The Role Of The Partner Ecosystem In Today’s Manufacturing Landscape

Dustin Johnson is the CTO at Seeq, responsible for the advanced technology infrastructure, vision and roadmap of Seeq software solutions.

Over the past decade, many leading enterprise SaaS companies have leveraged a partner ecosystem to allow them to grow and scale globally, drive innovation and provide technology integrations and other complementary services.

According to PWC, top-performing companies are over twice as likely to generate more than 60% of their revenue from ecosystem partnerships—whether influenced or sourced—and this percentage is expected to continue growing.

Partner ecosystems have also led to great success in the manufacturing software industry, as their industrial customers increasingly rely on multiple SaaS companies to provide the solutions they need to stay competitive and profitable.

While the strength and breadth of partner ecosystems may vary, having a robust ecosystem has become essential for all manufacturing SaaS providers to maintain and grow their competitive edge.

Goals Of A Partner Ecosystem

In addition to expanding market reach and revenue, companies should consider other goals when developing their partner ecosystem.

For example, how can they build a partner ecosystem that is a force multiplier for growth over time?

To achieve such a goal, companies must collaborate with the right technology partners to enhance their solution capabilities. Leveraging the experience and technical know-how of strategic global system integrators (GSIs) can help drive customer adoption and maximize value.

They should also aim to gain a competitive edge by partnering with industry-leading solution providers. This allows them to create more comprehensive offerings that bridge the divide between information technology and operational technology, increasing customer adoption and success.

Ultimately, a company’s partner ecosystem should provide the ability to accelerate co-selling through multiple channels, dramatically expanding their footprint and market recognition.

Common Challenges In Managing Partner Ecosystems

Although partner ecosystems are designed to accelerate growth, they come with challenges, such as:

• Partner enablement and onboarding.

• Alignment on goals and value propositions.

• Data integration complexities.

• Establishing a co-selling framework.

• Partners working with competitors.

• Measuring partner success.

Companies can mitigate these challenges by implementing a well-structured partner onboarding and enablement strategy that ensures alignment on goals, co-selling frameworks and success metrics.

Establishing clear expectations, maintaining regular communication and creating feedback loops during the onboarding and ongoing management process are all key to driving momentum for a partner ecosystem. These activities are designed to foster trust from the outset and throughout the partnership, enabling deeper collaborations, active engagement and co-innovation.

Successfully onboarding partners also requires internal alignment on how your sales, marketing and technology teams can continue to enable and support partners.

While developing integrations among partner solutions can be complicated, it’s critical to build capacity, capability, variety and resilience in a partner ecosystem. Additionally, aligning on non-compete areas and joint value propositions can alleviate complexities that can arise from partners working with competitors. Clear-cut guidelines and rules of engagement can also foster increased collaboration and build trust across a partner ecosystem.

Actionable Guidance For Identifying Partners

Whether your ecosystem is focused on technology innovation or distribution, a diverse mix of companies that overlap and offer joint value for your company’s business objectives should be considered in a list of potential partners.

Partner strategy development starts by evaluating specific goals. Does the SaaS provider want to sell through a marketplace? Do they need resellers? Do they sell through a cloud model?

Companies should first identify the most beneficial partner types that support their revenue model. These could be global system integrators (GSIs), referral partners, value-added resellers (VARs) or technology partners:

• Global System Integrators (GSIs): GSIs have extensive resources and expertise that can help scale operations, particularly for SaaS companies looking to tap into large enterprise markets. GSIs can also facilitate better service delivery and customer adoption.

• Referral Partners: These partners can help generate leads with minimal upfront costs. They often have established relationships in various markets, allowing for quicker entry.

• Value-Added Resellers (VARs): VARs not only sell products, but they also add features or services that enhance value, making them attractive to specific customer segments. They can help solve local market needs effectively.

• Technology Partners: These partners can offer complementary technologies that enhance functionality or improve user experience, leading to a stronger overall product. Technology partners are also essential to accelerate market access, strengthen competitive positioning and support product interoperability as they provide co-selling opportunities and additional value for joint customers.

However, not all partners need to be added at the same time. Keeping a short list of partners to bring on in the future can ensure a healthy ecosystem as company priorities evolve.

Conclusion

I believe a robust partner ecosystem is now essential for SaaS companies looking to scale, regardless of their industry focus. Rather than reinventing the wheel, companies can drive success by focusing on expanding partner integrations and leveraging their strategic expertise.

By purposefully and thoughtfully building a partner ecosystem, manufacturing software companies can collaborate with the right mix of trusted partners and provide a more comprehensive, integrated experience to the manufacturing industry.

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