Alliance Aces

If you’re wanting fast insights into the future of alliances, this is the #Alliance Aces episode for you. We interviewed Chris Webber, a true Alliance Ace. He’s the current Director of Strategic Alliances at IDC. PReviously, he worked with Cisco and Nortel to manage global business plans and alliances. On this episode, he discussing the emerging trends of alliances, including the growing necessity of trust due to cloud implementation, the need for differentiation even with ecosystems, and the power off generalization.

Global alliance management invites complexity. Multiple sales teams, cross-cultural concerns, value propositions, differing visions …. The list of challenges alliance managers and ecosystem manager can face is nearly endless. But there is a solution: Create a joint value proposition. On this episode of the #Alliance Aces podcast, we interviewed Aslam Jamal, Sr. Director for Strategic Alliances in the EMEA at ForgeRock. Aslam showed us 5 ways a joint value proposition increases the power of an alliance to deliver true joint solutions for end-users.

The modern era demands rapid development. But to create a timely solution that meets demands, companies need a network of long-standing partnerships they can rely on. So ... should an alliance manager invest in long-term relationships, or seize revenue opportunities and develop partnerships as needed? It’s a real question, and it deserves a thorough answer. We brought in Ard-Pieter de Man, Professor and Researcher at Vrije University in Amsterdam, on the #AllianceAces podcast  — hosted by Chip Rodgers, VP Marketing and Alliances at WorkSpan. Here’s what Ard told us about the tradeoffs in long-term alliance management and opportunistic alliance management:

The number of alliances needed for a solution has grown: Joint solutions that have traditionally required 1 partner, now may require 4 or 5. Managing an ecosystem that has all the available partnerships for each solution, can be quite a challenge. On this episode, Helen Morin joins our host, Chip Rodgers, to share 5 quick tactics you can use right now to manage your expanding alliance network. Helen Morin is the VP of Global Alliances & Channels at SAS, where she’s worked for 17 years in alliance management roles, as well as technical and consulting positions. Prior to SAS, she worked at the Canadian Department of National Defense, and she also holds the coveted CSAP credential (Certified Strategic Alliance Professional).

Jay McBain, a Principal Analyst for Channels, Partnerships & Alliances at Forrester, gave an incredible keynote at the ASAP Global Alliance Summit about the coming wave of new alliances. In short, traditional partnerships have evolved, because buyers have changed. This new wave of B2B buyers isn’t struggling with their superiors to deal with red tape and a slow approach. They’re going right around the CTO and straight to the sellers … after they’ve done all the research. Our Alliance Aces host, Chip Rodgers, caught up with Jay after his talk at ASAP, and got a deeper look at these new buyers, and how that impacts the future of alliances. Jay gave us 3 reasons buyers and buying behavior are rapidly evolving, then he shared the opportunity for alliances. Taken from a Facebook Live interview.

Mike Nevin understands the principles of success in alliances better than probably anyone. Back in the late 90s, he and a few colleagues went all-in on alliances. They predicted that considering the continued waves of technological innovation, alliances were the future. Like we said … he went all-in on alliances: He became Founding President of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP) in Europe. He’s also the CEO & Founder of his own alliance consulting firm, and he’s the Managing Director of Alliance Best Practice, where he continually analyzes the best practices of the world's strongest alliances, and develops models we can all follow. We interviewed him live on Facebook for Alliance Aces, and you can catch the entire interview right here.

Your success isn’t only predicated on your ability to sell or commercialize your offerings. Your success is dependent on the success of your alliance, especially in any industry with tech at its core (read: every industry). We caught up with Marc Geall at SAP InnovationX in London. He's SVP of Global Platform & Technology Ecosystems at SAP. He came on the Alliance Aces podcast and told us this: There’s no success without partner success. You can catch the entire video interview here, or listen in for one stellar podcast.

Every alliance professional has had some form of this happen: Your boss asks for influenced revenue within a specific alliance or joint solution. The truth is: You don’t have an answer. The information is simply unavailable, because it’s buried in outdated spreadsheets, and hidden across you and your alliance’s businesses. Sound familiar? It’s not just you — every alliance professional has faced that situation. Matt Gale and Jason Boggs came on the Alliance Aces Podcast to share this and 2 other issues every alliance professional faces … and how they solved them. Matt Gale is the Director for Go to Market & Strategic Alliances, and Jason Boggs is the Senior Director for Cloud Ecosystem & Enablement. Both of them work at NTT DATA Services.

Validating and deploying a joint solution can often start to drag far past intended deadlines. The usual technical, marketing, and bureaucratic issues any deployment faces increase exponentially within alliances. But that doesn't have to be the case, says Joan Morales, Director of Partner & Technology Alliances at Nutanix. Consistently, his team has managed to validate joint solutions in a matter of weeks. How? He has an incredible methodology. On our Alliance Aces Podcast, Joan gave us his 4 keys to establishing a rapid joint-solution deployment model within every alliance.

Alliance management can be a somewhat lonely field. On one hand, you’re surrounded: You’re managing personnel from not only your own team, but you’re also working with team members from the other companies within the ecosystem. On the other hand, very few people understand your role — as an alliance manager, you’re in a high-level, critical thinking, strategic position between entities. It’s as if you were running your own mini-business between all the alliances. Chances are, you love the challenge, but it can be awkward at times. Norma Watenpaugh understands. She is the Founding Principal at PhoenixCG, which specializes in best practices for alliances and alliance managers. She came on the Alliance Aces podcast to discuss trends she’s seeing (and sometimes creating) in the alliances profession. (You can catch the full interview on our podcast. It was also streamed on Facebook Live at this link.)

Sometimes it’s good to sit down with a true pro, and ask the tough questions. On this episode of the Alliance Aces podcast, we sat down with Stuart Kalman, the Director of Global Alliances for Hitachi Vantara at Veritas. He has a long list of alliance experience credentials, including HP, as the director of their Microsoft enterprise alliances, and at Thomson Reuters as VP of Strategic Alliances. On this episode, he gave 3 questions every alliance professional must ask themselves before going to market with a joint product or solution.

Back at FKOM in Las Vegas we had the chance to talk with RJ Bibby, Global SAP - System Integrator Digital Transformation Officer with NetApp. In this role, RJ must create fluidity among hyperscalers, SI partners, SAP, and Net App, with consideration of the customer experience. On our latest episode of the Alliance Aces podcast, RJ talked with us about the challenges he faces as an alliance professional, and the steps he’s taking to overcome them. Here’s what he had to say.

If you want to unleash the full potential of your partner network, building alliances is the name of the game. There are few people who know more about alliance building than Amit Tiwari, Vice President of Strategic Alliances & Systems Engineering at Affirmed Networks. Affirmed Networks is the leader in virtualized mobile networks, which brings together mobile operators, service providers app makers and more. Today alliances are driving technological like never before. "I've spent my entire career in service provider connectivity and mobility roles," says Tiwari. "This is a once in a lifetime kind of a transition, where you have virtualization, cloudification, and 5G-driven ubiquitous connectivity." If you listen to this podcast you’ll learn about: New exciting alliance landscape. Use cases will drive alliances. Making the ecosystem profitable for everyone. Upcoming joint go-to-market alliances. The future belongs to alliance makers.

An Ecosystem can have a variety of alliances: tech partnerships, strategic partnerships, ISVs, MSBs, SIs …. the list goes on. Determining how to leverage each of these partnerships for maximum ROI requires a complex set of skills in resource management. On this episode of Alliance Aces we invite Tony Beller to explain how he manages his complex ecosystem at Anaplan, a SaaS company with over 175 partners internationally. Tony is currently the VP of World WIde Strategy, Alliances, and Tech Partnerships. In total, he has over 12 years experience leading alliances at Slack (Head of WW Alliances), Service Now, Salesforce, and others. Here are his 4 keys on forming and managing complex ecosystems.

Imagine you're sitting down with a potential alliance in Tokyo. This is a time when someone like Rana Kahl shines. Rana is multilingual and multicultural. She's lived abroad in Europe and in the Middle East. Just to give you a glimpse of what her life has been like, Rana went to five different high schools and lived in seven different countries. These experiences give Rana a very unique perspective that she leverages when building alliances. Currently the Director of Global Alliances at Appirio, Rana came on the Alliance Aces podcast to talk about turning relationships into revenue. She shared some key takeaways she’s gained by being immersed in new and challenging experiences throughout her career. Here's what she had to say.

Not every company includes alliances in their strategy. But strategies change. As companies grow, their methods of deployment, sales, marketing, or even their product or service, can evolve, pivot, or change altogether. Take sales. If your sales begin to outpace your deployment capabilities, new partnerships become a necessity. Yes, that’s a good problem to have. But it’s still a problem. And it’s exactly the problem Andreas Berthold-van der Molen was hired to solve. He’s the Director of Partner Alliances For Germany, Switzerland, and Austria at Infor, the third largest business solutions provider in the world in over 70 industries. Checkout his strategy of combining sales and partnerships to tackle ambitious growth.

The importance of alliances cannot be overemphasized in today’s fast-moving technology space. The good news is, if you are open to forming new partnerships, they can be found in almost any avenue of your business. This week we explore 3 fundamentals of a healthy ecosystem: Key Strategic Alliances, Micro-Partnerships, & nonprofits. Someone who’s an expert in all 3 is hard to find. But we found him. His name is Chris Peacock, and he joined us on Facebook Live for an interview with the Alliance Aces podcast. Chris is the CMO of Traction on Demand, Canada’s largest dedicated Salesforce implementation partner. Currently, they have over 3,000 live projects, and clients include big-name logos such as Patagonia, Time Warner Cable, and Wildlife Conservation Society. Chris speaks French, spent 7 years as a “Big” to Big Brothers, and, we just had to mention this: Chris is also a helicopter pilot. (For the Facebook Live Video with Chris, click this link.)

Every business has expectations…expectations for their clients, their revenues, and their alliances. But things rarely go as planned. Joel Maloff is Senior VP of Strategic Alliances and Chief Compliance Officer at Phone.com. He came on the Alliance Aces podcast to share about how expectations shifted for him: Some of his most valuable alliances came from the least expected verticals. He shared how he’s navigated the world of what he calls “bluebirds and blackbirds,” and turned the unexpected into incredible growth opportunities.

Alliances aren’t about providing your best solution. They’re about providing (and marketing) a solution that is greater than than the sum of what each alliance can provide — a packaged solution that solves a wholistic problem that is giving ample pain to your end-user. On this episode, we interview Peter Yost, Director of Partnerships at FourKites, a supply chain real-time tracking solution. Peter gives us a taste of what they do at FourKites, and explains how their solution is a small part of what the end-user is truly purchasing. FourKites tracking abilities are great, but when partnered with the tech of powerful alliances, the end solutions become game-changers in the supply chain industry.

If you grow up in Southern California, the chances are high you spent a lot of time at the beach. That’s definitely true for Dustin Avol, our most recent podcast guest. Dustin Avol is a professional beach volleyball player turned alliance expert. During the first part of his career, Dustin invested in pro volleyball. After playing professionally, he turned to broadcasting and commentating. He then moved into sales, and finally landed in business development. Currently, he’s the Director of Strategic Alliances at Smartsheet, a cloud-based work execution platform. He came on the show to give us an inside look at some principles he’s learned through his experience with strategic alliances.