Workforce management vendor WorkForce Software (WFS) is doubling down on the channel in Australia following a year of strong growth.
Historically focusing on direct deals with customers, WFS changed its go to market to channel partner-first in early 2020 and has since enjoyed year on year growth of 80 percent since then.
The pivot also came following an investment from US private equity firm Evergreen Coast Capital in 2019.
WFS APJ senior vice president Nick Bailey told CRN that the company has built a good foundational layer of a workforce software ecosystem that has generated “quite significant” revenue for channel partners in 2020.
“I think we’re the best kept secret in the industry as part of a perfect storm, so now we’re coming out working with multiple partners, so the one-to-many huge distribution, a global and local footprint and with someone backing us is great for partners,” Bailey said.
“Another reason that makes us exciting for partners is that WFS is kind of the last man standing in our space.
“There’s some great nuances that set us apart from our competitors, but the most important one is that everyone else at the enterprise level has been acquired and are sitting in the all-in-one category trying to provide a broad, mile-wide solution, while WFS is a global boutique firm with deep expertise in workforce management.”
Bailey added that Australian companies are wrestling with draconian compliance requirements and an ongoing pandemic so cost minimisation is a priority.
“We have a unique rules engine that interprets the modern awards, the Fair Work Act, and all the other good headline-grabbing material to make sure companies remain compliant and don’t get hauled up in the news for wage theft,” he said.
“[The engine] also ensures the employees have a great experience because they can go home happy, they can pick a shift, they know when and where they can work, what their availability is and that they get paid correctly.”
The pivot to channel-first has resulted in what Bailey called “a great problem” of being able to keep up with growth, and WFS addressed it by doubling down on the company’s existing partners.
Some include larger global system integrators, local integrators, payroll providers, as well as demand-pay partners.
“With that ecosystem in place, we’re now just going to invest and spend more money with our partners – if they’re successful, then we’re successful – and vice versa,” Bailey said.
“2021 is going to be a year of investing in our channel – building and recruiting new relationships and supporting partners who hopefully will be the keys to success for us.”