New CEO For Onfoce
Though there is no mention of it over on the Onforce Blog I did just get an announcement from them stating that Peter Cannone previously of PC Connection will be taking over at the end of the month and will be focusing on growth.
I’m not sure how fast they should be growing. I’ve been feeling some of their growing pains lately.
UPDATE: 1/25/2006
Please see comment on the Onforce Blog to get a better idea of what I’m referring to. This post was made while I was still forming my ideas. They’re still not completely defined, but it’s becoming clearer. I’ve not put this much thought into OnForce…ever.
I’m a developer at OnForce, and I’m surprised to hear anyone on our platform would see growth as a problem. As we grow our base of buyers and providers, aren’t things getting better? One thing I’ve noticed is that providers that do really good work are 1.) Gaining favor with lucrative buyers and 2.) Learning to steer clear of low-end buyers. From the buyer side, it’s getting easier to make sure you’re dealing with a quality tech. Win-win, right?
Anyhow, from an infrastructure perspective, we’re not experiencing growing pains quite yet; our page load times have actually gotten faster in the last few months even though traffic load is increased.
In addition, I hope you’ve noticed our monthly release cycle. While we can’t please all people all the time, we roll out many dozens of improvements each month, and reported bugs are generally fixed within hours (and we don’t get very many of those either).
Just one last note… hope I haven’t taken up too much space… if you DO report a bug, (pretty) please (with a cherry on top) provide us with browser, OS, user, work order, and any other details that will help us diagnose the problem. support-at-onforce-dot-com is a great place to send bug reports and feature requests.
Hey thanks for the comment. I agree that Onforce’s infrastructure is solid and responsive. My concerns of growth are more accurately addressed in my comment on the Onforce Blog . It has more to do with the integrity of the marketplace than anything else. I too am seeing more quality buyers on the platform and would agree that overall things are improving. If there is one thing I have noticed is the responsiveness of all the staff on Onforce. You guys are great, and have made it possible for me to find work I couldn’t have otherwise found. I am thankful and am looking forward to what Onforce will become.
I personally haven’t filed any bug reports, however I have made a few improvement requests. It would be nice to have a feature where the provider can upload a scanned copy of the signed WO once complete. Personally I don’t have a fax nor do I care to own one. Most buyers allow for emailing a scanned copy, but who’s to say it was received or not. By uploading a copy, it keeps all the information in one place in case a dispute arises.
My only concern with growth is that there are some out there that seek to abuse a good system. Mostly the providers I believe. There has been many improvements to protect the buyer as the large players have moved in. I’m ok with that. It seems that in the case of low-end buyer there’s more risk for the provider than is necessary when accepting a WO. It’s a real gamble. It shouldn’t be that way. When providers get burned by low-end spammy buyers it will only cultivate an attitude that providers will only deal with the big guy buyers, and the little guys won’t stand a chance at competing because of some chucklehead. Some of the smaller jobs help to pay the bills in slow times, and I do enjoy them as much as the big ones. They both have their place.
Thanks again, and keep up the good work.