We used OnForce to dispatch a technician to a remote client on the opposite coast. We provide managed services and remote support nationally, so we thought OnForce would be a good fit for us to be able to respond to emergencies for remote clients. On the surface, there are a good deal of available techs in any given area, and we hadn't ever had a search come up empty.
Pros
You get techs who are ready to work
You can increase the coverage of your service area, in some respects
You can use local techs as well if your team is busy
Cons
You don't really know who you are going to get
There's not a lot of followthrough. This tech will act as an adjunct to your company, and you are left holding the bag for their work
We had one bad experience, and decided to go a different route for growth
Likelihood to Recommend
If you have an emergency that requires a tech, and you don't have the resources in-house, then it's good to be able to call on these guys. I would never use my affiliation with them as a reason to say "we provide nationwide onsite services" because the techs, in the end, don't answer to you and may not work to your standards. It's definitely a band-aid last-resort, and you should let your clients know if you intend to use them.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology (1-10 employees)
<ul><li>As a client, I am able to supplement my labor force and service clients who are outside my normal territory.</li></ul><ul><li>As a resource, I am able to offer my companies technical ability in a transparent manner to others to facilitate their services to their clients. (Transparent in the context that I am no longer representing my company but rather branding as an actual member of the client's organization)
</li></ul>
Pros
Offers technicians from a large geographical area (most major cities, many smaller cities, a limited international selection).
Creating competition - Mixed bag with this one depends on your outlook. Are you in favor of finding the person who will work for bottom dollar? I'll leave that aspect for your personal view.
Project Tracking: While I should likely have listed this first and I will say they do a better job than most at this it could use some key upgrades.
1099 filings and fiscal tracking -- They got this much down pat gotta admit.
Cons
A major concern to many is as a Sass they have a Forum that is conveniently crippled, 2 months prior to a major purchase of a competitor all comments in the forums became unavailable and new comments don't track or operate fully. This has been attributed to several issues but now 4 months later with zero fix and no apparent efforts to improve or acknowledge the problem exists. This would only be seen as benificial if the tone of most users comments were negative in my view otherwise I would think it would have been regarded as an invaluable feature.
Mixed Bag- As a Client you are afforded every luxury. You have full privacy protection from those you hire to perform work. You can cancel work after its been completed and not have to pay the technicians with little or no consequence as ADR is mandated and is often out of the affordability range of most technicians, the platform holds a stead fast rule not to interfere or to penalize clients for misbehavior. If you do run afoul of their TOS you are given wide birth to fall back in line and only required to meet the absolute minimal efforts to do so, such as settling for pennies on the dollar with any account owed. The CON is being a Resource all of the above are true statements only in reverse.
See my second Con and you can imagine that retention of qualified individuals on the resource side would probably be troublesome. Yet in truth they do tend to attract allot of new blood to the worker pool, the CON is its new blood- Not seasoned professionals with lots of experience as would be so very handy when things go sideways on a job.
Due to reason #2 and #3 well as you can imagine it can be difficult to maintain a professional edge or appearance. In a short time it becomes clear to the end user and the corporate entity in whole that the work has been subbed to contract labor via a impersonal internet dispatch. You can mediate this issue with contacting the technician via skype or other videochat to review the project and get a better feel for their expertise level and confidence. However don't expect to pull off any large project or service contract without the use of Workmarket becoming apparent to all fairly quickly. Those who are successful have by majority been upfront with their clienty in the first place about the use of the platform.
Likelihood to Recommend
In a pinch to cover a site a distance away, is it a simple service ticket such as reboot a station or test for dial tone? These type of tickets are well suited, also items such as large retail chain service tickets that fall in the low-tech/no-brainer category. The best advice I can give is, always realize and view the ticket as the tech. Meaning ensure all the necessary info is included especially multiple support sources and correct on-site contact information. Be clear what the scope is and don't use excessive acronyms especially if they are industry-specific. NSA MPOE- fine, however, TTU and HCL are ambiguous.
Yes this is about software but you are only going to get out of the platform what you put in. The software supports your bookkeeping and management but it is a service and the key to this software's value is in its end result and the final product as shown or sold to your client or organization --this is why I am indepth about its human interface or human segment-ie the technicians("resources" as their called on the platform).
I will say the software side of the product, the ability to track work, the financial accounting and the interface are all pretty good. The product has unlimited potential and I was its cheerleader for the first few years. However over time with broken promises as to issues we encountered and policies that leave many to feel as if the companies owners could not give a single rats### as to their effects on the people that rely on the service has left a truly sour taste in my mouth. While outages and data loss have been very minimal the times it has occurred it was a nightmare to get them to own up to their errors and no and I mean NO effort was made to notify or to mediate the issue on their side. It was literally wait two days and now its back but without allot of data feel free to use it we wont acknowledge anything happened. I was left dumbfounded and amazed. Their policies of shielding clients from resources efforts to collect on funds due is nearly criminal and I would venture will cause them some issue in the future. Personally it spoke to the lack of morality with the powers that be --This has been the primary reason we stopped using the platform as it facilitates immoral financial loss against those who are in dire financial straights to start with-- Most IT freelancers are filling a void between jobs or trying to cover expenses that were unexpected, They are in no position then to encounter non-payment and when they turn to the service that is the payee of record be stonewalled by the platform they had entrusted. This is not only our experience but was well documented in the forums as a regular occurrence.
Work Market (WM) allows freelancers or technicians to be sub contracted to do very specific tasks--install computers, replace printers, install network equipment, etc. We have worked with Work Market for years and have a very high rating (100% across the board). I find that most things WM provides--access to view jobs, apply for jobs, process jobs for payments, contact the buyer, etc.--is fairly simple. I, though, have noticed a sharp decline of the amount of work I have been getting through WM. Fortunately, I get quite a bit of work through another platform similar to WM. The best advantage to WM, though in my opinion, is the buyer is charged the fees after the job is complete so I don't have to negotiate for more money to cover the fees on my part (like I do with a couple of other job platforms).
Pros
Buyer covers the fees.
It was one of the first job platforms I used.
After a job is complete and paid, transfer of funds is usually next business day.
Cons
Their mobile platform is not that great. Truthfully, there are some jobs viewable on the mobile under WorkFeed that I cannot apply to because it requires viewing the job from the full website.
If a job has requirements such as uploading GL insurance, background check, or drug test in order to apply for the job, then it should not be viewable at all for the technician who doesn't qualify.
Recently it keeps providing available jobs that are hours away which makes it difficult because when I have to counter, I usually don't get the job because I have to cover the 2-4 hours of driving each way. In short, they need to only list jobs that you are truly qualified to do within the proper distance.
Likelihood to Recommend
Work Market (WM) honestly needs to create an app versus a mobile friendly version to help technicians out in the field where cell service is bad. OnForce offers a great app. WM is great but they are no different than the other two platforms I use other than they don't charge me the fees (they charge the buyer the fees). WM is great for quality subcontract work. It is not like those developer job boards where a legit job has requirements but they want someone to do the work for virtually nothing. WM needs to get higher quality IT people.
Work Market has been one of our main sources to expand our business. We've been with Work Market from day one, one of the first. We've watched Work Market grow into a powerhouse market and centralized location for IT work. Work Market is now one of our main sources for business to business contracts. The website is very user friendly and the iOS app is a great tool for technicians in the field.
Pros
Have a problem? Click "chat" from the website and support is seconds away from answering your question(s).
A intuitive website that is easy to find what you're looking for.
Founder and co-founder of Work Market are from another well known platform that went off to create something very professional.
Cons
Should be able to dispute inaccuracies on closed out work orders.
When a provider is slow to pay or does not pay within the agreed upon approval time, there should be an automatic approval or a dispute process in place.
Presently no formal online dispute process in place.
Likelihood to Recommend
Great for the IT consultant or IT business looking to expand work through small or mid-size contracts.
