PSP Channel Insights
Strategies & partnerships central to doing business with the public sector

Fifteenth in a Series of Newsletters
Addressing Building Effective Partnerships


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

About PS Partnerships

President and CEO Scott W. Lewis has more than 15 years of experience in public sector information technology. As Group Publisher of Government Computer News and Washington Technology, Vice President of INPUT, Vice President of Partner Development of Micro Warehouse Gov/Ed and Vice President of ENC Marketing & Communications, Lewis has worked with numerous information technology firms in the development and execution of their channel/partnering business and marketing strategies into the Public Sector (Federal, State & Local)

Over the years, Lewis found that many companies either did not understand how or had difficultly in establishing the partnerships and teaming relationships that are absolutely critical for success in the government market. So he established PS Partnerships in July 2005 to focus directly on helping companies build strategies and partnerships for doing business in the public sector.

For more information about the services PS Partnerships provides, please contact us:
PS Partnerships LLC
607 Knollwood Drive
Falls Church, VA  22046
Scott Lewis, President and CEO
PHONE: 571.218.0288
slewis@pspartnerships.com

www.pspartnerships.com