Businesses partner with each other in order to reap the benefits of collaboration. This could involve the integration of new technologies, the sharing of expertise, or the expansion of companies into each other’s markets. Business partnership norms are going through a period of intense upheaval. Here are four factors influencing the changing shape of modern business partnerships.
Partner Relationship Management Software
One of the great downsides of business partnerships in the past was the fact that they necessitated a great deal of extra work when integrating technologies, sharing strategies, and exchanging data. Partner Relationship Management software – known as PRM – allows for the automation of these areas. Automating multiple areas of partner channel management enables companies to efficiently merge their efforts so as to form a truly profitable relationship.
Migration To The Cloud
Information and resource sharing is one of the key elements of a good cooperative partnership. In recent years, companies have moved en masse to cloud-based computing and storage hosting. This mass migration has some big implications for modern business partnerships. Using cloud-based computing and storage solutions can enable the instant sharing of resources through the provision of access. Cloud technology enables users to access computing solutions and storage remotely – connecting to remote servers via encrypted internet channels. Although cloud technology is immensely useful for partnered businesses, great care needs to be taken to ensure that connections are secure. Information is vulnerable when in transit unless it has been correctly encrypted.
API Business Models
Application Programming Interfaces are interfaces used by software in much the same way a user interface is used by a human. They allow for the increased automation of information exchange. What does this mean for the future of modern business partnerships, one might wonder? Simply put, the efficiency of information exchange and data collection influences the efficiency of a partnership. API technology is so promising that it has spawned an entire API provision-based economy. APIs allow one program to effectively ‘work’ another. This means that businesses no longer have to spend huge sums of money making their software compatible with the software of a potential partner. Partnerships can become effective even quicker than before. Application Programming Interfaces enable modern partnerships to blossom incredibly quickly.
Co-Selling
Businesses have historically entered into partnerships in a limited capacity. These are typically known as re-selling partnerships. In a re-selling partnership, a product is created by one company and sold by another. This usually involves two separate business plans and minimal information sharing by either business.
More recently, co-selling ecosystem partnerships have gained prominence. In a co-selling partnership, each partner merges its strategies with its partners in an equal fashion. This is made possible by technological advances such as cloud and API proliferation. In a co-selling partnership, companies work together to corner large portions of the market, pool marketing resources, and share research and development information. They can provide holistic solutions to consumers by offering them the products and services of two or more companies through one medium.
