from -http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/growing-channels-business-by-stimulating-the-business-partner-ecosystems-economies-3602895.html
Vendor/Distributor ecosystem action plan
Vendor and Distributor Ecosystem Action Plans tend to be more strategic than the plans of Partners, rather than relying on this quarter ecosystem investments to pay off this quarter, successful vendor and distributors emphasize investments this quarter that will impact subsequent quarters and subsequent fiscal years.
It is clearly important for vendors and distributors to understand the Partner Ecosystem Action Plan, but the issues are different and the questions that need to be asked, and answered, are also different. The Vendor and Distributor Ecosystem Action Plan has six steps: 1 Economy audit, 2 Ecosystem audit, 3 Plan development, 4 Support structure creation, 5 Plan communication/execution and 6 Execute/Review.
Step 1 - Economy audit
Vendors and Distributors have whole economies that grow up and evolve around the sales / service / support / training / consulting around their products. For example, IBM and Microsoft products result in vast amounts of economic activity several times as large as the revenue generated by either IBM or
Microsoft. Just consider the size and complexity of the economy that has grown up around Apple's iPod.
The multiple ecosystems in the iPod economy dwarf the total iPods sales revenues. For this reason, it is important for vendors and distributors to first think about the economy that has risen up around them, and then to focus on the various ecosystems that make up the economy.
Because an economy is made up of ecosystems, the environmental understanding for a Vendor or a Distributor needs to focus on the economy and the ecosystem. The Economy Audit is made up of sixteen questions or avenues of inquiry.
1. How large is the economy that has developed around your company's offering?
2. Which vendors and distributors are partnering with whom in the economy that you have created?
3.Which vendors and distributors are influencing the economy that you participate in?
4. Where and how can you have the biggest impacts on your economy?
5. What other vendors and distributors should you be working with based on their share of mind/share of wallet in the economy around your company?
6. What resources do you need or could you acquire from the participants in your economy to help you make your business plan?
7. What characteristics will suitable vendors, distributors and channel partners for inclusion in your economy have?
8. How will you go about finding and engaging with suitable partners to assist your business plan?
9. Who in your organization is responsible for comprehending the economy that you work in and the ecosystems that make up the economy?
10. how many ecosystems make up your economy?
11. Which ecosystems are the most strategically relevant ecosystems to your economy?
12. How do the composition of your relevant ecosystems differ from each other?
13. Who is "calling the shots" in our relevant ecosystems (if not you, then who . . .)?
14. How can you make the biggest impact on your relevant ecosystem?
15. Which vendors and distributors should you align with in each relevant ecosystem?
16. What resources do you require in each relevant ecosystem?
Step 2 - Ecosystem audit
The ecosystem is a subset of the economy that has built up around your company. The vendor/distributor ecosystem audit is made up of ten avenues of inquiry. The analysis laid out below should be executed for each currently strategically relevant ecosystem. In addition, it may be valuable to understand those ecosystems deemed to be likely or potentially relevant in the next two to five years.
1. Where are the leverage and control points within the ecosystem that reach between your organization and the ultimate end-customer?
2. Who is partnering with whom?
3. What is the composition of the ecosystem for each key customer segment?
4. Who is influencing whom? Who are the key players/leaders in the ecosystem? Where is the product/service/solution decision "really" being made?
5. What is the flow of revenue, e.g., where is the product/service/solution purchase actually being made?
6. How does this differ by customer segments, solution types and purchase occasions?
7. What is your company's penetration in terms of number/type of partner relationships (share of influence) within these strategically relevant ecosystems? What is our competitors' penetration? How should your partner portfolio be modified to effectively penetrate these strategically relevant ecosystems?
8. How significant is your organization to the partners within the ecosystem? How likely are you to be recommended? (Why/why not?) How can you become more significant to these partners?
9. Where can your organization make the biggest impact in these strategically relevant ecosystems in terms of influence over the product/service/solution?
purchase decisions (who/how)? Where should your organization's marketing and program dollars optimally be spent (specific partners and programs)?
10. What is the business proposition for each of the partners within the ecosystem chain? What messages do you need to convey to encourage your partners to invest in your brand? What programs, incentives and compensation packages would be most attractive?
Step 3 - Plan development
Based on completion of Steps 1 and 2, you will have enough information to develop a plan of action. Critical strategic issues around your plan include: strategic objectives to be met - what are you doing, and why? short term versus longer term objectives direct investment versus indirect investment approach make vs. buy - can you buy your way in?
It will be crucial to understand specific components of your economy and the ecosystems that make up your economy. Your plan should address the following issues: economy size, economy relationships, influence structure of economy, impact points in the economy, desirable partners to work with, required resources to meet plans, characteristics of appropriate partners, how many ecosystems,
what ecosystems are strategically relevant, influence structure of strategically relevant ecosystems, impact points in the strategically relevant ecosystems who to align with and required resources.
Step 4 - Support structure creation
The size and complexity of a vendor and distributor organization's makes the creation of appropriate support structures for an economy/ecosystem initiative difficult. Economy and ecosystem development and stimulation projects cross industry, business unit, product and geographic lines.
Ecosystems do not always line up the way the organization structures of vendors and distributors line up. In fact, the viewing of your organization's economy and its ecosystems from the perspective of how you happen to be structured and organized this year tends to result in inaccurate assessment of the problems and opportunities that exist.
The creation of appropriate support structure requires a senior management vision and commitment to the strategic approach of building economies and ecosystems. In addition, it requires a willingness to make investments in the process as if the creation of a vibrant, flourishing ecosystem was the creation
of a corporate asset. What this means is that successful programs do not start and stop based on quarterly ups and downs.
Step 5 - Plan communication/execution
What is extremely clear is that not everyone who works for vendors and distributors "gets" the economy/ecosystem discussion that has gone on in this document. Like anything else-a small group of people in your organization understand most of what is going on. The rest may have awareness of, but not a great deal of knowledge about ecosystems and channels.
It is my experience that when more people in your organization have knowledge about your economy/ecosystem stimulation plans and programs, the more likely successful implementation will be. It appears that this strategy, especially when first introduced, benefits from being heavily communicated and "educated in" to the organization to accelerate its diffusion and acceptance.
Step 6 - Execute/review
Realistic perspectives on how long any ecosystem stimulation plan is going to take to show results is critical. The following figure gives some insights into what you can expect. Reinforcing that investment always leads return; incremental expenses always lead incremental revenues is also important.
Call to action
If you are a Partner, we encourage you to begin thinking about a Partner Ecosystem Action Plan for 2008. Start by doing an Ecosystem Audit. Get your people thinking about ecosystems. Involve your vendors and distributors. Find out what they are doing in the area of ecosystem stimulation. If you are a Player, Coach, Influencer or Supplier in a Vendor or Distributor, find out what your organization is doing in the areas of economies and ecosystems.
As Players and Coaches, you may need to identify who the key partners are that your Partners need to work with. Ask your Partners what they are doing to stimulate they ecosystem. As Influencers and Suppliers, your task is to add knowledge of economies and ecosystems to what you know about the environment in which your programs operate. Your job is to understand that high rates of "connectedness" are related to high rates of partner growth. More specifically, your job is to make growth happen for your partners by stimulating the economies and ecosystems that your company is part of
Vendor/Distributor ecosystem action plan
Vendor and Distributor Ecosystem Action Plans tend to be more strategic than the plans of Partners, rather than relying on this quarter ecosystem investments to pay off this quarter, successful vendor and distributors emphasize investments this quarter that will impact subsequent quarters and subsequent fiscal years.
It is clearly important for vendors and distributors to understand the Partner Ecosystem Action Plan, but the issues are different and the questions that need to be asked, and answered, are also different. The Vendor and Distributor Ecosystem Action Plan has six steps: 1 Economy audit, 2 Ecosystem audit, 3 Plan development, 4 Support structure creation, 5 Plan communication/execution and 6 Execute/Review.
Step 1 - Economy audit
Vendors and Distributors have whole economies that grow up and evolve around the sales / service / support / training / consulting around their products. For example, IBM and Microsoft products result in vast amounts of economic activity several times as large as the revenue generated by either IBM or
Microsoft. Just consider the size and complexity of the economy that has grown up around Apple's iPod.
The multiple ecosystems in the iPod economy dwarf the total iPods sales revenues. For this reason, it is important for vendors and distributors to first think about the economy that has risen up around them, and then to focus on the various ecosystems that make up the economy.
Because an economy is made up of ecosystems, the environmental understanding for a Vendor or a Distributor needs to focus on the economy and the ecosystem. The Economy Audit is made up of sixteen questions or avenues of inquiry.
1. How large is the economy that has developed around your company's offering?
2. Which vendors and distributors are partnering with whom in the economy that you have created?
3.Which vendors and distributors are influencing the economy that you participate in?
4. Where and how can you have the biggest impacts on your economy?
5. What other vendors and distributors should you be working with based on their share of mind/share of wallet in the economy around your company?
6. What resources do you need or could you acquire from the participants in your economy to help you make your business plan?
7. What characteristics will suitable vendors, distributors and channel partners for inclusion in your economy have?
8. How will you go about finding and engaging with suitable partners to assist your business plan?
9. Who in your organization is responsible for comprehending the economy that you work in and the ecosystems that make up the economy?
10. how many ecosystems make up your economy?
11. Which ecosystems are the most strategically relevant ecosystems to your economy?
12. How do the composition of your relevant ecosystems differ from each other?
13. Who is "calling the shots" in our relevant ecosystems (if not you, then who . . .)?
14. How can you make the biggest impact on your relevant ecosystem?
15. Which vendors and distributors should you align with in each relevant ecosystem?
16. What resources do you require in each relevant ecosystem?
Step 2 - Ecosystem audit
The ecosystem is a subset of the economy that has built up around your company. The vendor/distributor ecosystem audit is made up of ten avenues of inquiry. The analysis laid out below should be executed for each currently strategically relevant ecosystem. In addition, it may be valuable to understand those ecosystems deemed to be likely or potentially relevant in the next two to five years.
1. Where are the leverage and control points within the ecosystem that reach between your organization and the ultimate end-customer?
2. Who is partnering with whom?
3. What is the composition of the ecosystem for each key customer segment?
4. Who is influencing whom? Who are the key players/leaders in the ecosystem? Where is the product/service/solution decision "really" being made?
5. What is the flow of revenue, e.g., where is the product/service/solution purchase actually being made?
6. How does this differ by customer segments, solution types and purchase occasions?
7. What is your company's penetration in terms of number/type of partner relationships (share of influence) within these strategically relevant ecosystems? What is our competitors' penetration? How should your partner portfolio be modified to effectively penetrate these strategically relevant ecosystems?
8. How significant is your organization to the partners within the ecosystem? How likely are you to be recommended? (Why/why not?) How can you become more significant to these partners?
9. Where can your organization make the biggest impact in these strategically relevant ecosystems in terms of influence over the product/service/solution?
purchase decisions (who/how)? Where should your organization's marketing and program dollars optimally be spent (specific partners and programs)?
10. What is the business proposition for each of the partners within the ecosystem chain? What messages do you need to convey to encourage your partners to invest in your brand? What programs, incentives and compensation packages would be most attractive?
Step 3 - Plan development
Based on completion of Steps 1 and 2, you will have enough information to develop a plan of action. Critical strategic issues around your plan include: strategic objectives to be met - what are you doing, and why? short term versus longer term objectives direct investment versus indirect investment approach make vs. buy - can you buy your way in?
It will be crucial to understand specific components of your economy and the ecosystems that make up your economy. Your plan should address the following issues: economy size, economy relationships, influence structure of economy, impact points in the economy, desirable partners to work with, required resources to meet plans, characteristics of appropriate partners, how many ecosystems,
what ecosystems are strategically relevant, influence structure of strategically relevant ecosystems, impact points in the strategically relevant ecosystems who to align with and required resources.
Step 4 - Support structure creation
The size and complexity of a vendor and distributor organization's makes the creation of appropriate support structures for an economy/ecosystem initiative difficult. Economy and ecosystem development and stimulation projects cross industry, business unit, product and geographic lines.
Ecosystems do not always line up the way the organization structures of vendors and distributors line up. In fact, the viewing of your organization's economy and its ecosystems from the perspective of how you happen to be structured and organized this year tends to result in inaccurate assessment of the problems and opportunities that exist.
The creation of appropriate support structure requires a senior management vision and commitment to the strategic approach of building economies and ecosystems. In addition, it requires a willingness to make investments in the process as if the creation of a vibrant, flourishing ecosystem was the creation
of a corporate asset. What this means is that successful programs do not start and stop based on quarterly ups and downs.
Step 5 - Plan communication/execution
What is extremely clear is that not everyone who works for vendors and distributors "gets" the economy/ecosystem discussion that has gone on in this document. Like anything else-a small group of people in your organization understand most of what is going on. The rest may have awareness of, but not a great deal of knowledge about ecosystems and channels.
It is my experience that when more people in your organization have knowledge about your economy/ecosystem stimulation plans and programs, the more likely successful implementation will be. It appears that this strategy, especially when first introduced, benefits from being heavily communicated and "educated in" to the organization to accelerate its diffusion and acceptance.
Step 6 - Execute/review
Realistic perspectives on how long any ecosystem stimulation plan is going to take to show results is critical. The following figure gives some insights into what you can expect. Reinforcing that investment always leads return; incremental expenses always lead incremental revenues is also important.
Call to action
If you are a Partner, we encourage you to begin thinking about a Partner Ecosystem Action Plan for 2008. Start by doing an Ecosystem Audit. Get your people thinking about ecosystems. Involve your vendors and distributors. Find out what they are doing in the area of ecosystem stimulation. If you are a Player, Coach, Influencer or Supplier in a Vendor or Distributor, find out what your organization is doing in the areas of economies and ecosystems.
As Players and Coaches, you may need to identify who the key partners are that your Partners need to work with. Ask your Partners what they are doing to stimulate they ecosystem. As Influencers and Suppliers, your task is to add knowledge of economies and ecosystems to what you know about the environment in which your programs operate. Your job is to understand that high rates of "connectedness" are related to high rates of partner growth. More specifically, your job is to make growth happen for your partners by stimulating the economies and ecosystems that your company is part of
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