This is probably the most mis-used and mis-understood term that I come across and that says a lot when you work in IT (where new acronyms and terminology are created daily). The term itself has so many definitions, that everyone can derive a different intention. 

For now, let’s assume that the majority are not referring to a ‘partnership’ where profits and losses are shared with each other and mutual investments are made in each other’s business, since this tends to be a rare phenomenon. 

On the customer side, the intent is normally to create an alliance with a strong player in the market that can be trusted to bring value to the business through their competence, whether internal skill/product based, or through brokerage of other suppliers, thereby reducing complexity for the customer. Suppliers however use the term to affirm their place in the market by advertising their ‘partnerships’ with top brand customers, so it’s always good to look at both sides of the coin when hearing about a new ‘partnership’.

But back to the question at hand. Why, after 40 years of IT outsourcing (a primary result of ‘partnerships’), is it still such a key discussion point? The answer is simple, it’s needed now, more than ever. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not promoting the classical ‘partnership will solve everyone’s problems’ discussion. I’ve been around too long and have experienced too many ‘partnership’ speeches to believe in that fairy-tale. I still cringe during presentations when large Service providers inform their potential new customer that they can be trusted to deliver everything that is needed from any vendor, or even better, they can do it all themselves. However, when looking at the continuing development in technology, change in consumerism, diversity of products and digitalization of business models, it’s clear that creating alliances in the right places is becoming more of a necessity. This unfortunately is somewhat in contrast to the views of many business leaders who actually perceive IT as becoming less complex due to the ability to adopt cloud based solutions, generally ignoring the complexity of integration that each new solution brings and the dependency on increasingly fewer people with a grasp of the emerging technologies.

Realizing which alliances are needed and where, is a mammoth task. Businesses do not simply comprise of straight forward processes, or concisely defined and stand-alone functions such as HR, CRM or Payroll, for which many organizations now have the options to engage SaaS or BPaaS solutions from an IT perspective. Even if such solutions are available, they still need to interoperate with the workplace, network, external suppliers & customers and a whole host of other business processes, requiring people, many processes and a high level of agility to make the combination work.

It is also important to realize what the internal capabilities and needs of a business are. Depending upon size and complexity, there may be an appetite to internalize by increasing skills to reduce, or at least more effectively manage the multitude of alliances that are needed. This is honestly the most difficult aspect of corporate IT strategy development! There is no best-practice, no silver bullet or magic to this. Every aspect of core business focus, available skills in the market, existing alliances, data protection and regulatory compliance amongst other topics, need to be evaluated. Whilst trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel, you need to ensure that your wheels are evolving to the next level (turning them into hover-boards or anti-gravity devices just sounds too much like Elon Musk, even if the analogy fits).

So, do I now present the holy grail of solutions!? No, I leave that presentation to the bold Service Providers inviting their customers to their latest seminars on their latest service portfolio and product launch. My request is rather to consider the question that I have posed and contemplate where your next step will be. Whether you’re a supplier contemplating the next sales pitch or a business considering in-source or out-source activities, deciding what kind of alliance you need or can offer is going to be key in the increasingly complex and diverse World that we live in. 

If you are a supplier, ask yourself:

• If I’m selling another wheel that just spins a bit faster, what value do I offer when they no longer need wheels? 
• If I’m brokering other people’s wheels, what’s my added value and can I really pull those wheels together to make a working car? (e.g. can you demonstrate where you have made a multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud solution work? Can you integrate the next cloud solution?)

If you represent a business contemplating the next step in the IT strategy, ask yourself:

• What can I really do to stay in control and what do I want to be in control of? 
• Where are the people with skills to manage tomorrow’s technology and who will they want to work for?
• How do I choose the right alliance for the different business needs? Who can help to identify those needs and the potential alliances? Sorry, couldn’t resist stating the obvious…and I’m available to help!

If you’re part of the procurement department, ask yourself:

• Am I just trying to buy cheaper, faster wheels, or will this supplier be able to deliver what we need to meet our future needs? I rarely see any analysis from procurement regarding supplier innovation/roadmaps and how they align to the business roadmaps of their own business.
• Why am I reading this when I should be developing a strategy for my company that shows which alliances will position us stronger an give more agility to meet our digital transformation needs?

Many thanks for reading to the end. Now please provide a comment on how you see partnerships or alliances developing/emerging in your area so that everyone can learn.