Technologists On-Demand: The Innovative Way to Solve Today’s Tech Headaches
We’re living in an on-demand era. Need a ride? There’s Uber. How about fresh groceries and a roasting pan for the holidays? Amazon will have it all at your doorstep in 24-48 hours. It’s amazing
how our expectations as consumers have evolved over the last 10 years. Even now, we’re changing the economic landscape of how goods and services are consumed, which will continue to change how businesses operate. Really, we’ve still only scratched the surface of what can be done with this new flexibility.
As I scanned through my inbox earlier this month, I came across some interesting figures showing how businesses are embracing another aspect of on-demand culture. For many organizations, on-demand resources are becoming an essential piece of their business strategy. The proof of this is in the latest numbers compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency found temporary jobs increased by 18,300 last month from the total recorded in September. All told, the overall number of temporary jobs, adjusted for season, has increased every month since December 2016. Just as impressive? The penetration rate of temporary workers hit a record high of 2.09% last year and the overall unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%.
How are businesses making use of all of these on-demand consultants? During my career, I’ve seen two primary methods:
- Short-term project work – IT leaders’ heads must be spinning with all of the products available on the market today. Even tougher? Understanding how to leverage those products in the most secure and effective manner. This is where it helps to bring in a temporary, specialized on-demand consultant – someone with expertise in a given product or area – to drive innovation and efficiency. Once the product initiatives and goals are met, the consultant will move on to the next gig while IT can check off a key to-do list item without investing energy or long term budget.
- Long-term bandwidth extension – IT like so many other business units, has been operating under the directive of doing more with less for a while now. However, the abundance of projects and ever-tightening deadlines often make that seem an impossible target to hit. Sometimes this challenge isn’t due to a lack of a specific skill set but rather a lack of resources. In this case, IT may simply need a staffer (or two) to address an operational overload or project for a set period. These initiatives can run for a few months or even a couple of years. Again, temporary resources can step in and fill a role immediately, with minimal training and onboarding, in order to hit project deadlines or keep the business operations stable during any type of disruption.
Next steps: Where to turn for on-demand support
I’ve spent more than half of my career in technology staffing services. I’ve seen the benefits that this route holds for businesses that choose to explore it. Leveraging temporary resources gives IT the no-risk flexibility to foster stability where it needs it most, allowing it to pursue innovative new paths without adding complexity to org charts. That’s why growth trends like those reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics don’t surprise me. I’m also not surprised when I see figures like this one reported in a recent white paper from Accenture: 85% of business and IT executives said they plan to increase their use of independent consultants over the next year. The strategic benefits of this approach are just too great for organizations to overlook.
Arraya also believes in the benefits of on-demand IT resources. That led us to launch our new Staffing Services Practice. Our goal is to rapidly connect businesses with the technical expertise and experience they need to achieve their organization-wide goals. This mission really is a natural extension of what we’ve already been doing with our Managed and Professional service offerings. We see these three pieces coming together to provide our customers with an even higher level of responsiveness and service quality.
Want to talk more about how your organization can leverage Arraya Staffing Services? Reach out to me today at: https://www.arrayasolutions.com//contact-us/.
