TheBench.net Aims To Get IT Specialists Into The Game

Chris Case, the president of Sequel Data Systems, an Austin, Texas solution provider, was eyeing expenses for some of his top technology specialists sitting on the bench when he came up with the idea: wouldn't it be great if there was a web site designed to get IT specialists from the top enterprise technology integrators that were not on the job at that moment working for customers looking for seasoned talent.

A little more than a year later, Case's dream is a reality. Case and his partner, Don Richie, CEO of Sequel Data Systems, officially launched in October TheBench.net, billed as the "one stop resource for IT customers in need of skilled and certified experts."

Now, TheBench.net is aggressively recruiting solution providers and starting to turn some heads in the partner community. So far, 22 solution providers have signed up for the service, said Case.

There may be other web sites or even IT staffing companies aimed at providing businesses of all kinds access to independent IT contractors, but Case insists TheBench.net's competitive advantage is its reach into proven technology integrators with a long track record of providing business technology solutions to enterprise customers.

"This is a trusted site," says Case. "It's made up of authorized channel partners -- not contractors" That's something that has appealed to CIOs and business executives that Case says have beta tested TheBench.net. He said businesses also like the fact that the IT specialists listed on TheBench.net are affiliated with a technology integrator so if there are any issues that need to be resolved the commercial technology integrator will step up and make it right. "With an indendent contractor there is no recourse," says Case.

Case sees TheBench.net providing complex solution services including proven virtualization, security, storage and networking talent with multiple vendor certifications.

Thomas Moore, one of the principals of EbrokerHouse.com, an end-to-end, software-as-a-service platform for real estate professionals, said he sees TheBench.net providing huge cost savings for companies like his looking for good, hard-to-find technical talent.

"We have spent several hundred thousand dollars in time and resources on finding technology professionals just over the last year and probably more than $1 million in the last three years," he said. "I think TheBench.net could probably cut our costs to find and get good technology professionals in half."

As a software-as-a service platform provider, Moore said his biggest headache is finding solid technical talent. He has used services that provide independent IT contractors but has not been happy with the results. "You don't know what to expect from independent contractors," he said. "You end up spending time and money and find out it is not the right person. It is very expensive and it's like finding a needle in a haystack."

Next: Solutions Providers Are Betting On TheBench.net

EBrokerHouse.com is currently looking for web site designers to revamp the look and feel of EBrokerHouse.com and is looking forward to seeing more solution providers listed on TheBench.net. "The idea is great," he said. "It just needs traction."

The Bench.net service is free for businesses like EBrokerHouse.com searching for IT professionals. Solution providers, however, will be charged a monthly subscription fee of $49.99 per month (a promo code - BENCHPROMO - allows the fee to be waived for the first 90 days) with individual leads from business customers free for 2012, but thereafter priced at $59.99. Unlike some other IT services web sites, TheBench.net does not collect a percentage of the IT solutions deal, said Case.

Solution providers see TheBench.net driving down the high cost of acquiring qualified customer leads that will ultimately pay off in new business.

Dan Behm, president of Open Systems Technologies, Grand Rapids, Mich. solution provider whose professional services sales are up nearly 40 percent this year, sees TheBench.net saving him significant time, money and resource spent on marketing his business.

Behm estimates that only two out of 100 leads he gets from his vendor partners pay off in new business. "Eighty percent are bogus and the remaining 20 percent we get are either not timely or have a misunderstanding of the skill set or some other issue. That is why a lot of companies like us refuse leads from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer/vendor partners)."

"The cost of TheBench.net makes it an easy decision to use the service," he said. "All we need to do is close one deal to make it more than worth our while."

Charlie Ramirez, managing partner for Team Venti, an Austin, Texas-based Microsoft cloud champion partner focused on the midmarket that is taking advantage of the service, said he likes TheBench.net because it has been "designed from the ground up as a VAR focused solution -- not mercenary one man shops."

Ramirez is hoping TheBench.net will open the door for his Microsoft technology specialists, including hard to find Sharepoint developers, to work with other technology integrators. He praised TheBench.net for being "powerful but easy to use."

"It's a great idea," he said of TheBench.net. "I wish I had thought of it."