The Simple Guide to Successful Partnerships

By Bernadette Lynch

A simple step by step guide for setting up successful and strategic partnerships in the software industry

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483580715

Book preview

Author

Introduction

For many years, I have worked as a partner manager in the software industry. My areas of expertise have included finding partners, building relationships with both software and service partners, and growing revenue. This book will help you to identify how to find partners and develop these valuable relationships in order to grow your business. It has been written as more of a primer or review for people who have either not partnered with companies in the past, are new at business partnerships, or are not sure if partnering is what their company or organization needs. Many people have approached me asking: How does one begin to partner with a company? How do I become a partner manager? The examples provided in this book refer to the software industry. However, the principles remain the same across most industries.

Most of the examples and references used are geared to a mid-size business ($500k-$2B) partnering with a small software and/or services vendor. However, similar processes work for larger organizations. The difference is the large organization may already have a partner program in place. As you broaden your experiences, you will find there are a number of smaller companies in the marketplace who can fill gaps in the existing application software companies of which you are accustomed.

There are many ways to partner with other software companies, and hopefully this book will give you the momentum you need to begin many successful partnerships. Although I did not want to use acronyms, there is a section where I have explained many used acronyms that are important and applicable across many companies. Your particular company may even have their own acronyms. However, it is important to understand the use of the ones listed here in order to have a better understanding of how to build a successful partnership.

We will look at the types of partnerships that exist in the software market, why it may be important for your company to partner, identifying needs, and the path to success.

We will examine, from the vantage point, if it is best that you become the partner manager or whether your company ought to initiate a partner program.

Within the book, I have included quotes from two colleagues whom I trust and with whom I have worked. Meg Smith is the strategic alliance director for a large telecommunications company and Laura Romero, a global business development and channels executive. Both Laura and Meg bring talent, valuable insight, and expertise of partnerships.

What is a Business Partnership?

According to Wikipedia (2016) it is when:

Two or more companies join forces in a joint venture or a consortium to work on a project (e.g., industrial or research project) which would be too heavy or too risky for a single entity; join forces to have a stronger position on the market; comply with specific regulations (e.g., in some emerging countries, foreigners can only invest in the form of partnerships with local entrepreneurs). In this case, the alliance may be structured in a process comparable to a Mergers & Acquisitions transaction.

In today’s market, it is wise to have business partnerships to broaden your awareness of brand in the marketplace. You will see various instances of this as we move forward.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of partnering.

Why Partner?

In our everyday lives, we all hear about business partnerships. There are airline partnerships, hotel partnerships, telecommunications partnerships, and the list goes on. Consequently, it is better to join forces with a similar company to be stronger, or even a competitor which may have certain strengths to complement the other. Almost every company and/or organization partners with other like type companies, or companies which may fill a gap in their services or offerings. It doesn’t matter how large or small your company is, chances are you may want to form an alliance with another company. I have found that almost all companies have business partners. Partnering with another company helps bottom-line revenue, increases brand awareness, and can be profitable to both companies.

Types of Partnerships

There are at least three types of business application partnerships including SI, ISV, and reseller that are most popular. The type of partnership that is best for you will depend on your company, goals, and market. If you are a software company, an ISV partnership might make the most sense as your software may either fill a gap or a need. When I asked Meg about the three most important parts of forming a partnership, she stated, We look at partners to fill a gap and/or expand in a new area where we do not have expertise. It is important to know how the parties interact and how they complement each other. Smaller partners have more flexibility, and are therefore easier to work with. They also have shorter legal agreement issues. We will talk more about legal agreements in the Contracts section.

If you are primarily a service company, then you may decide a SI partnership makes the most sense, as you may have people already trained to implement the vendor’s software.

You may also be a services company looking to help implement a particular type of software as a portion of a consulting solution you are offering. In that case, a reseller partnership may be what you need.

What is a Partner Manager?

A partner manager is a person who not only knows the business of your