Virtual Business Models – The Future Is Here

The New World of Work is creating the virtualization of industries at a rapid rate. Business models are now required to become more fluid and embrace technology. Changing existing business models is a concept Working Solutions is comfortable doing. As the pioneer of the home agent contact center model, we have utilized forward-thinking hiring practices and technology to innovate an industry that had all but disappeared from the shores of our country. Now we have created a virtual business that is positively impacting our clients and our teams.

Recent History of Virtualization

The Internet enabled industries to go virtual at the end of the last century. IT and graphic design led the way, with education quickly expanding into the arena. Even industries where a virtual model didn’t seem practical are now embracing the freedom. Healthcare, financial services and product innovation have all begun to realize the benefits.

Distributed Work Environment

We have already discussed Intelligent Workload Distribution (IWD) and how fractionalizing work is part of our future. This trend has prompted some of the most innovative business models we have seen. Crowdsourcing, or the outsourcing of work to the public at-large rather than paid employees or dedicated independent contractors, has come on strong.

The Internet has allowed for true crowdsourcing of many types of work. But the real advantage here is that companies can now recruit workers with the right skill-set for a task and deliver results based on objectives. These people are not on the payroll, so getting the best talent for a specific project is easy. Furthermore, the company with the right leadership and management team can capitalize on this new business model by saving money while getting the best output for that specific task, and ultimately project.

Many successful virtual crowdsourcers are already utilizing this model and supplying organizations with the platform to find and recruit the best talent, including:

• Crowdsource.com
• Designcrowd.com
• eLance
• oDesk.com
• Gigwalk

Embrace It or Get Left Behind

Many believe that the distributed workforce model will continue to grow, providing access to a global market of high-quality talent who can simply capitalize on their gifts. The growth already realized shows that this model is here to stay.

As an organization, you can embrace the virtual business model by learning to build internal teams and infrastructure that support the process, not manage the people. Education and training of your team will be necessary to teach them to find and compete for the best talent in a virtual environment. Finally, invest in the right technology infrastructure utilizing cloud technology to support the virtual model.

It is important that we understand the impact of virtualized business models on our economy, and how we can maximize their usage to rebuild and replenish opportunities for workers and companies. Otherwise, we may find that we are left behind in the growing global economy.

For more information on virtual business models and globalization of work, check out my new book The New World of Work: From Cube to the Cloud. Find out more about the fractionalization, virtualization and globalization of work and how you can capitalize on this new movement.