Choosing partnerships that work

Having the right partner is instrumental to success in a country such as India that has highly differentiated market. You want a partner that will approach your business with the same level of enthusiasm and commitment that you have. With any partnership, a long-term covenant between two parties, it is important that partners share the same business philosophies in the long run.

Successful channel partnerships are those that see through mutually beneficial commitments between two vendors aimed at growing business opportunities and empowering both sets of customers. Being successful with these goals depends on many things-from the combined range of products and solutions offered, to how vendors differentiate themselves and build industry credibility.

Here are four criteria to look out for when choosing a partner:

1.Keep in mind that your partnership will work only if mutually profitable:

All partnerships should be based on mutual benefit, no matter the size of the individual partners. Smaller partners can grow their business alongside bigger vendors, leveraging on the bigger vendors' global business network, industry connections and expertise. Large vendors, usually multi-national companies, can learn from their local partners' expertise on the ground.

2. Have an eye for partners with strong portfolios

A good business partner should have solutions and services that support and compliment your own. The more expertise your partner brings to the business, the easier it will be to find the perfect solution for your customers. Organizations today have a lot of choice in terms of solution providers. They are often unsure of or plagued by ‘mis-information' on what solution would be best for their varied needs. These organizations end up purchasing a mish-mash of solutions that don't work together or create a ‘lock-in,' preventing them from looking at other solutions that may be more cost-efficient. You need to find a partner that understands the market end-to-end, , from the client to the network, to the storage, to the data center and to the cloud. At the same time, these solutions should be flexible enough to work individually with other legacy hardware. Partners should help in connecting existing and future customers and uniting both sets of programs and solutions.

3. Find a partner that makes an effort

The only way you are going to be a better partner is if you are given the opportunity to learn. A vendor should ensure periodic trainings for its channel partners especially when it introduces new products. The trainings should be simple to understand, comprehensive and have an avenue for feedback and enquiries. While equipping a channel partner to win through these training programs is the responsibility of the vendor, the ideal channel partner should be one that capitalises on these training sessions.

4. Look for partners that you can trust

Although cliché, only enter into partnerships with people you can trust. Look for vendors that value honesty and practise good personal and business ethics. They should be open and comfortable in sharing their companies' plans and strategies. Throughout the course of the partnership, you should be kept informed of the company's direction though multiple communication channels, such as newsletters, social media, roundtables and conferences. A vendor should also have an established support system that allows its channel partners to connect with technical experts on any problem or query that may arise which cannot be sorted in their personal level.

The main purpose in forming a partnership is to achieve greater success as a team. In a channel partnership, it is not an individual ability to succeed that counts but team-work. It is thus important to find a partner that respects your ideas and strives for the same end-goal. However, choosing the right partner is not the end but just the beginning of the partnership and constant effort and care need to be taken to reach win-win equilibrium.