A possible 6th theme came through in the responses I received to my question of last week’s post: the theme of transformation. Many people responded, saying that transformation is a challenge for them.
We know that alliances can lead the business transformation of an organization. In this case however, that was not the real challenge for the respondents. The challenge for most people, cross industry, is connected to transformations towards ecosystems. Respondents who work for IT companies also faced a particular challenge with a transformation to cloud.
Both transformations affect the way companies deal with partners. In the transformation towards an ecosystem, a multitude of partners will come in to play. Many of these partners can be loosely connected to the ecosystem, while in bi-lateral partnerships organizations have closer ties. These ties are most often secured through contracts and solid alliance management.
Cloud might be a single word, but it is a phenomenon with many different faces through many different providers. Transforming to the cloud for IT companies can mean that the need arises to add additional complexity layers to their solutions. A transformation possibly also comes with the need to select new tools, new suppliers and different partners.
In both transformations, organizations face the challenge to reconsider their partnership strategies with possibly the desire for a more complex management system.
Every partnership has a moment of transformation. A transformation in ecosystem, cloud, or in partnership. These are often challenges we can anticipate and thus prepare for. Think about it: how would you deal with these challenges?
PS: Ecosystem management and transformation are also part of the content of this year’s Alliance Masterclasses that are scheduled to come to Amsterdam, London, Helsinki, Singapore and Sydney. Click here for more information and registration.