Joining Chip Rodgers on this episode of Ecosystem Aces is Carola Cazenave, Business Advisor and Board Member at LATECH Digital Services and former Vice President of Global BP Ecosystem at Pegasystems.
In the podcast, Carola and Chip discussed building the best partnership strategy, specifically elaborating on the following topics:
- Cross-Country Partnerships
- Shaping Partner Organizations
- Building a Career in Ecosystems
- Best Ecosystem Practices
Cross-Country Partnerships
Having worked with large companies like IBM and Pegasystems, Carola has a global perspective and is now dedicated to helping Latin American companies become global with US partnerships. She's fulfilling this goal by working with LATECH–a software development company that builds mobile applications, websites, and content sources for clients.
US and Latin American partnerships provide an efficient business solution among companies. US businesses can save on the cost of services, access diverse talent, and work in a similar time zone with nearshore operations. And on the other side of the partnership, Latin American companies can build products for the US market and eventually reach more clients through their partner relationships.
Carola's partnership vision has already been verified to be effective, as LATECH now has two successful projects with Somnio, a US-based B2B marketing agency.
Carola also shared the most significant importance of diversity that US and Latin American partnerships bring within the industry–it creates more potent visions for professionals. Carola also takes pride in assembling a great team grounded in diversity, inclusion, and dedication for Pegasystems.
Shaping Partner Organizations
One of the most significant innovations brought by Carola in the ecosystem sphere is her go-to-market transformation plan for Pegasystems.
Carola helped Pegasystems fully leverage its partnerships by expanding its ecosystem. Now, the company doesn't just approach partners traditionally, but enables them to help in co-building, co-selling, and co-delivering solutions.
She shared her three-part plan: engaging partners early in the deals, creating the infrastructure or a portal for partner programs, and establishing new revenue streams.
With this ecosystem model, the company has now fully transitioned into a SaaS business, providing solutions for its clients instead of just selling products.
Connecting the Players
Carola introduced the "client first, partner-centric" strategy at Pegasystems as it applies to connecting with partners and clients. In this approach, clients are the top priority, but companies should always also consider how partners can help provide solutions as well.
In order to facilitate this strategy, Carola created the Technical Sales Enablement practice, with which they train Pegasystems sellers to work with partners to differentiate themselves from other vendors. This also gives excellent value to Pega in its partnerships.
Carola also introduced the Partner Origination Plan (POP), an organization structure involving planning co-origination, co-working, and co-selling strategies to ensure clients get what they need from Pegasystems and its partners.
Connecting the Players
Carola introduced the "client first, partner-centric" strategy at Pegasystems as it applies to connecting with partners and clients. In this approach, clients are the top priority, but companies should always also consider how partners can help provide solutions as well.
In order to facilitate this strategy, Carola created the Technical Sales Enablement practice, with which they train Pegasystems sellers to work with partners to differentiate themselves from other vendors. This also gives excellent value to Pega in its partnerships.
Carola also introduced the Partner Origination Plan (POP), an organization structure involving planning co-origination, co-working, and co-selling strategies to ensure clients get what they need from Pegasystems and its partners.
Best Ecosystem Practices
For Carola, the best way to approach problems and identify activities that are not working is to address them immediately. This will ensure mutual success for the company and its partners.
Creating a partner plan based on joint goals and defining the process and metrics the companies will follow is a strategic way to avoid problems from the start.
Wrapping Up
Chip applauded Carola's contribution not just to Pegasystems but to the entire community of ecosystems – the "client first partner-centric" approach, the POP, and creating a metric-based partnership.
For Carola, partnerships come down to focusing on a goal that will create a win-win situation for everyone.
Follow Carola Cazenave on Linkedin to stay updated on her work with LATECH and Pegasystems.
Links & Resources
- Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
- Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcast.
- Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
- Find insightful articles on leading and getting the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog.
- Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management
- Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds
- To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: chip@workspan.com
