Alliance Aces

How should you approach building a partner advantage program from scratch?   Should you focus on the leveling — your Gold, Silver or Bronze designations? And who should the program center on?   Well, if you want to succeed like Google, you need to marry a partner-focused and a customer-focused approach and highlight capabilities.   That’s how our guest today, Nina Harding, Chief of Global Partner Strategy and Programs at Google, tackled building Google’s Partner Advantage program from the ground up.    In this episode, Nina goes over: - The challenges and rewards to building Google’s Partner Advantage program from scratch - Why a customer-focused approach is so beneficial - Why partner capabilities matter more than levels To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: - Email: chip@workspan.com - Twitter: @chiprodgers - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Rapid growth is the epitome of the saying “it’s a good problem to have.”   Still, this doesn’t discount the very real challenges breakneck scaling involves.   And as the market landscape gets ever more dominated by SaaS companies experiencing explosive growth, it’s important we learn from their experiences.   That’s why we sat down with Katie Ecklund, Director of SI alliances at Snowflake, to see what her experiences can teach us about how to handle the challenges of the good problem everyone wants to have.   Over the last 3 years, Katie has brought her experience working at major organizations like IBM and even the US Army with her as she has overseen Snowflake’s ecosystem grow at remarkable speed.   Katie went over: - The importance of automation when scaling rapidly - How SaaS has impacted traditional resellers - How engaging with the community keeps everything running smoothly To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached

In many of the conversations we have about alliance partnerships, a few key things crop up.    Any healthy alliance program relies on aligning your needs with the needs of partners, enabling their success and making sure you can quantify your shared success.    Olav Schluter, Director of Global Services Channel Programs at Dell, has orchestrated these key building blocks into a symphony of ecosystem success.   He came on the show today to share how Dell achieved this and I think we can all learn from his achievements.    Olav covered: - What Dell’s Services Program is - How they tackled alignment and avoided competitive friction - How Dell enables its alliances - How metrics can be used to differentiate and provide transparency to the consumer   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:   - Email: chip@workspan.com   - Twitter: @chiprodgers   - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Modern software ecosystems have changed.   Ecosystems are no longer valued for the sheer quantity of solutions they offer — they are valued for, well, the actual value their solutions provide.   More doesn’t mean better; better means better.   It’s a key insight from our guest today, Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP. Tom has had incredible success at SAP, delivering more than $1B in revenue overseeing the Solution Extension program as it grows 89% year-over-year.   There are a lot of great takeaways from Tom’s success and experience and he shares many of them with me today.   - How to get your ecosystem management “just right”   - Why today’s software ecosystem preference quality over quantity   - Great advice for anyone looking to replicate his success   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:   Email: chip@workspan.com   Twitter: @chiprodgers   LinkedIn: linkedin.com

When discussing ecosystems, often the conversation revolves around what your alliances can do for you.   Yet, the conversation is incomplete without discussing your responsibility in the ecosystem. If you want a thriving ecosystem, you need to ask yourself: How am I adding value to my alliances?   Today’s guest Jenni Flinders, VP and Channel Chief at VMWare, says a great way to add value is to analyze how you can help your alliances differentiate.   We covered a lot of ground today, including:   - Why you should target alliance differentiation   - Why simple questions provide powerful solutions   - How enablement holds an ecosystem together   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:   Email: chip@workspan.com   Twitter: @chiprodgers   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

As in life, the only constant in managing ecosystems is change.   A company’s needs change as it grows and matures. Market patterns shift and evolve.   A successful ecosystem is one that adapts in the face of rapid change. And while adaptation can mean different things to different organizations, it’s something every ecosystem will reckon with at some point.   Holly Whalen is director of the Global Strategic Partner Program at UIPath, which has experienced a period of tremendous growth in the past few years.    Holly joined us on the #EcosystemAces Podcast and shared insights learned from her experience managing an alliance ecosystem through this growth in a constantly shifting market landscape.    She went over:   - Why in alliance ecosystems, sometimes less is more   - How adaptation is easier with the right alignment   - Why managing ecosystems demands a wide range of talents

Managing ecosystems and alliances comes with a lot of moving parts and a diverse set of talents and skills is required to make it work.   This is especially true when building the program from the ground up.   We invited Shubhra Sinha, principal at The Value Exponent, onto the #EcosystemsAces podcast, and she shared her expertise in building alliance programs from the ground up.    What we talked about:   - Why you need a strategic start.   - Why belief in the program is vital.   - Why long-term thinking is needed.   - How you measure success.   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:   Email: chip@workspan.com   Twitter: @chiprodgers   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

It’s a big world out there for the Microsoft Solution Provider (or MSP.)    There are dozens, if not hundreds of different solutions for every problem a customer might be facing, but one thing is for certain.    The cloud is here, and it’s not going anywhere.    Joseph Landes is the Chief Revenue Officer at Nerdio, and was a guest on the Ecosystem Aces podcast recently. He came on the show specifically to talk about:    - What he and his team are up to at Nerdio   - How they help onboard MSPs to Microsoft Azure   - The 3 biggest challenges that are most commonly faced by those MSPs when trying to migrate to a public cloud services like Azure. 

In a global world, with a global staff, and a global product, it can be tough to keep yourself grounded in what matters to EACH partner, can’t it?    You can’t operate in a one-size-fits-all mentality when you’re operating a partner ecosystem across multiple countries, cultures, time-zones, and even continents.    This can be particularly challenging when you’re a cloud company. Because you don’t actually have a “product” in the traditional sense of the word.    So how do you operate in the partner ecosystem as a “cloud-only” company? We sat down recently with Micheal McCollough, who is the Global Vice President of Channels & Alliances at Akamai. He was kind enough to be a guest on the Ecosystem Aces podcast and talked all about how being a cloud company has impacted the way they interact with partners. leading partners in different regions of the world, and some of the things that have worked well for them as an organization. 

Every company wants to grow. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mom and pop store, or a multi-billion dollar international organization.  At some point, every company wants to grow and get bigger. To serve more people. To bring in more revenue, hire more staff, and make a bigger impact on the world.  But for companies that have a large partner ecosystem, growth can present some unique challenges. A special set of headaches that, if you’re not careful, can drastically slow you down.  On this episode of the Ecosystem Aces podcast, we sat down with Cecilia Flombaum, who is the Worldwide Lead for Business Application Partners at Microsoft. We talked all about  Growing a partnership ecosystem at scale How partners are helping grow the business The biggest challenges they face in growing a partnership ecosystem And so much more.

How many partners are in your ecosystem?  Dozens? Hundreds? Maybe thousands? If you’re Microsoft, the answer to this simple question is in the hundreds of thousands. Upwards of 300,000 to be more precise.  As you can imagine, managing 300,000+ partnerships is no small task. There are a lot of things that have to go right. A lot of pieces that have to run perfectly in order to allow for an ecosystem of this magnitude to function.  That’s where Hannibal Scipio and his team come in. Hannibal manages business strategy for the global Partner to Partner team. He was a guest on the Ecosystem Aces podcast recently and talked all about  The challenges that his team faces.  What it takes to ensure a successful partnership.  The three step journey of the partnership.  And so much more.

Going from idea to app in just eight weeks sounds crazy, right? This seemingly insane timeframe is what Appian — an app development company — has built so many prolific partnerships on. Appian found what they do well and they can do it fast. Ultimately, their business model has produced numerous win/win/win situations for them, their partners, and the end customers. In this episode of Ecosystem Aces, I have the opportunity to sit down with Appian’s Commercial Partner Director (PwC), Ben Galego. Ben fills us in on:   How Appian offers partners such a quick turnaround His tips on managing a joint pipeline His #1 piece of advice for success in strategic alliances   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: Email: chip@workspan.com Twitter: @chiprodgers LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Alliance & partner managers: What if we managed our partnerships the way Amazon does? What if we created a buying, delivery, packaging, and customer success experience that was just as seamless as theirs? Perhaps easier said than done, but Justin Silvia is here to tell us his tips on building seamless customer experiences while managing complex partnerships. Justin Silvia is the Executive Director of the Strategic Partner Program at IBM. What we talked about: Ecosystems, alliances, and partnerships Trusting each other’s expertise Creating a unified experience for the customer Ensuring solutions provide value to every level of the customer’s organization Partner pricing Being an internal roadmap for your organization Alliance trust   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: Email: chip@workspan.com Twitter: @chiprodgers LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

On this episode, David Herring joins us to share his 3 “Es” of success within alliances. David Herring is the Senior Channel Manager of Partner Programs at Spectrum Enterprise. What we talked about: Engage Enable Educate Connect with the strategic initiatives of the executive team You don’t have to always be a perfect fit To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: Email: chip@workspan.com Twitter: @chiprodgers LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Mackenzie, Global SI and Channel Program Leader at Pivotal.   He came on the Ecosystem Aces show to talk about Pivotal, their partners, and how they’re dedicated to “partnering differently.”   What we discuss:   A consumption-first go-to-market strategy A 3-week training program partners want to explore How Pivotal’s unique go-to-market strategy paid off How do you measure success within alliances Small boutique partners vs larger SI partners Rigid joint selling  Joint strategy adoption Potential disadvantage of a larger integrator Rapid adoption Flexible joint selling

Microsoft has built a lot of great alliances, but they’re not stopping there.   They’re constantly coming up with innovative ways to increase their engagement with them, their partners, and all products within the Microsoft ecosystem.   On this episode of the Ecosystem Aces podcast, Jeff Fritz, Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft .NET team, joined us to tell us all about it.   What we talked about: Meeting customers where they are Microsoft started hosting morning talk shows on Twitch ‘Code parties’ How Microsoft used a scavenger hunt to promote their partners

If you’re considering a reseller/channel partner program, this is the episode for you. Marc Palombo joins host Chip Rodgers to discuss channel partnerships. Marc has worked with channels for over 25 years. Now, he’s the Reseller Program Manager at AvidXchange, a payment solution that's now working with over 540,000 B2B suppliers, which, according to Marc, makes it the largest B2B supplier network. What we talked about: Finding the best mix of direct selling vs. resellers can be a challenge Revenue share agreements Cost plus wholesale model Why there’s more creatively allowed inside of wholesale models There’s a control tradeoff when you engage with channel alliances You need executive buy-in from your alliance Actively seeking out alliances where your solution is an easy add-on   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: Email: chip@workspan.com Twitter: @chiprodgers LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

It used to be all about vendors, but not anymore. Now it’s about collaboration between vendors and partners, with partners taking on new roles every day. On this episode, I got to interview Gina Batali-Brooks, president of Is Inspired. What we talked about: New channel technology promoting process orchestration 2 ways Gina measures success Why simpfliciation is a competitive advantage Gina’s 3 best practices for promoting channel relationships To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to Alliance Aces here.    

When you’re delivering value together, you need to keep things focused on the customer. But before you can do that, you have to build alliance trust. On this episode, I interview Todd Dalton, Strategic Cloud Alliance Manager at Equinix, at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas. What we talked about: The eighth layer of the seven-layer OSI model — politics 3 ways to manage the complexities of alliance Promoting simplicity in your communication Why personal relationships and building trust accelerate everything To hear this episode and many more like it, you can subscribe to Alliances Aces here.

It’s not a one-stop shop anymore. If you’re not leveraging your whole ecosystem, you’re not fulfilling your potential. On this episode of Alliance Aces, I interview Carrie White, Director of Enterprise Partner Sales at Xactly Corporation, about leveraging alliances. What we talked about: The Power of Three (her three-pronged approach to working with vendors) Being industry agnostic and industry specific at the same time Xactly Exchanges Her three techniques for strategic organization, including being a bulldozer Focusing on what’s in it for alliances This Alliances Aces podcast features Carrie White of Xactly. To hear this episode and many more like it, you can subscribe to Alliances Aces here.