The SIIA is delighted to introduce one of the newest members to join SIIA’s Software & Services Division, FleXentra BV. I had a chance to sit down with Onno Hektor, Owner of FleXentral BV to learn a little more about flexible workforce systems. Please find my interview below.

Rhianna: Tell us about Flexentral and what makes you unique.

Hektor: FleXentral is a cloud based solution for companies with a substantial flexible workforce. The so called, Contingent Workforce Solutions (CWS) category. FleXentral’s immediate ROI is a cost reduction of 10%-30% per year by cutting out the “middle man”. At the same time, it ensures compliance, controls budgets, and provides insights on the effectiveness of your contractors. All in all; complete management of your flexible workforce.

Rhianna: What are the benefits of using a solution like FleXentral?

Hektor: Most businesses strategically outsource 10%-20%  of their work demand to external workers, and this trend is only growing Managing a flexible workforce is often done with very limited information (-systems). Companies do know what budget are available, and how these are actually spent, but they generally don’t know if they are compliant with current labor laws and official regulations around flex work. We estimate this to be true for at least 50%. The threat of incompliance is potential lawsuits from regulating bodies that could have a negative impact on the company’s image. Needless to say that benchmarking is required to understand the quality of the people the company hires on a temporary basis and if the money the company pays is in line with market standards. Every CFO would like to understand that the money he pays to flex workers is really needed and cannot be fulfilled by an FTE. FleXentral reduces the operational cost of flex workers immediately by 10%-30.  FleXentral charges its customers 4% per transaction. Flex workers will use the platform for free.

Rhianna: Would you say FleXentral has a competitive edge in the industry?

Hektor: FleXentral is a unique end-to-end CWS platform. It encompasses all elements of the cycle such as search, qualify, negotiate, transact, and manage. Most of the competition only provide point solutions, or continue to be middle men but with digital extensions. LinkedIn obviously is the biggest name in the area of targeting (flex) workers and recruiters. It certainly has the ability to connect these markets, but it misses crucial steps to close the deal.

Rhianna: Tell us about the technology behind FleXentral.

Hektor: FleXentral is cloud based software platform based on the industry’s most secure and certified cloud provider; Microsoft Azure. FleXentral is completely self-contained, but can connect securely to existing business software for data integration purposes. FleXentral is available exclusively via the web, and the three most popular smartphone platforms (iOS, Android and Windows). Microsoft has been a great partner in helping FleXentral. Not only are they partnering  with us by developing a great architecture, they also have provided us with free use of Azure, which is a substantial cost saving the first critical years of FleXentral.

Rhianna Collier is VP for the Software Division at SIIA. Follow the Software team on Twitter at @SIIASoftware.