This Spend Matters PRO Vendor Analysis provides an overview of MBO Partners and its solution for independent talent contracting and management.
Over the past decade many large enterprises have begun digging into their extended and external workforces to better understand who they are engaging, how they are engaging and how they can leverage external workers of all varieties to save costs, engage top talent for quality work and speed up project times. Three major types of external worker classification emerged during this time – contingent labor/staff augmentation, service/contract workers and independent/freelancers.
The introduction and adoption of Vendor Management Software (VMS) into major markets brought visibility, compliance and improved engagement for contingent labor. The further development of Statement of Work (SOW) modules within VMS solutions brought widespread desire to better see, manage and drive compliance in the contracts for services workers. These two areas have had strong development over the last couple of decades, with most large enterprises having solutions and programs in place to manage their contingent and service workers. But there remained a gap in the widespread tracking, compliance and management of the third, and most transient, group of external workers who perform “gig” and/or highly skilled project work – freelancers, independents and contractors.
For the coverage of independent and freelance workers there are solutions like Upwork and Fiverr that allow enterprises to find and engage this type of external labor, but there are a limited number of solutions on the market for recurring relationship and assignment management. This is where MBO Partners comes into the conversation. MBO Partners provides software and services in this historically difficult category of labor management. Unlike other major platforms in this space, MBO Partners is unique in that it provides a comprehensive solution for larger enterprises for engaging this type of talent with an intensive focus on accurate classification and compliance.
Here’s why MBO Partners Matters:
- To the market — MBO Partners provides a dual-sided platform both for independent contractors, freelancers and consultants to build and grow their independent businesses and for large enterprise companies to find, manage and retain independent contract talent.
- To customers — Large enterprise customers who want to better engage and manage their independent and freelance workers while driving compliance would benefit most from MBO Partners’ solution offerings and services. Highly skilled independents and freelancers that bill over $50 an hour who want to build stronger relationships with large enterprises would also benefit from MBO Partners’ solution offerings.
- To potential buyers — MBO Partners is the largest software provider in the notoriously difficult space of the US external labor market that caters to highly skilled independents and large enterprises looking to work with those independents. Its strong focus on independent classification and compliance brings more security to working with this labor class, which allows both independents and enterprise companies to do business quicker and cheaper.
This Spend Matters PRO Vendor Analysis explains what differentiates this vendor, gives an overview of its capabilities and competitors, provides tech selection tips and closes with key analyst takeaways.