to use the non-employee/extended workforce rather than hire permanent staff. 

Non-employee/extended workers have been procured by HR or hiring managers typically through staffing agencies, Statements of Work (SOWs) or consultants from recognized and approved vendors. Enterprise organizations have struggled using freelancers because by definition freelancers manage their own gigs, negotiate fees, schedules, type of work and this creates process and compliance issues for procurement departments. OneForce is one of the first Freelancer Management Systems (FMS). The FMS that OnForce developed focuses on creating a database of IT field talent, workers that have technical skills to do equipment repair, POS set up, consumer electronic troubleshooting, IT help desk etc. This database coupled with proprietary freelancer-to-gig 'matching' software enabled end users (employers) to find freelancing talent on their own. OnForce created a secure platform for IT field service workers to choose gigs and for companies to 'self-source' freelancers. Self sourcing is the ability to access, engage and negotiate directly with talent on contract work.

A couple of years ago OneForce was acquired by Beeline/IQN. Beeline/IQN is a Vendor Management System (VMS) focused on helping companies manage their entire non-employee/extended workforce. Beeline/IQN has integrated OnForce in their solution effectively creating the first self-sourcing solution for VMS. Amongst other capabilities, an enterprise organization can now have one digital infrastructure to seamlessly and securely source and pay freelancers and independent workers. This merger has enabled the broad capability of managing freelancers, as well as more traditional non-employee/extended workforce. 

RATINGS: 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.

Strength:  The revolutionary approach of combining a Freelancer Management System with a Vendor Management System and adding other partnerships to the mix such as the recently Hired (a career matching platform for technology workers) partnership with Beeline/IQN creates an incredibly efficient and innovative solution for businesses to identify talent, negotiate and engage directly with the extended workforce. 

Weakness: The main issue that emerges with OneForce (without Beeline/IQN) is the lack of pricing transparency. Since employers and freelancers negotiate directly it can lead to a wide range of pricing discrepancies for the same job, in the same geography with a similar freelancer experience level. It's like using Uber without a rate card. What you believe your 5 mile trip should cost may be very different from what market dictates. Larger companies and experienced freelancers will have data and prior knowledge to leverage in negotiations, but smaller organizations or freelancers starting out are bound to over pay or leave money on the table. 

Best Use: Leveraging the full-suite of solutions through Beeline/IQN including their Self-Sourcing platform (a.k.a OnForce) is an excellent solution for a large company. However, mid-sized and small companies can utilize OnForce on it's owns as well. System conversion/integration projects and IT services roll outs could be great opportunities to leverage freelancers. A mid sized business with a highly dispersed, remote salesforce could utilize freelance IT field workers to upgrade their sales tools or CRM for example at a much lower cost and shortly timeline than sending their own IT staff around the country.