Technology Partnerships & Alliances: Why It’s More Important Than Ever

In today’s competitive, rapidly changing technology landscape, business innovation and digital transformation are more important than ever. Solution providers and their corporate customers connect and engage in a complex yet increasingly personal model for investing in new technology and related services.

Technology and Services: Why Partnerships and Alliances Matter

Corporate customers typically have multiple stakeholders, key influencers, and technology professionals involved in every solution provider meeting – from the initial discovery call, systems overview, product demo, and budgetary proposal – through the competitive evaluation and selection process. Similarly, software companies and IT solution firms often choose to engage large corporate clients with one or more partners that can:

• Address unique technology challenges and improve business processes
• Reduce IT costs and provide a tangible customer ROI
• Help their team deliver a superior customer experience

From a technology provider perspective, time-to-market, and quality of the solution offering are key to realizing a positive overall customer experience and project success. See below for a simple yet highly applicable graphic summarizing Sisense’s “Build, Partner or Buy” decision model:

>>> See also: Attention SAP Partners – Digital Production Software to Improve Client Manufacturing Processes

As technology providers, we might view partner and alliance relationships in light of three Customer “Ps”: People, Process, and Passion.

People

At the center of every customer engagement, technical project, and communication are people. Every need, each requirement, stakeholder assessment and critical decision – are all made by people, with people, and for people. Bottom line, it’s imperative to keep people at the center of each partnership and joint customer engagement.

Possible objectives supporting the goal of a people-first customer approach might include:

• Enriching the customer experience through each step of the engagement
• Sharing and applying best practices that help the customer be invested
• Developing trustworthy collaboration at the beginning, to grow rewarding partnerships

Process

At the center of every good partnership or technology alliance is a focus on the process. Complex customer engagements, comprehensive software and professional services, budgetary and timeline considerations – all require a shared and globally acceptable method of delivering a solution that achieves end customer objectives and success with our partner. More specifically, this includes every stakeholder, influencer, and participant in the process itself.

As partners and their customer build this process and applicable deliverables/milestones, the customer engagement and project journey will inevitably benefit. Flowing from a solid customer engagement process, the partnership firms and customer alike will benefit from:

• Strengthening the value chain: the big picture benefit being greater than the sum of its parts
• Improving efficiency and execution: increasing the odds of an on-time, on-budget project
• Delivering experience-focused solutions: a positive customer experience is imperative

Passion

Remember: prospective partners and customers alike are drawn to and prefer doing business with, people who are passionate about what they do, and why they do it. What’s more, in the context of pursuing and delivering an exceptional customer experience, our customer stakeholders truly need and even want to see and hear our passion – not only about how we can help them, but about our products, services, and best practice experiences in the industries we support.

Customers want to know that we care not just about technology solutions, but about making their professional lives easier and more productive. Principles to consider include:

• Ensuring that our partnership makes it easy for our shared customers to do business with us
• Developing and communicating an excellent plan that delivers exceptional results
• Remembering that partners are customers, too – all are involved in realizing project success

Partnering with SEAL Systems

SEAL Systems values and pursues partnerships as a key initiative to help innovate customer experiences and deliver exceptional technology and project expertise in every engagement.

To learn more about a possible partnership with SEAL Systems, please contact us by submitting an inquiry on our Contact Us page here – or fill out the form below:

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