Ecosystem Aces

The three stages of creating a robust partner ecosystem are start-up, scale-up, and scale-out. A start-up is going after joint accounts, scale-up is opening the door a bit more, and scale-out is really expanding. 
Which stage are you in? 
In this episode, we speak with Satish Shenoy, Regional Vice President, Strategic Technology Alliances & Partnerships at Blue Prism, about building a technology partner ecosystem that creates true innovation. 
In this episode, we discuss:
Criteria for creating good sales-in opportunities
Creative steps for co-selling
3 stages for building a partner ecosystem to be proud of
Incentives, measurement, and higher ROI  


Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you: 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda  


Links & Resources 
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog.
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management.
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds.
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]  


This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.  
WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

Helping people safely and securely access the connected world through the internet is no small feat, but one of the highest importance. To achieve this, it takes the right kind of leadership and the right partners. 
Ben Goodman, Senior Vice President, Global Business and Corporate Development at ForgeRock, discusses the challenges of aligning partners, scaling, tracking the pipeline, and what’s next for the company. 
In this episode, we discuss:
The current projects at ForgeRock and what’s on the horizon
Managing and aligning 130 partners
Scaling with intention  


Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you: 
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP.   


Links & Resources 
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing. 
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, St itcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]   


This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.   
WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

Handling a partner ecosystem is a complex undertaking on the best of days.  
Handling a partner ecosystem as your organization is experiencing hyper-growth adds even more complexity. 
But the rewards for overcoming the challenges posed by this complexity are well worth the effort. 
Just ask today’s guest, Ally Murtlow, National Channel Director at Dialpad, a company whose channel team has increased over 400% since the beginning of 2020.  
In this episode, we discuss:
The interplay between rapid growth and alliance ecosystems
Why everyone in Dialpad’s channel team has to be demo-certified
How hiring strategically has fueled Dialpad’s tremendous growth  


Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you: 
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP  


Links & Resources 
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]  


This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.   
WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

In any partnership, both parties need to trust and understand each other — and they both need to have a stake in the outcome. 
But in an alliance ecosystem, there are often key stakeholders that get neglected, whose buy-in is critical to success. 
And a partnership will never sail without getting every stakeholder on board. 
Andrew Massad, Vice President, Alliances & Corporate Development at Leanplum   
In this episode, we discuss:
Why partnerships require every stakeholder’s involvement
Why it’s not what your partners can do for you, but what you can do for them
How to take a data-driven approach to choose partners 


Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you: 
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP  


Links & Resources 
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing .
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected] 
This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.  
WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

When it comes to alliances, it used to be the case that many were waiting on the technology to catch up.

Now, we’re waiting for people to catch up to the technology — which means leadership needs to craft partner-centric cultures that align with these advancements.

But it’s worth the effort — because a core competency in partnering is a core competency in anything.

So says Mark Birgman, Author, Sp eaker & CEO at PARTNERNOMICS , who joins the show today to share the many insights he gained from a long career in partnering that spans heading Sprint’s program to his current role helping others with a sound methodology for creating their own. 

In this episode, we discuss:
The challenges, complexities, and, ultimately, rewards in the partner space
The need for top-down vision to shape a partner-oriented culture
The plans you need in place before ever signing a partnership deal



Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you:
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP. 

Links & Resources
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing. 
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, St itcher, Google Podcast.
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]



This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan. 

WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

There are lots of different ways to inject new life into a company.

One of the best is implementing a partner program.

The right partners can make a 50-year-old company feel like a startup.

At least, that’s what happened for today’s guest, Lisa Conway, VP of Sales Operations and Strategic alliances at Telos, where her partner program and a recent IPO has reinvigorated the 
company after a half-century in business.

In this episode, we discuss:
How and why Telos have integrated with AWS and Azure
Why package solutions are in-demand
How Telos are using partners to find new product use cases



Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you:

#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP. 



Links & Resources

Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing. 
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]. 



This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.  

WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

Every business is transforming. Every company is becoming a tech company. 75% of CEOs say their businesses will be unrecognizable in 5 years.

In this landscape, you can’t do it all yourself. You know you can’t survive without partnerships.

But without trust, you don’t have a partnership — you have a transaction.

This is one of the key insights today’s guest, Vince Menzione, Founder at Ultimate Partnerships, stresses to all of the clients who go to him for his partnering expertise. He joins the show to explain why trust is ultimately the foundation for any business thriving in this new world.

In this episode, we discuss:
The growing recognition of the necessity of partnerships
Why the rise of marketplaces is a boon for alliances
Microsoft’s approach to partnering
Why trust is the most important component of any successful partnership



Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you:

#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP 



Links & Resources

Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, St itcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]  



This episode of Ecosystem Aces sponsored by WorkSpan.  

WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in joint pipeline.

Sometimes, the best strategic alliances come from inherent partners — those who are already a key part of your business strategy.

But just because these partners are the easiest to identify doesn’t mean you have to stop there.

Just ask my latest guest, Bogdan Petrescu, Director of Strategic Alliances at Nylas, a company with a business model that ensures plenty of organic partnerships. 

Bogdan isn’t content to stop there, though — he draws upon many diverse partners to drive pipeline, scalability and, ultimately, revenue.

In this episode, we discuss:
The role of strategic alliances at Nylas 
How partners can drive scalability 
Why pipeline revenue are the main measurement Brandon concentrates on



Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you:

#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP. 



Links & Resources

Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, St itcher, Google Podcast. 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog.
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds  
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected]  



This episode of Ecosystem Aces sponsored by WorkSpan.  

WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in joint pipeline.

After building successful partner programs at Cisco, Citrix, and Huawei, today Greg is creating Reliant’s ecosystem strategy to co-build, co-innovate, and co-sell optimal edge computing solutions.

In this episode, Greg Fox, Director of Business Development & Strategic Alliances at Reliant, joins Ecosystem Aces and discusses how he builds a best-of-breed partner program.

Greg shares:
How Reliant creates their ecosystem strategy
How Reliant finds the right partners
His advice and best practices for partner leaders



Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you:
#121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow 
#122 There’s No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda 
#106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft 
#97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP 



Links & Resources
Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing 
Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast 
Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering
Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog 
Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management 
Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds 
To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: [email protected] 



This episode of Ecosystem Aces sponsored by WorkSpan.  

WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in joint pipeline.

Once, you could get by with a single product, but that’s no longer the case.
We no longer live in a world where we can simply sell products — it’s all about the solution.
Which means partners are more important than ever.
That insight is one of the keys to Ash Vijayakanthan’s success as Vice President at Trifacta, where he’s leading strategic partnerships with big names like Google, Infosys, Accenture, and Deloitte.
In this episode, we discuss:
-How living in a world of solutions impacts partner ecosystems
-How Ash is improving the ecosystem through simplification
-The metrics Trifacta focus on to measure success
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