Joining Chip Rodgers on this episode of Ecosystem Aces is Jason Eichenholz, SVP Global Head - Ecosystems & Partnerships at Wipro.
Chip and Jason discussed the B2E:Business to Ecosystem best practices, specifically elaborating on the following topics:
- Proactive Collaboration with Partners
- Hybrid SI
- Ecosystem versus Alliances
- Partnership Value and Trust
- Partnership Impact Measurement
Proactive Collaboration with Partners
When asked about Wipro’s partner program, Jason candidly shared that Wipro's previous partner strategy was "partnership by collision”. In the past, the company had looked for partners to provide solutions a client needed in the moment – nothing programmatic or proactive.
Now, Wipro has built a proactive partnering strategy, planning and executing collaboratively with partners and clients in all parts of the business, especially in their go-to-market strategies.
Largely due to this shift in strategy, Wipro has achieved tremendous growth recently, now at an annual run rate of over $10 billion. As Jason said, “We've had more growth in the last 18 months than we had in the last 10 years”. "The strategy is translating into more growth through partners and actually larger deals as well.
A massive improvement, and according to Jason, their partner program is all about bringing in new tech programs and solutions for their clients on top of their capabilities.
Hybrid SI
Jason said Wipro is like a “hybrid SI”, a mix of both a global SI and a regional SI.
Most partners don't want to work with global SIs. While these global SIs may have scale and dependability, their company sizes tend to slow down the sales cycle. In comparison, a Regional SI generally has a fast decision-making process, but doesn't have the scale to work with.
Wipro operates in the middle. It is a large and global company but is able to maintain an agile business process.
As a hybrid SI, Wipro can drive more revenue and create more opportunities for their partners. Consequently, their partners can provide them with more Wipro IP-based solutions and tech enablement, such as migrating existing legacy solutions to newer infrastructure.
Ecosystems versus Alliances
Most professionals see ecosystems and alliances synonymously, but Jason clarified that there's a clear cut between the two.
Alliances are one-to-one relationships in which the partnership accomplishes things for clients and moves on to the next deal.
On the other hand, ecosystems are made up of multiple parties solving complex customer challenges.
Ecosystems will typically comprise 3-6 complementing capabilities to solve a complex business issue. For example, in data solutions, you're not just implementing the solution – you're migrating data, accessing them, developing insights with AIs, applying advanced analytics, and so on. And ISV partner solutions could have played a part in any of those steps along the way to making the data actionable.
Partnership Value and Trust
Traditionally, partner programs are all about co-selling, pipelines, and revenues. Now, partners also enable companies to solve business problems and explore more business opportunities.
Wipro's partner programs are outcome-based, focusing on two things: bringing innovations with advanced capabilities and augmenting existing platforms with partner technologies.
"When we're orchestrating multiple partners together for our clients, it makes us that much more important to our clients, and quite frankly, it's a more interesting program for our people," Jason shared.
Partnerships based on value are essential for the tech services industry as these companies operate with hundreds of thousands of people. Wipro's partner management comes down to three core constituents: global account managers, partner ecosystem, and clients. Once these three constituents work together, it's always a win-win situation.
Jason shared that doing business with partners ultimately boils down to trust. Selling with, to, and through partners demands a 360° relationship.
"It's all predicated on trust. If we're not open and transparent with our partners, they're not going to be with us.
B2E: Business to Ecosystem & Impact Measurement
Wipro's best practice in creating partner solutions is to look at its core competencies as a company, build solutions from there, and bring them into its ecosystem.
For instance, while the company is already big on outsourcing operations, they're now focused on extending its solutions into automation, cloud, and AI ops.
On partnership impact, Jason cited traditional ways of measurement: closed deals, pipelines, revenue sources, customer success, and the number of opportunities brought in. But now, Wipro is also looking at indirect value: tech enablement brought by partners, tangential conversations, and more.
Jason cited WorkSpan’s significant contribution to partner impact measurement - the solution has bidirectional opportunity-sharing and leads-sharing technologies allowing for visibility and data at his fingertips.
Wrapping Up
On his advice for other partner leaders, Jason said it all boils down to trust and working with people you like.
Follow Jason Eichenholz on Linkedin to stay updated on his work with Wipro.
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
