Digital transformation takes an ecosystem

Marc Fiala, Senior Partner Business Manager and Channel Lead A&NZ, Hitachi Vantara

Any organisation looking to digitally transform their business may well visit technology vendor after technology vendor to piece together the modernisation of their infrastructure, the digitisation of their processes and so on. There is a better way, and that is through a channel in which effective partner ecosystems are in play.

Alliances deliver wins for all

A partner ecosystem should not merely be a means to an end; a means to distribute a vendor’s products and services to the end user. It should be developed as a network and community of mutually beneficial partners, working together to add value and create outcomes that matter for the ends user

While an enterprise might start out by looking for a single technology partner to transition to a digital environment, it is increasingly difficult for one technology provider or integrator to be all things to all customers. This is brought about by the many choices such as cloud services, digital marketplaces, the adoption of IoT, the digitisation of everything and everything as a service etc.

Vendor Alliances

Organisations need a solution-focused approach that considers compatibility and the combination of solutions to solve problems or deliver desired outcomes. To address this requirement, technology vendors are forming alliances to release validated partner solutions that make integration and deployment of technology solutions easier on the channel provider and the end user, alike. Two examples of Hitachi Vantara leveraging its strategic alliances for the benefit of its partner ecosystem and customers include:     

• Channel partners can now address demand for a validated Hitachi and Cisco converged infrastructure that supports high-end, enterprise grade, multi-use application workloads and delivers an agile, operationally efficient solution for continuous data availability and service-level agreement (SLA) management. Hitachi Vantara and Cisco have combined best in class technologies and released Cisco and Hitachi Adaptive Solutions for Converged Infrastructure, a Cisco Validated Design (CVD).
• Channel partners can leverage the partnership between Hitachi Vantara and VMware to deliver solutions that allow customers to efficiently manage, govern and mobilise key data infrastructure across data centers and clouds, reducing the complexity and cost of disparate applications and services. Bringing IT agility to life with deep integrations that are pre-engineered and certified can accelerate deployments as well as an organisation’s digital transformation journey.

Partner to Partner Alliances 

The most productive partner ecosystem is one that goes beyond vendor-to-partner alliances and vendor-to-vendor alliances. If channel partners can also create partner-to-partner alliances they can  collaborate with one another to move beyond fulfillment services and offer more value to the end customer. Organisations across the ecosystem can work together to expand up the value chain and take advantage of opportunities such as everything as a service (XaaS), the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics.

What’s in it for the Channel Partner?

When resellers, IT consultancies, services and solutions companies, systems integrators and managed service providers, alike, partner with vendors to bring integrated solutions to an enterprise, there are winners all around. But what does the channel partner get out of it besides a commission and a hopefully happy customer that will give them repeat business and referrals?

6 things to Look for in a Partner Program

• Recognition of your competencies
• Financial incentives
• Training, technical tools and support
• Marketing and enablement resources
• A vendor that has alliances with other vendors to facilitate integrated solutions
• Support and opportunity for business growth

Vendors can support partners in a variety of ways, such as through events, certification opportunities, regional and vertical focused brand building efforts and more. Some vendors look to positively impact their channel partners’ businesses directly, and Hitachi Vantara’s approach to that is to offer the opportunity for co-creation of solutions that partners can then bring to market.

Co-creation gives Hitachi Vantara’s Channel Partners an edge

One of the key ways Hitachi Vantara supports its partners’ business growth is through the opportunity for co-creation. Collaboration drives innovation and solves end user and industry challenges. Not only that, co-creation offers the chance for business diversification, supports specialisation in particular verticals or niches and can lead to new sources of revenue for channel partners as they co-create solutions that extend across markets, industries and applications.

Hitachi Vantara’s partner ecosystem is built for co-creation.

The pace of today’s marketplace is unrelenting, making business applications and technology platforms critical for organisations looking to accelerate transformation and drive innovation. Strategic alignment and collaboration with our Hitachi Partners who create solutions allows us to drive innovation, address customer pain points, and deliver desired business outcomes with our interoperable and optimised solutions.

Together, we can solve any customer challenge.

Are you ready to join the Hitachi Vantara ecosystem?

Innovative solutions. Reputation for excellence. Competitive incentive structure. Simple, streamlined processes and much more. There’s never been a better time to partner with Hitachi Vantara.

For more information contact the team at Hitachi Vantara ANZ.

Apply today: http://hdspublic.force.com/partner/