Springtime for partnering this winter!

I'm amazed! I'm thrilled! Building lasting partnerships is really on everyone's lips this winter!

I've had the pleasure of advising several new clients this winter that wants to take a strategic approach to partnering and wants to become Best in Class. 'Best in Class' can be in a certain segment, or in a certain city or something else that makes sense for YOU. I've also had lots of interesting and enlightening conversations with both old friends in the ecosystem and with new acquaintances.

The message that I hear is that partnering is now considered to be far more important than ever before. And companies don't do partnering just because it's fun or for short-term wins, they do it because it's great for their business long-term and that's why the strategic approach philosophy is gaining popularity instead of the 'I-met-a-guy-at-golf-approach' that feels similar to buying a lottery ticket in terms of strategic value...

I see that the partnering movement is driven by a large collective of very talented people that all do a terrific job evangelizing the value. Organizations such as IAMCP , Partnership Leaders , The WIT Network , Women in Cloud , Ultimate Partner , Canalys all do a marvelous job spreading the knowledge and becoming arenas that welcome people that love partnering. Boutique advisory firms with experienced experts contribute to educating partners and provide lots of value for free as part of their marketing and recruit efforts. Together as a collective, they are very important for the success of partnering (and they often work together which shows that they practice what they teach).

A number of smaller technology vendors are also looking beyond their own businesses and are helping partners which is great for our ecosystem.

We see that the CPO title (Chief Partner Officer) has gained momentum and even if it's not yet part of every company's org. chart, it has gone from 0-60 in a short period of time. I started to write about CPOs last fall and based on the interest from people that wants to discuss more, I sense that this is taking off! (Fall Channel To-Dos: Build a Partner Ecosystem and Hire a CPO -- Redmond Channel Partner (rcpmag.com)) and The Hows and Whys of Having (or Being) a Chief Partner Officer -- Redmond Channel Partner (rcpmag.com)).

So what's next?

Well, I think that the AI wave will increase the need for partnering. Both because it's hard to find specialists to hire, so you need to open up to work with others - but also because there are so many things that needs to be done so it's better to team up with others.

The switch to remote work is also great for partnering because it's now widely accepted that people don't physically need to be in the same building to be able to work together. And when you accept this, it's perfectly alright that your colleague is in totally different geography as long as talk the same language.

Partnering is very much about working in a virtual organization and that's something that we will see more of.

This winter is indeed springtime for partnering!