FieldGlass: Adapting to Every Contingency, Part III

In Parts I and II we discussed all of the improvements FieldGlass has made to its contingent workforce management platform since SI first covered FieldGlass back in 2010, including its improved rate guidance, rate structure, job posting process and it’s new ask-an-expert recommendation engine and powerful timesheet module. Today we’re going to dive into FieldGlass’ new Statement of Work (SoW) module.

You’re probably wondering why SoW gets its own post, because, after all, isn’t a Statement of Work just a formal document that captures and defines the work activities, deliverables, and timeline of a project that can be attached as a PDF? Well, technically, yes, but from a usefulness point of view, no. The problem with SoWs is that they are not a static contract attachment but a living, breathing document, and process, that needs to change and adapt as circumstances change. Every time new information is discovered, resource availability changes, external events introduce delays, unexpected regulatory changes require new approvals or different materials, or requirements change for business reasons, the SoW needs to change. Moreover, in order to effectively manage a project governed by a SoW, hours and resource usage has to be tracked against the SoW, which has to be updated as needed for the tracking to be relevant.

To this end, FieldGlass has built a very powerful, and flexible, SoW that supports the entire project lifecycle from a worker and resource perspective because you can’t just manage the resources, you also have to manage the resources they need to do their jobs. Take construction projects for example, in addition to the digger, he will need a Digger Truck. The workers putting up the frame will need a crane. And so on. And, more importantly, this equipment will have to be inspected on a regular basis, typically every six months, to comply with safety regulations. The ability to track the resources, and their last inspection date, is not only important, but critical to minimizing costs. For example, one customer, that was unable to effectively track and access this inspection data on a project basis, was inspecting a machine every time it was assigned to a new project on a new site. Because some machines are only needed for a few months, it was doing almost three times as many inspections as it needed to, and for one machine which cost 25K an inspection, spending 125K to 150K a year when it only needed to spend 50K. These costs added up and this savings on its own more than paid for the FieldGlass solution.

The SOW is full-featured and supports not only a project description and a list of approved workers but also rates, fees, schedules, milestones, deliverables, resources, roles, and management events. Each worker can be associated with the appropriate rate structure, payment schedule, location, onboarding, and offboarding process. Each resource can be associated with it’s own schedule (for usage, maintenance, inspection, onboarding, and offboarding), fee structure, and payments. Deliverables can be added and modified as required, and reports can be set up to report on the amount paid to date, budget amount, etc. It’s quite powerful and quite useful as the full lifecycle of the project, worker, and resource has been taken into account, made fully visible to the reporting engine, and integrated in such a way that the appropriate information can be used in timesheets, job postings, etc.

The new FieldGlass Statement of Work functionality has the potential to transform the way you manage outsourced projects.

FieldGlass: Adapting to Every Contingency, Part II

Yesterday, in Part I, we outlined all of the improvements FieldGlass has made to its contingent workforce management platform since SI first covered FieldGlass back in 2010, and discussed in detail its improved rate guidance, rate structure, and job posting process. Today, in Part II, we will cover e-mail approvals, FieldGlass’ new Ask-an-Expert recommendation engine and its powerful timesheet module. Then, tomorrow, in Part III we’ll cover its new Statement of Work (SoW) support.

E-mail Approvals
While this is an “old-news” capability for many supply management platforms, what is surprising is just how much e-mail approvals accelerate the worker selection and approval process. Customers who implement e-mail approvals reduce their cycle time, on average, by 66%! A manager who may not log into the system every day is in her email (every working hour of) every day.

“Ask an Expert” Recommendation Engine
This is a powerful tool for customers who want to take the time to customize the default workflow templates for their organization. By defining the appropriate questions and responses, a manager can be directed to the appropriate labour category for any position and the appropriate process. Is this a temporary position? Contingent? Outsourced to a service provider under contract? Or should it be a full time position that should go through a non-contingent process? And are there appropriate contingent labour providers who can staff the position, or will an RFP need to be issued? (For example, let’s say it’s a one-time integration of a new back-office Supply Management system and no currently approved provider has an expert on staff.) Depending on the need, the system will direct the user to the appropriate course of action, which could be as simple as creating a new instance of an archived job-posting for a 6-month temporary labour position to issuing an RFP to find a new provider for an 18 month systems integration project.

New Timesheet Module
Just like e-mail approvals, timesheet solutions are “old-news” too, except when they are expertly integrated into the contingent workforce solution in such a way that usage for both employees and managers is almost effortless. In the average situation, an employee will just have to enter the number of hours they worked each day during the week because the system will automatically retrieve the projects they are working on and the associated billing codes, and automatically classify overtime. For an average worker on one project, they will have to enter five numbers each week. The system automatically validates each timesheet against statements of work; daily, weekly, monthly and SOW hour limits; and employee work hour/day/month restrictions and generates warnings where manager review/approval is required. A manager can then one-click approve all timesheets without warnings, and, through check-box selection, approve all timesheets with warnings that are expected and acceptable (which will happen if a manager approves overtime on a given project to get it done). This greatly reduces the number of timesheets that require individual review and attention and makes managers much more efficient.

In other words, while a number of these improvements were evolutionary and to-be expected, what is unexpected is how well some of these improvements were integrated. The bulk of the FieldGlass platform is incredibly easy to use for the average manager and approver once initial configuration is done.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the new Statement of Work functionality.

Fieldglass: Adapting to Every Contingency, Part I

FieldGlass, which was first covered on SI back in 2008 by the Sourcing Maniacs* in their historic vendor tour, was originally founded in 1999 to provide technology solutions for staffing and contingent workforce management. As per the Maniacs’ historic post and our review in 2010 (on how FieldGlass is Determined to Take Off In the Tens), they built a great solution to solve this problem. But the problem was not a static one, it continued to evolve as organizations shifted more and more work into the contingent domain and outsourced more and more projects to outsource providers who would provide temporary labour. As a result, FieldGlass needed to continue to evolve its platform as well. And it did. Since our last review in 2010 it has

  • improved its rate guidance,
  • extended its rate structure capability,
  • streamlined it’s job posting (which can be as quick as two-clicks),
  • implemented easy e-mail approvals,
  • developed an “Ask An Expert” recommendation engine to help managers determine the right classification and labour providers for a position,
  • built a powerful timesheet manager in conjunction with Google, and
  • added extensive Statement of Work support.

Today we’ll cover the first three improvements to the FieldGlass platform and tomorrow, in Part II, we’ll address the next three. Then, in Part III, we’ll address the new Statement of Work module which is a revolutionary improvement to the platform.

Improved Rate Guidance
The rate guidance application uses current benchmark data and current spending history to display to the user the low, median, and high-end rates paid for the contingent or service position over the last 6 or 12 months in the service so the manager has up to date insight on the rate they should be expecting to pay.

Rate Structure
When it comes to contingent, temporary, and service worker rates and taxes, it’s never easy, especially if you support customers in 80 different countries. In addition to base hourly rates, you can also have per diems, special bonuses, hazard and isolation pay, vacation pay, etc., and it’s often the case that only some of these are taxed, and sometimes they are taxed using different tax structures. For example, the base hourly rate could be subject to a government employment tax and the per diem could be subject to a government value added tax, etc. The application supports just about any rate structure you can imagine, and each component can be associated with zero or more taxes.

Job Posting Process
From a manager’s point of view, the posting process, can be as simple as a three-click requisition. If (a template for) the position has already been defined in the system, all the manager has to do is select (the template for) the position, select a desired starting date, select an expected ending date, and submit the requisition for approval. Once the approver has approved the position, it is automatically posted and distributed. (Then, once the initial posting time has passed, the program office will be notified to shortlist job seekers for the requestor, who will review, and make his [rank ordered] selections. When a candidate, or the temporary/contingent labour provider, has indicated a willingness to accept the position, a work order will be created, the approver will accept, the supplier will accept, and the onboarding process will begin.)

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the next three improvements to the FieldGlass platform: e-mail approvals, the “As an Expert” recommendation engine, and the new Timesheet module.

*Here at SI we sure hope the Sourcing Maniacs are okay as we haven’t heard a peep from them since they took off for their European vacation on January 1, 2010 (over 3 years ago) by ship (as Wakko is on the No Fly list). The were supposed to be doing a European tour in the summer of 2010, but they seem to have fallen off the map!

It’s 24/7 for Robbie and the Coupa Factory, Part III

In Part I we announced that Coupa has been coding up a storm since we last checked in on them last summer (in Robbie and the Coupa Factory), completing Release 9 with major enhancements in expense management, invoice management, and catalog management; the android app; and the first version of their new sourcing module as well as some major improvements to their cart that will show up in release 10 later this quarter. In Part II, we discussed the major improvements in Release 9 around expense management, invoicing, and catalog management. Today we will discuss the new e-Sourcing module and how it makes Coupa one of the first providers to offer an integrated end-to-end e-Sourcing and e-Procurement solution.

The new Sourcing Module is e-Sourcing 1.0. RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, basic reverse e-Auctions, and basic e-Sourcing project management form the foundations of the new suite, which, to be honest, is not much more than you’d find in any e-Sourcing suite on the market, including the free WhyAbe solution available from SourceOne, but that’s not the point. The point is that the inclusion of this module in the Coupa platform makes Coupa, as far as SI can tell, the first Supply Management provider based in North America with an integrated end-to-end Sourcing and Procurement platform. SI has been saying for years that It’s Sourcing AND Procurement and that the only way to truly revolutionize Supply Management is to have one integrated end-to-end platform, and with Coupa’s current offering, with the exception of Decision Optimization (which is only critical for high(er)-dollar (complex) spend in an average organization just starting their e-Sourcing journey), the platform has the foundations of the remaining four stages of e-Sourcing and nine stages of e-Procurement. Some applications, like Spend Analysis, Contract Management, and Tax Reclamation have a ways to go (as tax codes outside North America can get quite complex), but the point is that there is a foundation that allows the entire process to be e-Managed. End-to-end projects can be created that follow the process from cradle (the initial RFI) to grave (when the final order is shipped, received, invoiced, reconciled, paid, and added to the Spend Under Management database for analysis).

Moreover, the entire process can be made available to every user of the platform. While complex sourcing events need to be driven by senior buyers, there is no reason that simple events for simple commodities or services needed by only one department can’t be driven by a senior person in that department, under the supervision of the appropriate Manager or Director. Why should Supply Management oversee every single sourcing event for temporary labour for a system implementation? If there are approved suppliers, approved budgets, and known requirements, there is no reason that a domain expert can’t drive the project with the help of Supply Management, if required. And if the spend for these one-time projects exceeds a threshold, which will be easily detected if budgets are exceeded or reports show significant spend in a given category, then the category can be the next Supply Management sourcing opportunity.

The sourcing module is as easy to use as the rest of the platform, and sourcing events can be created just as quickly as requisitions can be created. RFXs can have as little or as much content as is required; one or more questionnaires can be attached to get information about finances, supplier capabilities, insurance, Corporate Social Responsibility, etc.; an e-Auction can be triggered from an RFX (and initial bids imported); an award can be pushed into the contract management system and the catalog populated; requisitions can be created against the budget associated with the contract and the catalog items; purchase orders can be created on requisition approval; good receipts can be accepted and tracked against requisitions; invoices can be automatically correlated with the purchase orders; and payment approvals can be automatically submitted to your e-Payment system. It’s end-to-end automation of the tactical process, freeing you up for the strategic work.

It’s a great step in the right direction. While Coupa‘s e-Sourcing suite is still at least two versions behind what is being offered by the large e-Sourcing suppliers, it’s the perfect solution for a mid-size organization that doesn’t have a sourcing solution or a current Coupa customer that doesn’t have a widely used sourcing platform due to cost or personnel restrictions. It’s a step in the right direction, and one that is sure to keep the big sourcing providers on their toes, as the big sourcing providers will have to keep innovating to keep two steps ahead of this fast-moving SaaS company.

Purchasing Blues Redux

Well, it’s time to raise a fuss
  and it’s time to raise a holler
About diminishing returns
  from the almighty dollar
I just heard from my boss
  who governs me
If I don’t save the cash
  he’s gonna fire me

Sometimes I wonder
What I’m gonna do
If there ain’t no cure
For the Purchasing blues

My CPO he told me to
  go beat on the supplier
That his margins must be high
  while ours are under water
So I talked to the supplier
  he said costs were elevated
He was losing all his money
  at the rates we had created

Sometimes I wonder
What I’m gonna do
If there ain’t no cure
For the Purchasing blues

So I found a consultant
  told her about my problems
She discovered that
  the supplier was not stalling
Material costs were rising
  and the exchange rate was bad
I had wasted all my time
  just acting stark raving mad

Next time I have a problem
  I’ll find me a solution
I’ll find a sourcing expert
  and get my retribution

No more will I wonder
  What I’m gonna do
I’ll find me a cure
  For the Purchasing blues