Call it marketplaces meets the gig economy. Arrow Electronics, the enterprise-focused distributor, and Freelancer.com, a platform for skilled professionals to market their abilities on a contractual basis, are teaming up to launch a new marketplace to give companies access to R&D talent.
The Lowdown: The marketplace, ArrowPlus powered by Freelancer.com, will combine Arrow Electronics’ engineering and support capabilities with the tens of thousands of skilled electronics, engineering, and software developers. The intent is to provide an array of businesses — from technology vendors and solution and service providers to Fortune 500 companies — with access to R&D talent to speed product development and cut costs.
The Details: Arrow Electronics says the marketplace will provide full product development lifecycle services, including access to skilled professionals that can help with concept development and
The Impact: The potential of ArrowPlus powered by Freelancer.com is huge, says Arrow. The marketplace could cut R&D costs by as much as 30 percent and get products from concept to market faster. Arrow sees potential for the marketplace in several industries, including transportation, health care, Internet of Things, telecommunications, life sciences, security, and traditional IT products.
Background: Marketplaces are quickly becoming a new means for getting everything from products and services to talent to market. Technology vendors and distributors are embracing marketplaces for their convenience, market reach, ease of use, and lower cost. Leveraging marketplaces for talent isn’t a new concept, but what is new is the application of talent as a service in this context.
The Buzz: “We have seen
“ArrowPlus brings the serious know-how of Arrow’s 80 years of engineering, tools, technology, and services into the platform economy with Freelancer. Arrow has become one of the world’s largest technology solutions companies in the last five years and beyond our own
