Beyond the Contract: Extracting Full Value from Technology Allies

In today's fast-paced business environment, partnering with technology vendors and service providers is critical for staying competitive and driving innovation. However, many companies struggle to fully realize the potential value these relationships can provide. Drawing from many years of experience forging and managing technology relationships, here are some tips for maximizing the return on your technology vendor partnerships:

Choose Partners Strategically

Don't just go with vendors you've worked with in the past or that are most well-known. It is important to evaluate potential partners based on their ability to address your specific business needs and support your long-term goals. Also, seek out vendors that offer specialized capabilities that complement your offerings.

Define Objectives and Metrics

Set clear objectives for what you want to achieve from the relationship and how you'll define success such as establishing performance metrics and processes for regular evaluation and feedback. This helps keep the focus on tangible outcomes vs just the transactional aspects of the partnership.

Prioritize Collaboration

Technology partnerships work best when there is meaningful collaboration between both parties. Foster open communication channels and knowledge sharing by involving technology partners early in planning and goal setting. Be sure to secure alignment on project timelines, requirements, and roles.

Leverage Partners' Expertise

Your technology vendors likely have insights and skills that your team lacks or are at minimum, complementary. Don't just treat them as order-takers and engage them as trusted advisors that can share expertise and perspectives to inform your strategy and planning.

Explore New Possibilities Together

Technology partnerships shouldn't just support current initiatives, but help unlock new opportunities. To achieve this, brainstorm and experiment together with partners on ways to innovate and create additional value.

Nurture the Relationship

Like any relationship, technology partnerships require ongoing nurturing to realize their full potential, so make sure to maintain engaged sponsorship, governance, and communications. Recognize and reward partners that deliver exceptional value.

By strategically choosing partners, maximizing collaboration, and exploring new possibilities together, you can drive greater innovation and get the most from your technology vendor relationships. This will ultimately translate to better business performance and competitive advantage.