Fulcrum
Fulcrum is an On-Demand Workforce Platform, purpose built for enterprise organizations. Fulcrum enables the largest companies in the world to design, manage, and execute work that is compatible with the On-Demand Workforce of the future. The Fulcrum Platform executes these strategies at scale, and with full enterprise grade compliance services included.
Fulcrum aggregates and integrates the best in class alternative workforce platforms and freelancer marketplaces directly into the existing enterprise technology (VMS) and compliance processes.
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50 to Know / 50 to Watch / Future 5 / Hall of Fame
In Their Own Words: Fulcrum
Fulcrum is the On-Demand Workforce Platform, purpose built for enterprise organizations. Fulcrum enables the largest companies in the world to design, manage, and execute work that is compatible with the On-Demand Workforce of the future.
Three key features of the Fulcrum platform are Aggregation, Integration, and Compliance. Fulcrum is an aggregator of the best in class freelance marketplaces and alternative workforce solutions across numerous skill types and engagement models. Fulcrum deploys over a dozen digital freelance and expert marketplaces through a single point of entry. Fulcrum also integrates directly into the top VMS solutions on the market and has an operational model and proven track record of collaborating with the top MSP providers. Compliance is not a nice to have, it is an imperative, which is why Fulcrum has built in enterprise grade compliance as the backbone of our solution from day one.
Simply put, Fulcrum plugs directly into the existing infrastructure of an enterprise contingent workforce program, giving our clients access to more than 15 million highly skilled freelancers in a scalable way that is 100% compliant.
Our View
We could say that Future 5 nominee Fulcrum is an ‘on-demand talent connection hub.’ The Fulcrum platform can integrate staffing-related services across the enterprise to provide a one-stop show for hiring managers (i.e. vendor management systems, compliance vendors, online talent marketplaces, background screening vendors, independent contractor service providers, freelancer management systems and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered recruitment platforms)
The technology is designed to serve as a connection platform that operates in the background, allowing users across the spectrum (CW/S program management and hiring managers as well as freelancers) to continue using the systems they use today — whether that means they remain in the VMS on the client side or in the talent marketplace on the freelancer side.
That has the added benefit of enhancing the current systems of record used by both sides — additional transactions occur within existing work streams already established and managed for both client users and freelancers. That, in turn, enhances visibility into this new talent channel within the same reporting environment used by clients today, including the ability to compare/contrast KPIs and SLAs without needing to combine disparate datasets.
According to Fulcrum, there is practically no implementation phase from a technology perspective as Fulcrum 'piggybacks’ on the security, access and approval setup in the VMS. Freelancers never have to create a profile or log into the Fulcrum platform, either.
So, why did Fulcrum make it onto the 2019 Future 5 list?
Unlike other solutions, like an FMS, VMS, etc., Fulcrum is less a software application product outwardly and more a technology offering, a kind of hub platform for integrating different systems (like VMS, etc) and platforms (in particular aggregating online freelancer marketplaces), large corporate users of those freelancers and the other important ecosystem partners (e.g., MSPs, Compliance, etc).
We believe Fulcrum represents a different, more parsimonious technology future where some capabilities may be less productized than specific software applications with more platforms that support ecosystem integration and process management (open source, blockchain technologies). Some other players, though very different, come to mind: ServiceNow, Ivalua etc.
Any threats or challenges ahead?
It all stands or falls with the level of adoption to make the hub work. It’s not an easy solution to understand so fears of disintermediation of both traditional and digital marketplace intermediaries can lead to low ecosystem participation: “Why enable our customers without capturing higher margins?”
As such, we’ll have to await its gaining critical mass. To our knowledge, Fulcrum has fewer than 25 customers (likely fewer than 15) at mid-2019, but they are, apparently, large enterprises. It spun off from parent company, Innovative Employee Solutions (IES), a San Diego-based outsourced payroll and human resources services provider. Fulcrum has not received third-party funding since the spin-off.