Alliance Aces

Microsoft has built a lot of great alliances, but they’re not stopping there.   They’re constantly coming up with innovative ways to increase their engagement with them, their partners, and all products within the Microsoft ecosystem.   On this episode of the Ecosystem Aces podcast, Jeff Fritz, Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft .NET team, joined us to tell us all about it.   What we talked about: Meeting customers where they are Microsoft started hosting morning talk shows on Twitch ‘Code parties’ How Microsoft used a scavenger hunt to promote their partners

If you’re considering a reseller/channel partner program, this is the episode for you. Marc Palombo joins host Chip Rodgers to discuss channel partnerships. Marc has worked with channels for over 25 years. Now, he’s the Reseller Program Manager at AvidXchange, a payment solution that's now working with over 540,000 B2B suppliers, which, according to Marc, makes it the largest B2B supplier network. What we talked about: Finding the best mix of direct selling vs. resellers can be a challenge Revenue share agreements Cost plus wholesale model Why there’s more creatively allowed inside of wholesale models There’s a control tradeoff when you engage with channel alliances You need executive buy-in from your alliance Actively seeking out alliances where your solution is an easy add-on   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: Email: chip@workspan.com Twitter: @chiprodgers LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

It used to be all about vendors, but not anymore. Now it’s about collaboration between vendors and partners, with partners taking on new roles every day. On this episode, I got to interview Gina Batali-Brooks, president of Is Inspired. What we talked about: New channel technology promoting process orchestration 2 ways Gina measures success Why simpfliciation is a competitive advantage Gina’s 3 best practices for promoting channel relationships To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to Alliance Aces here.    

When you’re delivering value together, you need to keep things focused on the customer. But before you can do that, you have to build alliance trust. On this episode, I interview Todd Dalton, Strategic Cloud Alliance Manager at Equinix, at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas. What we talked about: The eighth layer of the seven-layer OSI model — politics 3 ways to manage the complexities of alliance Promoting simplicity in your communication Why personal relationships and building trust accelerate everything To hear this episode and many more like it, you can subscribe to Alliances Aces here.

It’s not a one-stop shop anymore. If you’re not leveraging your whole ecosystem, you’re not fulfilling your potential. On this episode of Alliance Aces, I interview Carrie White, Director of Enterprise Partner Sales at Xactly Corporation, about leveraging alliances. What we talked about: The Power of Three (her three-pronged approach to working with vendors) Being industry agnostic and industry specific at the same time Xactly Exchanges Her three techniques for strategic organization, including being a bulldozer Focusing on what’s in it for alliances This Alliances Aces podcast features Carrie White of Xactly. To hear this episode and many more like it, you can subscribe to Alliances Aces here.

Marketing is built on alliances — internally with every single part of the company and externally, both upstream and downstream.  The great thing about marketing is being in charge of what happens at the very beginning of that funnel and that engagement, but at the same time being a partner with every single subset of the business.  On this podcast episode (recorded live at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas), I interview Angela Jajko, Microsoft Partner Alliance Lead, and Rachel Beckler, Director of Marketing — both at Taos, a Microsoft MSP partner. What we talked about: How their marketing roles at Taos fit within the alliance ecosystem The mixture of internal/external alliances that marketing supports Ways to become a better alliance, including certifications The future of alliances at Taos Subscribe to the Alliance Aces Podcast here or on your favorite podcast platform

Alliances are key to our success. Most people think of partners as external, but the partnership between strategic alliances and sales is essential. My two guests on this episode about internal and external partnerships are Sanjeev Mittal, General Manager and Business Head of Data Analytics and AI, and Rajat Sinha, Senior Director of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships for Data Analytics and AI — both at Wipro Lmtd. What we talked about: How to make client-focused alliances by putting the client as your focus Alliance and partnering activities Integrating partner planning into annual planning How to build collaboration between strategic alliance and sales The great foundation of trust between Rajat’s and Sanjeev’s teams Subscribe to Alliance Aces at Apple Podcasts or in your favorite podcast platform

Last month at Microsoft Inspire we had the chance to chat with Bailey Cahill. She leads Global Cloud Alliances at Ensono, “the largest Microsoft partner you’ve probably never heard of.”  She came on this episode of the Alliance Aces podcast to talk about what it’s like to work with Microsoft and to share her tips for successfully managing that alliance. Here’s what we talked about: Staying organized Being flexible Using your partner development team Sharing info with your internal teams And staying passionate about your partners Resources we talked about: Ensono Bailey’s LinkedIn

Some companies are trying to figure out who can help them. When what they should be doing is trying to figure out how they can help others. I was excited to talk to Jay Vigeland, the Global Microsoft Alliance Lead for Sprinklr, live at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas, where we got to discuss empathy. What we talked about: Learning about others takes empathy Being human-to-human means showing up Personal connection is built on consideration McDonald’s All Day Breakfast and Sprinklr This post is based on an Alliance Aces podcast with Jay Vigeland.

Where can you take your startup from 18 employees to over 150 in just three years? (Not to mention nine offices in seven countries.) The startup nation: Israel, of course. On today’s episode of Alliance Aces, I’m joined by Shirley Ashkenazi, Director of Strategic Alliances and Business Development at Kryon, an innovative RPA (robotic process automation) company. We talked about how strategic alliances are everything to startups. “Very quickly we understood that in order to grow, we had to have a very strong alliance team from a skill perspective and from management commitment,” Shirley explained.

No one goes to market alone. It takes partners to deliver results.  Finding the right partner can be a challenge. However, when this is intentionally built into your business model it allows your company to work collaboratively and make the most of your resources. Jan Twombly is the President of the Rhythm of Business. She works in partnering with organizations as a strategic alliance consultant, educator, and researcher. Her work with tech companies primarily involves the facilitation of creating smart partnering alliances on their behalf. ROB has been enhancing their newest program called, partner readiness. In order to be considered ready, partnering has to be embedded in every aspect of the business from strategy, operations, mindset, and execution.  

Citrix isn’t your grandpa's Citrix anymore. They’ve made a lot of transitions over the past several years and have made a major pivot toward employee engagement.  What they’re delivering today is all partner based solutions. Obviously, that means alliances are key to enabling the success of these pivots and strategic efforts.  On this episode of the Alliance Aces podcast, we had the chance to talk with Steve Blacklock, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances at Citrix. He talked us through issues like, how alliances are helping to drive success for Citrix today, what metrics Steve and his team are focused on, and how they vet potential alliances.

Successful relationships are founded on give and take. You may be thinking that partnering with a non-profit organization is all give and no take.  Think again. GitLab’s Director of Technical Evangelist, Priyanka Sharma, fills us in on the benefits of partnering with a nonprofit in your industry. In this episode, we also cover open-source ecosystems, measuring alliance success, telling a meaningful story, and more.

In this episode of the Alliance Aces podcast we look at the exciting career of an industry icon, Mike Thomas.  Mike is the GM of Ecosystem Practice at ActiveWorld, a company that has transformed the ecosystem and alliance processes for tech companies. On this exciting episode we hear from an industry veteran who has worked with companies such as IBM, MIcrosoft, Cisco, and many other tech giants.  As he’s helped titans of tech create fulfilling partnerships, he’s also created a fulfilling vision with his company that will continue to create lasting change in the industry for years to come.

Are your strategic alliances turning stale? Oftentimes, we end up putting in more work to obtain strategic partnerships than we do to maintain them. It can be difficult to find the value we saw in them at first. Luckily, Airship’s Senior Director of Global Alliances, Forest Yule, recently discussed some key methods to cultivating more value from your partnerships. Listen here.

The IoT world expands exponentially almost daily. Companies are rapidly innovating and combining their technologies together to deliver on increasing customer expectations. So, how can IoT companies optimize their entire ecosystem to deliver joint solutions? We asked Bill Johnson this very question at IoT World 2019 on our #AllianceAces podcast. Bill is the Marketing Director at Teledyne LeCroy, and we asked him about how their partnering with amazing companies (like BMW!) to deliver powerful IoT solutions.

Alliance opportunities abound. Finding them can be tricky.  On this episode of the #AllianceAces podcast, Gary Bernier joined us to share several ways to find and succeed with alliance opportunities. In this episode, we discuss: Where to find alliance opportunities The necessary ingredients for alliance success How to use coopetition to your advantage

If you’re fortunate enough to be with a company that values alliances, the next task is to expand your ecosystem. It can be challenging to find the right partners, onboard them, and ensure the quality of the product and support is maintained across the delivery chain. Andrew Lezon met that challenge (and succeeded). He’s the Senior Director of Channel Sales & Partner Programs at LivePerson. He came on our #AllianceAces podcast to share how he scaled his ecosystem from 40 to 200 partners.

Why should you trust WorkSpan with your partnerships and alliances? That’s a great question. We don’t have 1 reason for you. We have 5. For this episode of the #AllianceAces podcast, Chip and Guarav did a special Facebook Live interview from SAPPHIRE in Orlando, Florida. They talked about transparency, the success of the entire ecosystem, how value differs from company to company, driving results, and sharing a single view of metrics. Gaurav Saini is VP of Network Success at WorkSpan. Chip Rogers is VP of Marketing and Alliances at WorkSpan, and host of the #AllianceAces podcast.

Any business wants to have good solid partnerships. Nobody gets successful all on their own, and establishing a good partner program is crucial to the success of any company, particularly in the software and technology field. But how do you go about building a partner program? How do you bring the right people along, provide the right levels of support, and structure your program in a way that’s beneficial for everyone involved? Matt Alvarez, Manager of Partner Alliances at SalesLoft, was recently a guest on the Alliance Aces podcast, and had some great ideas and examples that he and his team at SalesLoft have been focusing on as they build out their partner program.