Fiverr this week announced a new service offering called "Studios". This service gives freelancers the ability to easily join forces to sell and tackle larger and more complex client assignments than a freelancer could do on their own.
This follows last week's announcement by Upwork of what they are calling the "agency experience". Key quote from their press release:
"Upwork’s newly enhanced agency experience removes the friction that exists with the traditional agency model, making it easier for businesses to find, hire and engage specialized boutique agencies on the platform with just a few clicks."
The boutique agencies Upwork refers to are small service firms, most of which utilize freelancers as part of their project teams.
Both services illustrate two growing trends:
- The trend towards independent workers teaming up via online platforms and marketplaces.
- The trend towards businesses outsourcing work to boutique firms and/or teams of independent workers.
These services also illustrate how the shift to cloud computing is creating new forms, structures and ways of doing business.
The chart below (click to enlarge) is from a 2014 study on the impact of cloud computing we conducted in partnership with Intuit.
It illustrates how transformative technologies tend to diffuse through the economy and society in 3 broad waves.
In the first wave, which occurs after a technology is first commercialized, the impacts are mostly efficiency gains. The new technology makes things cheaper, easier and/or faster.
The second wave often leads to new types of businesses and new ways of doing business. The 3rd wave results in transformations of business and society.
Railroads are a good example of these waves.
When first commercialized, most rail lines were built alongside existing canals and roads. They increased efficiency by moving goods and people faster and cheaper than canal boats and wagons.
In the second wave, railroads created new ways to connect distributed resources and producers to customers. This created new forms of businesses (distributed factories, new types of logistics businesses, etc.) and new ways of doing business.
And in the 3rd wave, railroads changed society in a variety of ways including opening up the West, helping to create suburbs and creating economic opportunities for rural areas (they also created standardized time zones).
In 2014 we suggested that cloud computing is a transformational technology that was in stage 2 and helping to create new forms and types of businesses.
One example we used was what we called at the time "hives", which we described as:
Cloud-adapted small businesses will increasingly be made up of individuals who share talent to form a team. These businesses will operate virtually, with employees (many contractors) working in different locations, and staffing levels increasingly flexible - rising and falling to meet project needs.
Cloud computing is clearly not the only trend driving freelancer teaming and the growth of boutique consulting firms and agencies.
But it is a key enabling technology behind the growth of these types of organizations.
We still think cloud computing is in stage 2 and will drive more change in organizations and how business is done.
But one could easily argue stage 3 has also started, with the growing impact - good and bad - of cloud enabled social media an example of societal change.
We think it's too early to make this call, but we're not arguing with those who think otherwise.
