Alliances - imagativ.comimagativ.com/~optimala/media/Alliances Noel Advantage Consulting... · Optimal Alliances / Noel Advantage Consulting Building Successful Alliances Key steps:

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Optimal Alliances / Noel Advantage Consulting

Alliances: Growing Through Collaboration

Jeff Noel

Optimal Alliances LLC

845-901-7104 www.optimalalliances.com *

NOTE: * Target live date is May 9th

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New Paltz, NY

[email protected] [email protected] *

IBM Software Group


!  “Optimal Alliances LLC” -- aka “Noel Advantage Consulting”

!  Target market: “Companies seeking growth through powerful and profitable alliances” !  $50M+ annual sales in high tech related industries (NY Metro – worldwide) !  Accelerate growth in current market, new markets and/or new industries

!  Founded by Jeff Noel (2013): !  20+ years as an Alliance Executive at IBM !  Worldwide alliances in Public and Finance Sectors

–  Hardware and software –  IT Services

!  Grew IBM Systems revenue through alliances: –  Doubled revenue in 2 years (exceeded $50M annually) –  Created new joint solutions with partners

!  Technical and business background: –  MBA –  BS: Computer Science & Atmospheric Science

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Company Background

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!  What is an “Alliance”?

!  Why are they important?

!  What are some successful alliances?

!  How can you be successful with alliances?

Alliances are critical to businesses worldwide today

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Today’s Discussion

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!  Alliance (similar terms: Partnership, Collaboration, Joint Venture) !  “A pact, coalition or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to

advance common goals and to secure common interests” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance

!  (Strategic Alliance) “An agreement for cooperation among two or more independent firms to work together toward a common objective” http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-alliance.html

!  Types: !  Business to Business (B2B) : Two or more businesses !  Public-Private (Partnerships) : Commercial and government

!  Characteristics: 1.  Able to create something together that you are unable to do separately 2.  Longer-term than a “transaction”

What is an alliance?

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Alliance Definition

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!  Accelerating Market Changes: !  Technology is changing rapidly !  Clients are both more sophisticated and demanding !  Sales models and marketing are now evolving more quickly

!  Helping companies and organizations of all sizes and maturity to: !  Grow in current markets !  Address client needs with new solutions !  Create entirely new markets !  Drive innovation by leveraging core strengths of multiple partners !  Thwart competition

!  Key advantages: Speed to market and innovation

Why are alliances important?

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Value of alliances

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!  The commercial return of the ‘ally’ model is typically five times higher than the other two models*.

!  Organizations are increasingly turning to the third generation business growth model of ‘ally’ because it represents a more flexible and cost effective growth model. In addition it is easier to achieve in a recession.

!  *Source Booz Allen and Hamilton Research 1996 - 2002

The ‘Ally’ model outperforms the ‘Build’ or ‘Buy’ models:

Research supports the Value of Alliances

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2014 PwC study: Changes to partnering underway

In 2014 survey, market changes are forcing changes in partnering: •  44% of CEOs planning change •  21% of CEOs completed or are changing partnering now

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Partner for Innovation

IBM 2012: Leading through Connections Insights from the Global CEO Study

IBM Software Group


Successful alliances

•  Sales growth in existing markets: 250-650% growth in 18 months •  IBM – Microsoft : Software and IT Services •  Dunn & Bradstreet: Information

•  Accelerated entry into new markets: •  Starbucks: Great coffee - extend reach beyond stores with new partners worldwide – Marriott, United airlines, Barnes & Noble, Pepsi

•  New market creation through innovation: •  Philips and Sony: Created CD, defined standard and changed distribution of music

Successes

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Key Factors in Successful Alliances

Common success factors:

1.  Shared vision 2.  Senior executive commitment 3.  Clear measures of success 4.  Trust between partners 5.  Skilled Alliance teams

Alliance Best Practice Ltd research shows that while business models change, alliance success factors remain consistent.

What makes alliances successful?

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Building Successful Alliances

Key steps:

1.  Create an alliance strategy that supports your corporate goals

2.  Identify and recruit key partners that fulfill your strategy

3.  Design a partner program that is your infrastructure to build on

4.  Optimize your alliances

Optimal Alliances LLC provides expertise and services for each step

How to create powerful alliances

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Alliance Strategy

To create powerful alliances, companies must :

1.  Ensure alignment of alliance strategy with your corporate mission and goals

2.  Determine where alliances can help meet goals

3.  Gain senior executive buy-in and investment commitment for alliances

4.  Create metrics for success for alliances

5.  Document and communicate alliance status and contribution widely

Build on your business model and goals

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Partner Selection

To create the most valuable set of alliances, organizations must:

1.  Determine selection criteria by understanding your market, your position in the market and your goals

2.  Prioritize partners based on : market leadership, willingness to partner, contribution to alliance goals, ...

3.  Recruit partners that have a shared set of objectives

4.  Invest in the resources to manage, enable and succeed with alliances

Select partners that help achieve your alliance strategy

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Partner Program

1.  Create a governance model to all alliances

2.  Provide resources to educate and to sell with partners

3.  Develop communication strategy for internal and external coordination

4.  Enable continuous collaboration

Create alliance infrastructure to improve your efficiency

IBM Software Group


Alliance Optimization

Research shows the each partner in an alliance creates the greatest value from the alliance when they:

1.  Agree on important elements of your alliance with your partners

2.  Assess your present situation: each partner’s perception

3.  Determine if you are using best practices based from research *

4.  Create a plan to incorporate best practices in your alliance

5.  Build trust among partners

6.  Have an agreed to exit strategy

Optimize alliances based on best practices

* Alliance Best Practice Ltd: researched 100s of alliances for 20 years to determine the most prevalent successful factors for all alliances (cross-industry and alliance type)

IBM Software Group


Summary

!  Today’s market pressures and opportunities make “going it alone” hard to do, ie. investment required and speed to market

!  Research and recent successes show that alliances are powerful, help you meet your objectives and drive innovation

!  It is not hard. A proven approach exists to build and manage alliances.

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Use alliances to grow your business and create value

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Appendix

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Additional Information

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• Optimal Alliances Web Site

• Local LinkedIn group dedicated to Alliance Best Practices: ABP NY

• Alliance Best Practices home

Documents

Alliances - imagativ.comimagativ.com/~optimala/media/Alliances Noel Advantage Consulting... · Optimal Alliances / Noel Advantage Consulting Building Successful Alliances Key steps: