How was your last partner ecosystem team meeting?
Inconclusive. Right?
Don't worry. A lot of partner ecosystem team members across different organizations share the same sentiment. Frankly, it is not because of any team members' inability to run productive partner interlocks but because of the environment in which these interlocks happen. They suffer from a lack of transparency around business opportunities, lack of trusted data - often stored in disparate spreadsheets, no single dashboard of truth, lack of clarity on tasks and ownership, unlimited number of surprises, and no clear call-to-action at the end of the meeting.
At any given point in time, you could be working along with channel partners like Resellers/VARs, MSPs and MSSPs, CSPs, XaaS consultants, SIs, BSOs and consultants, Master agents/agents to co-market/ co-sell your products/ services. Creating an indirect sales motion is a complex undertaking with more moving parts than a direct sales organization.
While these partner ecosystem teams are focused on multi-million dollar business objectives, it is surprising to see how underinvested they are in technology platforms that could help them manage their business with great ease. The existing or legacy CRM systems of partner organizations don't speak to each other, securely sharing data is always a challenge, and there’s no standardized management system to evaluate progress and performance.
So what's the solution? Smart organizations around the world today are implementing EBM (Ecosystem Business Management) to address these challenges. These platforms offer a combination of software, methodologies, best practices, templates, and workflows that help manage and automate the business processes and relationships between companies, producers, vendors, and ecosystem partners. Accenture in their recent research on Building High Impact Partner Ecosystems, points out that creating a collaborative and engaged ecosystem is impossible without the right technology and platform. An ecosystem business management (EBM) solution is the right answer for today’s modern partnering motions.
Suggested Read: Ecosystem Business Management — Principles and Best Practices
WorkSpan is the #1 Ecosystem Business Management platform that connects partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to co-sell, co-innovate, co-market, and co-invest to drive revenue together. WorkSpan is organized around partner programs that can be managed to run end-to-end business processes - from ideation to development, to managing partner funds - all from a single interface.
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Nitin Mathur is a marketing maverick with an extensive experience in the tech, telecom, and consumer electronics industry. As Director of Product Marketing at WorkSpan, Nitin is on a mission to revolutionize the way businesses manage their multi-partner ecosystems with WorkSpan's cutting-edge product capabilities. Prior to his stint at WorkSpan, Nitin worked at various marketing positions at some of the biggest names in the industry, including IBM, Motorola, and Philips. He is also a tech enthusiast passionate about harnessing technology's power to solve real-world problems.
