Since we are talking ecosystems, I think there is a very Darwinian answer. Those businesses that adopt an ecosystem model will be more successful in serving customers and more resilient during uncertain times. They will survive and respond better to emerging opportunities than companies that still believe they can go it alone. However, to be successful [...]
Businesses are coalescing into ecosystems and becoming more interconnected, dynamic and interdependent. This trend began well before the pandemic but has accelerated in the past year. The trend is driving a reexamination of how we manage our businesses, employees and partners as we adjust to this environment. An ecosystem business model requires a more agile, [...]
As recently published in Forbes.com Finding your "North Star" is a concept co-opted from agile methodology. The North Star in this context is a vision or goal that provides guidance to fast-moving, self-directed, agile teams. As agile has expanded its influence from teams to enterprises, the concept of a guiding North Star becomes crucial in [...]
Published by TIDWIT Inc. at June 2, 2020 An interview with Norma Watenpaugh, CEO & Founding Principal, Phoenix Consulting Group Q: You have been involved with the channel and emerging ecosystems for some time. How has the concept of partnership evolved over the past several years? NW: I would not say the concept of partnership has evolved so [...]
Small businesses have been unusually hard-hit in these uncertain times. The dynamics of the partner ecosystem is that most of the partners are small business and they serve small businesses. Being a small business myself, I know how precarious cash flow can be. Many of these businesses are seeing their revenues shut down as their [...]
Building a partner ecosystem is hard. But what's harder than building an ecosystem? Building a culture that supports an ecosystem strategy. I spoke with one executive who was responsible for building the partner ecosystem at a well-known payroll processor, and our discussion perfectly illustrated this challenge. The executive's decades-old company was expanding beyond payroll processing [...]
as published in Forbes.com. As we enter an "Era of Ecosystems," we need a different approach and thinking to manage these multi-dimensional and multi-lateral business relationships. I believe the partner management processes that have been developed as a profession are still relevant, but we do need to rethink how we apply them. Nine-way governance models [...]
In early 2018, my colleague Laura Powers, an Agilest Icon, and I held a workshop on Agile Partnering. One of our attendees was Kristina Scott, Sr. Director Partner Enablement, Marketing, Operations at Seclore. Seclore is an emerging security software startup with a broad ecosystem of channels, technology alliances and OEMs. A year after the workshop, [...]
or How to Build to Build Partner Ecosystems for Agility, Innovation and Growth in Your Business as published in Forbes.com. As someone who has been architecting and managing business partner ecosystems for more than 30 years in the tech industry, I am quite interested in the attention ecosystems have been receiving from management pundits of [...]
Partnerships are about creating new value that could not be easily achieved alone. So the focus of negotiations should pivot on partner math 1 + 1 > 3. Your first discovery conversation with a potential partner is usually about how you create more value together. Then, how do you each realize value in the partnership. [...]