Partnerships 101: OEMs, VARs, ISVs, and other types of partners

The main problem with partnerships

People think everything is a partnership. This creates a lot of noise.

When you work in partnerships, your inbox will turn into the “other” folder of the company.

Put your logo on a F1 race car? Partnership.

Somebody reaches out about an integration? Partnership.

Sponsored content in an unrelated SEO print magazine? Partnership.

People will forward you any message they receive that mentions “partnership”. And it’s none of their fault.

They just don’t know what partnerships mean for your organisation.

I drew this pyramid above as guidance. It’s oversimplified, but let’s dive in:

📣 Co-marketing & Affiliates

The easiest way to dip your toe into partnerships. At this stage, there is no integration or training required. Both partners promote each other and enjoy increased awareness.

💸 Service partners & Resellers

At this stage, one company will train the other on its tools. The partner will then provide services to the company’s customers.

They might even resell the software on their partner’s behalf. A great example of this is Deloitte and SAP.

🔌 Technology partners & Independent Software Vendors (ISV)

No one company can do everything. That’s why we integrate.

DocuSign allows you to sign contracts and the integration sends them to Salesforce. Often tech partners will co-sell their products to their shared audience.

🛠 Original equipment manufacturers (OEM)

The holy grail. An OEM partnership occurs when one company uses the product of another in its offering.

Remember that “Intel Inside” sticker on a Dell computer? OEM partnership. In this case, Dell is the value-added reseller (VAR).

Know your partnerships

But wait…. where do strategic partnerships fit in?

In “Dancing with Elephants”, Mark Sochan wrote that strategic partnerships touch are large initiatives that touch many levels at once.

An OEM partner will need training and a deep product integration.

This requires significant investment. Should we do it?

That’s a strategic decision.

Next time you get a random email, show your team this pyramid and circle your focus area.

Clear communication is key.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, feel to clap or comment. Think I missed something? Let me know in the comments or on LinkedIn.

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