Strategies For Growing IT Service Revenues

SM
Strategies For Growing IT
Service Revenues
OnForce Enables VARs, Solution Providers and IT Staffing Firms to Find Contract Service Professionals and Drive Increased Sales
attling increased competition, decreasing margins selves; and they know their individual reputation is on Band slower revenue growth, today's solution provid- the line with their performance on each work order."ers are operating in a volatile market. These service com-panies seek geographic coverage and skill set expansion The privately held OnForce charges an $11 fee for without exposing their companies to the capital risks of each work order created by a VAR or solution pro-hiring, training and retaining on-payroll technicians. In- vider. The service buyer pays for the work through creasingly, their preferred solution is the "contract labor OnForce, which remunerates the IT service profes-model" currently shaping the industry, a practice that sional when the work has been successfully completed. allows service companies to enter new regions, bid on IT service professionals pay a 10 percent fee for work larger deployments and work with emerging technolo- received through OnForce. There is no subscription gies-without taking on additional head count. fee, membership fee or upfront cost of any kind to join OnForce as a buyer or provider.OnForce, the Boston-based marketplace for IT service professionals, is proving a valuable asset to A Strategic Weapon these VARs and solution providers who want to fulfill It's a solution that has worked very well for Parsippany, on-site services through independents or contractors. NJ-based Core Technology Solutions, according to its Successfully leveraging on-demand business trends, CEO, Gary Dedoussis, who says his company started OnForce offers service firms comprehensive listings using the OnForce platform about 18 months ago. of 11,000+ qualified IT professionals listed by re- Dedoussis called OnForce "a strategic weapon" and gion, vendor, specialty or other variables. OnForce advises: "Like any small business, we've got to have the conducts an assessment of each individual or group ability to tap into resources and scale up efficiently."before making them available to VARs/solution pro-viders. It's a pay-as-you-go model with no upfront in- Core Technology Solutions delivers services to larger vestment or hidden costs to soften the bottom line. clients, typically the satellite offices of Fortune 500 firms, providing services such as installation, deployment and "They've become our recruiting office for contract break/fix that can run up to several million dollars per project. Project management is handled in-house, and technicians. They've really done their homework. the company maintains its own network of independent We've chosen to partner with OnForce because contractors, but when that network is tapped out, Core they help us put great technical people into play." turns to OnForce. "They've become our recruiting office - Gary Dedoussis, CEO, Core Technology Solutions for contract technicians. They've really done their home-work," says Dedoussis. "We've chosen to partner with OnForce because they help us put great technical people "People need to find the right IT professionals in the into play when and where we need them."right geography with the right skill set. And we definitely offer best-of-class quality and coverage," says Paul Nad- Core Technology Solutions has worked with OnForce jarian, OnForce senior vice president of marketing. "You on approximately 1,900 work orders-about 10 percent want to know the reputation of the person you're con- of its total volume-from January through September tracting with. With OnForce, technicians profile them- 2007, says Dedoussis.SM
Companies like Core Technology Solutions, work- viders like Pomeroy Solutions and Unisys-are working ing with OnForce, have helped many independent with the OnForce army of IT service professionals. contractors build successful businesses. Crisantos Haji-brahim first signed up as an OnForce provider in early "OnForce is a highly valuable resource for all these 2004 as a college student seeking extra income and service companies," says Paul Nadjarian. "All of them looking to charge competitive prices. have a need to find the IT service professionals with the right skill set in the rig... [download for more]