Steps in Developing Your 2008
System Integrator Partnership Strategy

Most of you have started to develop your 2008 business plan.  As part of your overall I would imagine that most of you are (or should be) also re-looking at your SI partnership strategy.

In doing so, you should consider the following areas:

Value Proposition

• Communicate clearly your value to the SI community (why should the SIs work with you?)
• Map your products to solving business problems
• In your value proposition, communicate your value in solving a business problem vs. speeds and feeds

Developing (or updating) your SI target list

• Map the business solutions that you best support to the SIs that develop solutions for similar business problems
• Look at all SIs as a possible targeted partner, not just the household names

Marketing

• Map your percentage of marketing and communications spending and activities to your direct and to your SI partnership sales efforts
• Map your percentage of marketing and communicates spending to the percentages of how sales will take place (i.e. if 40% of sales are expected to go through the SIs, then a similar percentage of your marketing spending and activities should go toward the SI community)
• Develop sales and web tools that communicate your value to the SI community
• Develop (and maintain) a database of key SI contacts and use this for marketing

Events/Networking

• Research the 2008 events, activities and organizations in which the SIs are most likely to attend/participate
• Attend, sponsor and network

Compensation Plans

• Develop compensations plans that reward your Agency field reps and your SI BD reps to want to work together
• Remember good sales reps will work their comp plans to their advantage

Ask yourself these questions before working on your 2008 SI Strategy:

• Have you determined and developed your value proposition to the SI community?

•  Are your SI engagements strictly opportunity-specific?

• Does the general SI community really know who you are and your value?

• Do you know which of the SIs are best for you to target for partner development?

• Do you know the key stakeholders (that relate to your business areas) within these SIs?

• Do you have a database of SI contacts to support marketing and business development efforts? (If so, how good is it?)

•  Does marketing support your SI partner development efforts?

• Besides sales against quota, have you developed other ways to measure success in developing SI partners?

Let us know if we might be of assistance in helping you re-shape your 2008 SI Partnership Development Strategy.  Please contact me at 571-218-0288 or via email at slewis@pspartnerships.com. 

Happy partnering!

- Scott