The new hyper-converged IP environment is upon us and it is complex. No one provider can do it all anymore. But most integrators have shallow partnerships with other providers. And that does get a lot of network integrators by — barely.   

But more opportunity to capitalize on the convergence trends is here. Given the complexities of what we do, creating trusted partnerships with organizations that complement our solutions and allow us to expand outside of our own core competencies is critical. We all have one thing in common: our client. It’s not about you installing a network anymore — you need partnerships to pull it together.

Most clients today want options. With the maturing of service delivery models for these services in the industry there are a lot of qualified companies that want to work with partners to help deliver them to their clients. This gives the solution providers the opportunity to become the facilitator of excellence for their clients by vetting delivery companies and presenting them as trusted partners. Becoming a facilitator of excellence doesn’t just better you as a professional; it can positively impact your bottom line. Let’s examine just the business benefits and ROI potential of a partner collaborative business model.

In the traditional IT sales methodology, most integrators engage with their clients to understand how their solutions can match a client’s initiatives. When offerings and needs align, sometimes there’s a sale. (See Formula 1)

Typically, integrators in this traditional model do not work to build or leverage client relationships in order to understand and penetrate higher and wider within the client organization. In this model, integrators not only leave the door wide open for their more relationship-focused competition, they also do not provide strong strategic value to the client or their own business and, in the end, generate less dollar revenue per client interaction than companies that have created a partnership network.

Creating trusted partnerships with organizations that complement our solutions and allow is to expand outside of our own core competencies is critical.

The facilitator of excellence business model offers integrators the resources and opportunity to transform themselves into full-scale solution providers. The solution set available to the client of a partner-centric solution provider is expanded from what they can do themselves to also include what their partner network companies can do collectively with them. The business solution shifts in focus from what the integrator is capable of doing to what the client actually needs across a broad range of technologies, products and services. If your company does not offer a solution, you can bet one of your partner centric companies does.

Now the chance of matching a solution to a client need is multiplied by the number of partners and the numbers of solutions they deliver, and the opportunity for a sale at each client interaction is dramatically increased. (See Formula 2)

Solution providers in this model leverage the client relationship to penetrate higher and wider in a client organization, shut out the competition, provide strategic value to the business by being the one trusted person to call, have much more client touch points and in the end generate greater revenue.

The best way to go to market is to become a facilitator of the market. Are you ready to unfreeze your mind and make an executive shift? Partnerships (literally) pay off and enable you to become something more than you could be on your own. You move beyond being a client’s trusted advisor and become their strategic advisor.