Ecosystem Aces

The meaning of partnership has changed over the course of this year. Without trust, empathy, and the right perspective about a problem, we aren’t going to be able to cooperate, much less innovate to make a difference in the world.
In this episode, I interview Parul Patel, Managing Director, Customer Love at Slalom, about partnership trends and wins this year.
Parul talked with me about:
Working with partners to build innovative solutions for customers
The new meaning of business transformation
How a multi-way partnership is helping women access fertility treatment around the US
How the disruption of COVID has changed the way we think about partnering


To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:
 
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @chiprodgers
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Managing a global alliance program presents new sets of challenges. 
  
You need enough structure to keep everything running smoothly while still offering partners enough flexibility to accommodate their unique needs.  
  
To succeed, your operating model needs to be “globally defined, regionally aligned.”  
  
In fact, that’s the mantra at ServiceNow, where our latest guest, Dan Gallivan, is Vice President, ISV and Technology Alliances — Global Alliances & Channel Ecosystem. 
  
In this episode, we discuss: 
  
- The 2 foundational components of every successful partner program 
  
- How to overcome regional and cultural barriers when partnering internationally 
  
- Why success in building joint solutions requires stepping out of the enterprise-customer paradigm 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Your ability to build solutions together with partners determines your ability to deliver on customer success.  
  
Because a healthy ecosystem with win-win partnerships drives value to customers, as well as your business. 
  
In this episode, Abhay Kumar, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development and Ecosystem at SAP, explains SAP’s approach to a holistic ecosystem.  
  
Abhay also explains: 
  
- How partners use the SAP cloud platform to build solutions.  
  
- How partner ecosystems offer competitive advantages to customers. 
  
- How to build scalability and resilience into software. 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

When you want to test the health of your ecosystem…  
  
You need to look at more than sales. 
  
In this episode, PJ Bishop, Vice President of Partners, Accountants and Alliances: Africa and Middle East at Sage, explains why Sage is reengineering the entire way they measure ecosystem success. 
  
PJ explains: 
  
- How to reengineer a partner program to prioritize more than sales 
  
- How Sage is sourcing skills from local universities 
  
- The benefits of operating a global business in Africa 
 
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
   
 Email: [email protected] 
 Twitter: @chiprodgers 
 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

How do your partners measure up? 
  
Whether you’re measuring every one or just your largest…  
  
The more of the data you can share with your partners, the more successful they will be.  
  
It’s something Meg Brennan learned as Sr Director of Global Channel Operations at Riverbed Technology, where the dashboards she shared drove successful behavior for partners.  
  
In this episode, we discuss: 
  
- How data drives behavior 
  
- How to keep track of what’s happening partners, their leaders and their managers 
  
- How to streamline the approval process for partners 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

The ecosystem has changed a lot over the past 30 years.  
  
The democratization of technology has allowed for IP creation at scale and demands continuous enablement. 
  
It’s all about bringing the right solutions to the customers and innovating with partners.  
  
In this episode, I’m speaking with someone who has been a vital part of that change: Rob Sparno, Head of Strategic Alliance - North America at Sage.  
  
Rob has had a long and illustrious career in many partnering areas, including Salesforce, Oracle and Microsoft and is truly a champion of the ecosystem.  
  
We discuss: 
  
- How innovation and the democratization of technology will shape the ecosystem’s future 
  
- Why enablement is the only way to manage the speed and scale of today’s ecosystem 
  
- Rob’s top 3 most critical tips for up-and-coming partner leaders 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

Everyone knows to keep an eye on their competitors... 
  
But how many of us are on the lookout for threats outside our industry? 
  
Our guest today is Leslie Shannon, Head of Ecosystem and Trend Scouting at Nokia, a company that knows all too well what happens when you ignore these threats.  
  
And now Leslie is heading up the team making sure it can never happen again.  
  
In today’s episode, Leslie covers: 
  
- Why you need to look outside your industry for threats and opportunities 
  
- How 5G is set to change the world (and why the paranoia is comically unfounded) 
  
- The 4 biggest shifts in ecosystem trends today 
  
Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: 
  
- www.open-ecosystem.org  
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
Email: [email protected] 
  
Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

It’s inevitable that most companies will move to the cloud.  
  
But COVID-19, government adoption and other worldwide events have conspired to ensure that transition will come faster than anyone predicted. 
  
And alliance ecosystems are going to play a pivotal role.  
  
To explain why, I spoke with Shivkumar Subramaniam, former Vice President and Geography Head at Mindtree. 
  
Shiv went over: 
  
- How COVID-19 is fast-tracking cloud migration 
  
- The challenges worldwide to cloud migration 
  
- Why government adoption is the biggest driver of cloud migration 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

If you want to learn the best ways to do something, you need to turn to the experts.  
  
You need to turn to the people and organizations with the kind of wisdom that can only be gained through years of experience. 
  
So, when it comes to managing partnerships, you turn to Microsoft. 
  
That’s why I am so happy I got a chance to sit down with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft in our latest episode.  
  
David’s experience managing partners in the leading organization in the space makes him the expert to talk to. And at a time when the world is changing so dramatically, so rapidly, who better to turn to than a company that has weathered numerous global crises over the years? 
  
We had a chance to discuss: 
  
- The lessons learned from Microsoft’s 35 years in partnerships 
  
- How partnerships are evolving under COVID-19 
  
- The 3 pillars of nurturing talent 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
Email: [email protected] 
  
Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers

The COVID-19 crisis has changed things for everybody.  
  
The race for innovations to guide us through to safety includes everyone. 
  
Interestingly, security, innovation, and inclusion are also key elements of any successful alliance program.  
  
On our show today, I spoke with James Gordon, GM of Ecosystem Strategy & Business Development at Intel, to discuss how these very topics guide Intel’s work in their partner ecosystem.  
  
We covered: 
  
- How to keep your ecosystem secure 
  
- What COVID-19 means for innovation 
  
- Why inclusion should be a top priority, both inside and outside your company 
  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by: 
  
- Email: [email protected] 
  
- Twitter: @chiprodgers 
  
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers