Profitable Partnerships

How many of us haven't used the "one throat to choke" message in our sales pitches? We all use it, and that's because we're playing a trusted adviser role and positioning our companies as total solution providers. But in today's IT environment, where the complexity of products and infrastructures continues to increase, partnering with other solution providers is becoming a necessity.

Smaller firms, in particular, often face the challenge of building expertise in-house, which makes finding qualified technical and sales resources an ongoing issue. A strategic approach to alliance management can solve many of these challenges and position solution providers to win deals.

In 2002, the IT industry was in a slump. IT service providers and vendors were searching for ways to grow revenue and market share, and ZSL was no different. We chose to focus on high-growth technology and domain verticals. Being a midsize company, we faced a familiar challenge--how to build the in-house technical and sales expertise necessary to pursue, win and service clients.

ZSL had experienced success in offering professional services via partnerships in the past, and it only made sense to formalize a partnership structure called "Get IT Together" to quickly create a new network for value-added partners, which has enabled us to extend our IT service offerings across specific verticals without having to ramp up technical and sales resources.

Partnerships have enabled us to win business we would not have otherwise had the chance to get. By choosing partners with differentiated and complementary skills, and those that are committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction, we have not had issues with account control, but instead have an extra set of eyes and ears focused on the account.

We are dedicating presales technical resources to support our partners' sales teams without having to involve their technical resources, which helps to ensure the longevity and growth of the relationship. Making peer-to-peer partnerships work requires that both parties have a common agenda.

Success is a natural outcome of keeping the lines of communication open, maintaining executive involvement and a realistic approach to teaming. Put in the time to ensure that the first joint project is a success and it will develop a momentum of its own.

Shiv Kumar is executive vice president of ZSL (VARBusiness 500 No. 318) in Edison, N.J.