Having the right people in place is key to success within any organization, but particularly so within the IT world. The right people can make the difference between an IT department being constantly reactive addressing fires and crises and an IT department that has the ability to be proactive and strategic to help meet the ongoing needs of the organization. And one of the keys to this is the right people—not just anyone to fill the role. Just having a position filled (either permanently or as consulting) might seem very desirable, but it's critical to have the correct people, something we all have experienced. We've all been there and have seen when this doesn't work, when a person was clearly the wrong person for the role, and how difficult it becomes for everyone. This is where a strong staffing company can help and provide value.
When looking to bring on people with your IT organization there are a few different ways to approach finding the right people: hire them or use consultants. If you hire them, you can either do that internally, or you can use an outside staffing company to find the right people. If you are looking for consultants, you can consider a solution provider or a staffing company.
Obviously, there is a bit of a distinction between and VAR/Solution Provider and a staffing company, so why do I group them together? A VAR/Solution Provider would typically provide you with resources that come off of their own bench which can potentially be more expensive than resources provided by a Staffing organization. A Staffing organization typically provides resources either on a full-time (permanent placement) or consulting basis hourly, or contract to perm, with the resource starting as a consultant billing on an hourly basis and then bring hired on permanently with a fee for placement, decreasing the longer they stay on as a consultant.
But here's the thing: A VAR/Solution Provider in conjunction with a Staffing company can provide a lot more value to an organization looking for IT help and resources than just one or the other. This can particularly true if the staffing company is part of that solution provider. This is one of those instances where we feel that the whole can be more valuable than just the sum of the parts.
How so? Let me explain:
Using ourselves as an example, Vicom is a 32 year old solution provider/VAR that has had a Staffing organization as part of us for the past 15 years. Our Staffing organization is not just a separate division that fills staffing jobs and placements silo'd from the rest of the organization. Because the Staffing organization is part of a larger VAR organization that provides services and solutions, they work cohesively with all members of the organization to provide the best customer experience possible. Our staffing members routinely work with our technical teams to ensure that they people that they are considering for placement within our customers are technically strong in the areas that they purport to be. This has proven to be extremely valuable within our customers.
Our goal is that that we do not want to give an organization 10 resumes for candidates, we want to give them 3 of them. But all 3 are absolutely technically qualified to perform the work that is needed, because we've technically vetted them through our technical experts. We feel that a choice of 3 is better than 10. Then the organization needs to determine if they fit in in the culture of the organization, but they don't need to do that with 10 of them, only 3. It gives them piece of mind to know that we have technically evaluated and vetted them before they come across their desks for consideration.
Our ability to be able to bridge and combine the two (Staffing and VAR) is where this concept can be very valuable. This allows a Staffing organization to be much more valuable to the customers it serves. And since the staffing industry is very competitive, how can one stand out in the value that they provide to their customers? By bringing the value of a VAR to that staffing organization is how they can do that.
So when considering a Staffing organization, consider those that can bring you the most value possible and are not just "body shops" that provide lots of qualified resumes. Look for one that provides you what you need in holistic way.
Andy
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