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Measuring and Managing Alliances
| What | Meeting |
|---|---|
| When |
November 08, 2007 from 17:00 to 19:30 |
| Where | BT Centre, St Pauls, London |
| Contact Name | Susie Kearley |
| Contact Email | susie.kearley@alliancemanagers.org |
| Contact Phone | 01494 730080 |
| Attendees | Open to the public as well as all ASAP and AAM members. |
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9 Nov 07: Over 100 people attended last night's event at the modern and inviting BT Centre in London. The atmosphere was excellent, the speakers offered a good mix of insight and humour, and new members were enthusiastically signing up.
Our host, Steve Cash, BT's Head of Global SI Partnering Strategy, talked about BT's "Partner of Choice" initiative. Steve presented the BT structure for partnerships in the context of their corporate strategy, and demonstrated how vital it is that the two are closely aligned. He then went on to portray a reality of how hard partnering is, giving a sense of journey and commitment. He highlighted some of the things that can go wrong and what you have to do to fix them. These insights showed how to move an alliance forward in a way that all CEOs and Sales Directors should be aware of as well as alliances professionals.
Lucy Dimes, Global MD – VP for the BT HP Alliance, gave an entertaining talk on the BT and HP Alliance. Lucy likened a partnership to a marriage explaining her role in the BT HP partnership and the importance of people as the differentiating factor in any alliance. She went through some of the important elements in successful alliancing, saying that if issues are not discussed it can cause a breakdown in the 'marriage'. The importance of communication was highlighted with particular vigour as she explained that regular meetings between partners are important and should never be cancelled because there are issues. When there are issues, said Lucy, is when you need meetings the most - to thrash out those issues!
Andrew Morris, Business Development Director, UK Management Systems at BSI then took the stage to talk about progress on energising PAS 11000 1 year on from its launch . He began by apologising for not having a money-related surname like Cash and Dimes, and then introduced the BSI corporate vehicle (pictured). This was no ordinary talk on British Standards! Andrew kept the audience engaged with humorous asides as he moved onto more serious matters about why PAS 11000 Certification is beneficial and why it increases both partnering opportunities and sales opportunities. He concluded by describing how BSI is introducing PAS11000 certification services, notably the ICT Alliance Bid Certification service in partnership between BSI and Channel Dynamics.
Tim Barnsley concluded the evening with a forceful presentation offering good reasons why Alliance Management must now become a Board-level concern. Tim explained how difficult, and sometimes volatile, relationship management can be and shared how an Open, rather than proprietary, approach based on common working methods, can lead to mutual understanding, effective joint governance, and rapid, repeatable engagement. He explained how Channel Dynamics' services in developing partnering strategy have helped companies achieve their partnering objectives and improved their success rates. Specifically he showed how Channel Dynamics' Alliance Tracker Service can be applied in planning, then on a continuing basis to measure key indicators, enabling the moulding of successful alliances in client companies. He challenged the audience to be part of the crusade to represent Alliancing at the highest strategic level in their companies. And all that in seven minutes!
Thank you to BT for hosting such an enjoyable evening.
Slides are available on the members area of the UK website: www.alliancemanagers.org