Partner ‘Coopetition,’ Unlikely Alliances a Good Thing
… 5G internet deployments.
This is the “adapt or die” moment for the channel, and it’s now. The biggest challenge is understanding many former “partners” are now your direct competitors and accounts you may have worked on together are now fair game. It can make for interesting conversations with clients.
Michelle Ruyle: With the onset of cloud technology services, the swim lanes have become blurred. VARs, MSP and agents must redefine their go-to-market strateg[ies] and determine how they will support customers who are going through digital transformation. Adding staff with cloud expertise or finding the right partner who has the cloud-services expertise that can be leveraged are two of the biggest obstacles.
CP: Do you have an example of different partners teaming up?
MB: I’ve begun working with software specialists and other types of consultants who aren’t interested in selling technology but see the value of it for their clients. This is definitely new territory, but candidly the best partners are ones who are laser-focused on their business model, not being “all things to all people.”
MR: There are many companies – Peak10 + ViaWest (now Flexential) and Trace3/Data Strategy – [that] have come together financially to expand reach and services to customers. Companies like Sirius Computer Solutions has bought eight MSP/VARs in the last four years and is now a nationwide IT system integrator juggernaut with annual sales around $2.2 billion. There are companies, such as Michigan-based MSP US Signal and California-based 365 Data Centers, which announced a partnership that offers their respective customers more options for customized disaster recovery (DR) solutions. Lastly, master agents such as Intelisys and Avant have partnered with the VAR community, bringing them a cloud-services portfolio they can offer to their customers.
PB: We crossed the swim lanes when we found we started offering a VoIP solution to meet our clients’ communication needs. We offer that solution as part of our complete IT service package so that we are a one-stop-shop for clients. Instead of different organizations to handle networking, security or phone communications, we offer our clients a complete solution to all those needs. Another example is our relationship with SherWeb, a Microsoft Cloud Service Provider organization out of Canada. They sell services direct[ly] to customers but also work with MSPs like Tolar. They provide expertise, products and services like free email migrations to help our clients get on-boarded more quickly. We can focus on designing, building and managing the solutions our clients need to support their business[es] and they help us deliver them, so that we both benefit.
Throughout our industry there are examples of organizations working together in “coopetition” to benefit the client. Channel sales, up-selling, product bundling [and] integration arrangements are all based on this idea that by working with partners, we can provide more value to the client.
The classic example of coopetition would be the partnership between Microsoft and Intel. They might technically be competitors, but by combining forces they were able to build a better and more complete product. And closer to home for us, software application vendors like Microsoft and Intuit could service their customers across geographies directly, but at great cost and with …