Significance of a Successful Partnering Ecosystem for ISV’s

Ecosystem is so important for all the constituents involved in bringing products to market and into the hands of customers. In today’s complex, highly distributed computing environment, organizations purchase software solutions, consulting, and systems integration from a variety of suppliers. While customers need to be able to purchase innovative solutions, they also want to be guaranteed that these offerings are supported through a concrete and strong ecosystem. This strong ecosystem ensures that the technology supporting these business partnerships operates without interruption so that customers are able to gain the same transparent consistency of service as these types of partnerships evolve.

What Is a Business Partner Ecosystem?

Business partner ecosystem is a network of partnerships between the OPD companies, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Regional Systems Integrators (RSIs). The network can also expand to include channel partners, infrastructure leaders, and other complementary software vendors. The goal of this ecosystem is to present a complete solution built on an integrated platform to the end customer.

While partnering ecosystems have become a primary business practice, all approaches are not the same. Successful partnering takes a concentrated effort by all parties to ensure that a partnership is more than a signed contract with no follow through. Many partnerships begin with the best intentions but end up being a disappointment to all parties.

What Are the Best Practices for a Successful Partner Ecosystem?

OPD companies structure their partnership programs based on a business cycle perspective. The programs should offer a variety of elements ranging from technical information to helping partners plan their business and identify new market opportunities. These programs should provide a level of technical assistance that helps partners achieve technical proficiency as well as helping them build on the infrastructure to create sustainable innovative applications and solutions. Once the partner has reached this level of sophistication, the OPD Company should support the partner with comprehensive go-to-market programs.

With this 360 degree view, successful partnership programs can meet the varied needs and expectations of the different types of participants in a partnership ecosystem. Participants in a business partner ecosystem should have the ability to move into new vertical markets and geographies and deepen their technological expertise in ways that may not have been possible without the ecosystem. When all these elements come together, the partners are able to deliver a stronger, more effective product to the customer

The key benefits of a successful partner ecosystem include:

1. With Strong ecosystem ISV’s can generate new business opportunities and revenues through improved time to market and faster market penetration.
2. With the help of Ecosystem ISV’s can able to build complex and sophisticated products.
3. ISV’s can provide complete solution built on an integrated platform to the end customer.
4. It provides a variety of avenues for technical support, including a developer portal, 24-hour help desk and email support, mentoring, and more
5. ISV’s can improve their software quality through best-in-class QA processes.
6. In the eco system, Partners who complement each other's strengths, develop synergy in goals and create new benefits for customers.
7. Engaging with an OPD partner enables ISVs, especially start-ups, to exploit the low cost advantage with limited early stage capital
8. OPD enables ISVs to gain instant access to the development team that can bridge the gap in skill sets, including high-end product design and development activities.
9. Experience in dealing with multiple products enable OPD providers to bring best practices and mature processes to the table

Conclusion

The partner ecosystem between OPD vendors, Independent Software Vendors, Regional System Integrators, and consultants are becoming increasingly important. Much of this demand is being driven by customers who want focused industry solutions combined with the assurance that their technology investment is protected. By combining these components together, the end result is much stronger than any one participant in an ecosystem.