Contractor and consultant cost savings are a paradox. At the same time that the category is rife with inefficiency, it’s also the most stubborn for executing change. Fragmentation of the supply chain and disconnected information systems leave companies without visibility into the most promising cost opportunities.
In our most recent webinar, Brightfield’s CEO, Jesse Levin, sat down with Cisco’s Senior Director of Contingent Workforce, Kevin Sturge, to discuss how companies are overcoming these challenges, unlocking potential savings and accelerating their critical strategic projects.
Kevin Sturge, who is responsible for managing more than three billion dollars in spend and more than 55,000 contingent workers spread across 20+ countries, began noticing a surprising distribution within his extended workforce. With more than two thirds composed of managed services or SOW work rather than contingent labor, he calculated that more than 50% of his spend may have been misclassified, potentially costing Cisco millions.
Realizing his first step needed to be focused around gaining a stronger understanding of his category managers’ processes, Kevin began asking coworkers to identify their pain points, how they were utilizing contingent labor, and how they were choosing talent. Once connected as a team, they started looking at different solutions to help better manage their workforce. Kevin stated:
“We looked at a number of solutions, we chose Brightfield, and then used them to go back to the executive team with data. And there's a huge power in saying this is the right market data, this is from industry experts”
Leveraging Brightfield’s $400 billion in real-time transactional data to compare market rates against what they were currently spending on their workforce, Kevin found multiple areas where he was paying between 15-20% over market. Even better, he was able to establish processes to identify exactly what work required a statement of work, what work should only require contingent labor, and what suppliers should be used to source it.
To learn more about how Brightfield supported Cisco in better managing their extended workforce and supplier base to save millions and reduce risk, listen to the full webinar here: Automating the Realization of Cost Savings
