The Power of Strategic IoT Partnerships

The new paradigm emphasizing the power of strategic partnerships is reshaping the traditional mantra of "Build it and they will come." Rather than relying solely on individual efforts to grow and attract customers, businesses are increasingly recognizing the value of collaboration. Strategic partnerships offer a pathway to accessing new markets, utilizing industry expertise and creating enhanced joint value for mutual customers and markets.

Challenges in IoT Initiatives

In today’s interconnected Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, strategic partnerships are at the core of driving long-term sustainable growth. IoT deployments may require 2-3 or more ecosystem partners to collaborate for a successful project. Several key factors often overwhelm businesses that try to go it alone.

• Complexity of Solutions – Managing diverse IoT domains like hardware, software, connectivity, data analytics, security, and deployment requires expertise.
  
• Regulatory Compliance – Companies must meet regulatory requirements for IoT deployments when it comes to devices, modules, wireless cellular technology & local market compliance.
  
• Changing Market Dynamics – Continuous adoption and innovation are essential to keep pace with rapid IoT technological advancements and evolving markets in the IoT landscape.

Strategic Partnership Trends

As more companies look for new ways to innovate within the IoT sector, businesses are forming strategic collaborations with their partners. These include IoT and cloud hyperscalers (KORE and Google Cloud), energy and smart cities (Schneider Electric and Cisco), and manufacturing (PTC and Rockwell Automation).

According to a recent survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 53% of executives surveyed stated that the adoption of strategic partnerships and alliances is a top priority over the next three years. Another study by MarketsandMarkets highlighted that strategic partnerships and collaborations among IoT players are going to be critical and a key factor in driving IoT market growth in the next five years.

In the simplest of terms there are two primary strategic partnership types you can pursue:

• Go-to-market (GTM) Partnership – The key focus with your partner is to drive joint revenue, gain access to complementary new markets, and offer an enhanced value proposition to your customers demonstrating the strength of each other’s offering. A key with a GTM partnership is a joint co-sell motion, collaboration on account planning, co-marketing, and utilization of co-resources.
  
• Technology / Solution Partnership – This is an integration of Partner A’s technology with Partner B’s end solution. This provides a more comprehensive market offering or enablement of unlocking new use cases. In this instance, there will be a greater dedication to technical and product resources with Partner A relying on Partner B’s GTM and sales enablement. So, there will still be elements of joint co-marketing, collateral, and messaging.

Navigating Partnership Success: Critical Steps & Pitfalls

Often businesses fall into a common pitfall of referring to certain customers as partners when in essence the relationship is a traditional transactional one, where one party sells to another. Here there is no deeper strategic engagement, no joint GTM motion, and no deeper technology/solution integration. This can hinder genuine collaboration opportunities where mutual growth and benefit may exist.

To ensure a partnership's success, partners must invest time upfront before drafting a legal agreement. Sometimes critical details are overlooked during the excitement of two entities coming together. Here are the top seven important pointers for partnership success:

• Evaluation of the Partner or Collaboration (what is the vertical/industry pain point you’re solving for)
  
• Joint value proposition
  
• Define shared goals, roles, and responsibilities
  
• Determine required investments
  
• Create a business case with the joint revenue/cost drivers (how does each party make money)
  
• Highlight key performance indicators (KPIs) to describe how will you measure the success of the partnership
  
• Identify the GTM motion to be adopted (what resources/stakeholder sponsorship is required)

There is a common expectation that both parties expect immediate output while minimal input has been invested. Once the partnership agreement has been finalized this is when the hard work starts. It is important to establish regular communication/escalation channels and frequency with your counterpart team. This ensures momentum and the platform to remove any barriers to success.

Shaping the Future of IoT Collaboration

In summary, the evolving IoT landscape emphasizes the pivotal role of strategic partnerships in driving sustained growth and innovation. With a focus on collaboration, businesses can access new markets, leverage expertise, and create enhanced value for mutual benefit.