The needs of businesses have changed in just about every way - and talent is the new currency. In volatile markets, having too much talent is a liability. During peak economic times, companies shed employees to rightsize their operations. Right now, we’re somewhere in between.
What’s emerging are talent engagement strategies that meet businesses where they are. The need for this is most acute in IT. Whether it’s supporting a remote workforce, furthering a digital-first business strategy, or protecting and fortifying internal systems, IT talent is critical in every economy.
The definition of a worker is changing – and so should that of a talent provider
The notion of someone remaining with one employer for the duration of their career is largely in the past. Today organisations engage all types of workers outside the scope of traditional employment, including temporary labour, contractors, and consultants.
Businesses need new skill sets, specific experts, and various sized teams in increments of weeks or months, not years or decades. Nowhere in this more true than in tech. It makes sense then, that external workers are so prevalent in the IT space.
Access to this talent is most often achieved through staffing and consulting firms. IT staffing is a massive industry globally. In Canada alone, it was estimated to reach C$10.3 billion last year, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. The Canadian IT consulting market, according to Statista, is expected to reach C$2.5 billion by 2027.
Yet, while workers engage flexibly with businesses, staffing or consulting firms often cannot. Traditional staffing models can be made rigid by internal processes and structure of clients. The staffing experience varies by engagement models, project ownership, and can limit your flexibility and success. Similarly, the consulting model is effective for businesses with deep pockets, but doesn’t allow for any engagement or ownership flexibility.
What alternatives do businesses have when traditional staffing and consulting models aren’t flexible, fast, or cost-effective enough for particular needs?
The evolution of S.i. Systems
S.i. Systems has many successful client engagements through its staffing and direct hire services. These solutions are critical to businesses looking to find and engage talent to join their team, fill a skill gap, or extend the bandwidth of their resources.
That said, sometimes our clients need MORE. More people, more project management support, more engagement at the project level beyond finding talent.
The traditional staffing model can have drawbacks and can limit the ability to flex to the needs of businesses who need an entire team or want to outsource some, but not all, project management. They often turn to expensive consulting firms who are rigid in their own ways: it’s all or nothing when it comes to project management, and the resource quality is often underwhelming for the cost.
Our IT Project Solutions practice is the most flexible approach to engaging with our team. It blends together the best of both the staffing and consulting worlds: bespoke talent selection and assembly from our network of 300,000+ IT professionals. A co-managed approach to projects that is completely custom to client needs and constraints. Accountability to ensure talent and project continuity to minimize disruption.
This evolution of S.i. Systems is our response to the changing needs of our clients, allowing us to meet businesses where they are.
IT project solutions in practice
How different is it, really, from traditional staffing and consulting models? Very.
Tailored talent selection. We supply high-quality teams, purposefully and specifically assembled for individual project requirements. Together, we select project leads and principals, and then we take over from there to ensure the right expertise and match for the full team, no matter the size. You don’t need to source and interview multiple candidates. Our end-to-end talent management simplifies and streamlines the hiring process, from sourcing and hiring to retaining and offboarding.
Top talent at market rates. Accessing Canada’s leading IT database of over 300,000 member IT professionals allows us to quickly find clients the best talent at market rates. A huge differentiator from this model vs. that of a consulting firm is that it avoids complex markups and reliance on low-quality bench players or offshore workers. This solution is far more cost effective and ultimately results in higher quality work.
Co-managed approach. Our IT Project Solutions practice takes a flexible approach, allowing our clients to determine their preferred level of collaboration, based on their needs, and ability to provide project oversight. Providing peace of mind here is our complete reporting suite. It delivers real-time updates for full transparency into project status and spending.
Adaptable resourcing and project continuity. Our flex up and flex down options enable clients to scale resources within 5-7 business days, adapting to evolving needs. We also ensure headcount continuity and reliable turnover replacement. This keeps projects on track and on budget, no matter what issues arise.
If you’re interested in seeing what this solution looks like in action for one of our clients, read the case study. You can also reach out to our team to learn more about how IT Project Solutions can work for your company.
