What are the Benefits of Incorporating a Statement of Work into an MSP?
Statement of Work (SOW) is truly the next frontier for the staffing industry. It is a routinely used tool for managing vendors, freelancers, and contract employees that a company hires for a specific period to work on a project. SOW describes work activities and deliverables to be supplied under a contract or as part of a project timeline to a non-employee of a company.
Using an SOW allows employers to recruit the best contingent talent. The best employees with the right skill sets, knowledge and experience have the potential to complete a project on time and add value to the company through their efficient way of working style. This is why building an SOW into your talent strategy can significantly impact the end results.
Companies that make use of SOW engagements realize higher returns on their investment. They also gain access to specialized talent who can produce vital assets and intellectual property. So, it is really beneficial.
This blog will give you an understanding of how implementing a statement of work as part of a managed service programme by using a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can lead to greater visibility, control and cost savings.
The most important thing to do here is to partner with the right MSP who can help businesses achieve value for money by considering SOW as part of their existing managed service programme.
IDC Technologies has expert resources with deep industry expertise to focus on helping businesses assess their organization’s SOW spend management opportunities. With the market insight and technical capability to achieve greater external workforce efficiencies, we can reduce costs, risk and standardise processes.
How does SOW work within a Managed Service Programme?
Partnering with an MSP will help shortlist suppliers and their Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. This provides an MSP detail of timelines and project pricing and helps identify the most suitable candidates with the appropriate skills for the work.
Another key element of an MSP’s upstream SOW support is compliance. This helps ensure that candidates are classified correctly according to their skill sets. This is extremely important because misclassification can result in fines and even legal action.
What are the benefits of using a Statement of Work?
The primary benefit of using SOW is the ability to outsource the day-to-day management functions to the SOW team and receive a deliverable at a fixed cost without the burden of managing resources.
Those organizations planning to use SOW project work can expect the following:
- Provides access to highly skilled professionals with high levels of expertise for a single project, effectively avoiding the dreaded skills gap
- Increases control over rising labor costs, especially those related to healthcare and other benefits required for FTEs
- Provides predictability in budget creation and management since SOW employees are commonly paid out of the total project budget.
- Provides exceptional scalability and the ability to rapidly increase or decrease workforces in response to changing market conditions
Bringing a statement of work into the scope of your MSP enables your organisation to drive more improvements and cost efficiencies while streamlining supplier and vendor management processes. You will get far more control, visibility, and consistency over the management of contracts and key performance indicators.
Having your Managed Service Provider handle this for you will free up your in-house employee’s time to focus on other core business matters.