Strength in numbers: The Partnering Approach (
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Partnering among solution providers opens up an ocean of opportunity.Third Eye Technologies' longtime customer, a property management company, needed the solution provider to quickly and simultaneously change the Web sites of 15 hotels it had just acquired in eight cities.
Third Eye, which employs 10 people, didn't have the resources for the task. But the VAR, based in Nanuet, N.Y., did not want to let down its customer and miss out on the opportunity for added revenue and to strengthen the customer relationship, said Third Eye President Stephen Alexander. For help, Third Eye turned to distributor Tech Data's TechSelect network and used its partner locator to find Web-savvy solution providers outside its region.
"Three hours later, we called the customer back and said, 'We can do it,'" Alexander said. "Some of the partners we already knew. Some of them we didn't. But we knew that as part of TechSelect, at the very least, they'd be upfront and honest about their capabilities."
Third Eye's story is one of countless examples of solution providers' partnering with like-minded, noncompeting VARs to support clients outside their geographic regions, deliver services and solutions outside their scope of expertise, and share best practice in technology and business processes.
In some cases, vendors and distributors are facilitating this practice by playing matchmaker to the solution providers. Some matchmaking programs are highly sophisticated with tools to help VARs form alliances, while others are more dependent on word-of-mouth and a vendor's channel sales team's knowledge of its partners.
"No one individual or organization succeeds alone anymore," said Sam Biardo, CEO, president and founder of Technology Advisors, a Chicago-based CRM (customer relationship management) consultant and a member of Consilience Global Partners. Consilience is a recently formed alliance of business management software integrators with offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas and Barcelona, Spain.
Teamwork
For many solution providers, working as an island in an ocean of opportunity is counterproductive, limiting the benefits for the customer or the VAR. Successful partnerships expand geographic reach and provide the ability to brainstorm, share strengths such as marketing, and tap other providers' expertise. Partnerships, especially formal multicompany arrangements, increase buying power and reduce product costs.
Consilience, which also includes Brainsell Technologies, Baytek, Castle CRM and Lexnet Consulting Group, allows members to tap each other's technical and business skills, said member Tony Castle, president of New York-based Castle CRM. For example, when it won a CRM contract in California, Lexnet Consulting of San Francisco asked Castle CRM to provide a complementary mobile solution, Castle said.
By working together, Consilience members feel empowered to challenge larger integrators for some contracts, Biardo said. In addition, the alliance can negotiate better pricing from suppliers by buying in bulk, said Castle. "It doesn't hurt to be able to talk volume," he added.
Some channel players are partnering to reach new opportunities across state lines or across the globe. Cyberia, a South African value-added distributor and VAR, has worked extensively with Dimension Data, also of South Africa, which has offices in 30 countries on six continents.
Network integrator Cyberia has implemented Entuity's suite of network management solutions at Dimension Data client sites in both the United States and United Kingdom, said Tony Rolston, group sales director at Cyberia. Dimension Data relies on Cyberia for this without fear of competition because of Cyberia's narrow technology focus, Rolston said.
"A local partner always has a role in global deals," said Rolston. "Larger companies don't want to be in niche areas. There's always room for the smaller, more specialized company like us."
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