The ASAP Guide to Information Technology Partnering

The ASAP Guide to Information Technology Partnering is an electronic-format supplement and update to The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management, and represents the latest and most advanced thinking on leading, managing, and deriving revenue from alliances, partnerships, and complex ecosystems in the high-tech field. 

Building on the shared insights, published research, and real-world, in-the-trenches experiences of numerous ASAP members and the broader community of alliance management practitioners, The ASAP Guide to Information Technology Partnering explores the challenges and changes of a rapidly transforming IT landscape, delving into such critical areas as:

  • The persistence of and threats to the traditional IT vendor-distributor-reseller channel
  • The rise and spread of IT ecosystems
  • The role of alliance managers as ecosystem orchestrators and facilitators
  • Collaboration and competition in IT partnering
  • Revenue-generating go-to-market guidelines, new selling motions, and the relationship between alliance management and sales
  • Alliances as an essential enterprise function in today’s high-tech world


Functions of an Ecosystem

A multipartner alliance or ecosystem is more complex in its operations than a one-to-one alliance. But as with any alliance—or any enterprise, startup, or business unit for that matter—it helps to look at the goals and purposes of an ecosystem.

Getting partners to work together and partner with one another—and to identify and connect with other partners they can fruitfully bring into the ecosystem—is all part of creating this collaborative climate or environment.

Ideally, the IT ecosystem should be continually performing several functions, including: orchestrating, growing, expanding, and refreshing.

Click here to see an overview of the supplement.

In addition, The ASAP Guide to Information Technology Partnering features frameworks, checklists, and guidelines for IT partnering best practices; key questions for ecosystem managers; fillable online worksheets and forms; a glossary of terms and resources for further reading. This supplement should be required reading for anyone who is embarking on or transitioning into an alliance management role in information technology, and contains numerous insights that will aid more experienced practitioners as well.