As the power of the cloud has moved into every corner of large corporations and also been embraced by tens of millions of small and mid-sized businesses, partners ecosystems have become a massive force-multiplier in the greatest growth market the world has ever known.
From global systems integrators to industry-specific solution providers, and from modern rapid-development startups to well-established independent software vendors, the partners ecosystem category has become an indispensable source of innovation, expertise, and growth for every one of the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies.
We hear the CEOs of the Cloud Wars Top 10 speak glowingly about their partners ecosystems as:
- Creators of new IP, solutions, and digital innovation
- Sources of unparalleled industry expertise and insights
- Extensions of the sales teams of the big vendors that drive superb customer experiences
- Generators of new growth opportunities and new market possibilities
So I’m very excited to kick off this week a multipart series called Partners Ecosystem Innovation, in which we speak with the executives leading the ecosystems businesses for most of the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies. Over the next two weeks, we’ll roll out exclusive content packages outlining the ecosystem strategies of the following Cloud Wars Top 10 companies: Google Cloud, Oracle, SAP, IBM, Workday, Snowflake, and ServiceNow.
Those content packages will include 1:1 video interviews with each company’s top ecosystem executive (in the case of Workday, my interview is with co-CEO Carl Eschenbach), along with an in-depth article analyzing the company’s overall market position and its partners-ecosystem strategy.
Here’s the schedule:
- April 4: ServiceNow senior vice-president of global partnerships Erica Volini
- April 5: Snowflake chief revenue officer Chris Degnan
- April 6: Oracle senior vice-president of strategic partnerships and global ecosystem Doug Smith
- April 10: Workday co-CEO Carl Eschenbach
- April 11: SAP chief partner officer Karl Fahrbach
- April 12: IBM Ecosystem general manager Kate Woolley
- April 13: Google Cloud corporate vice-president global ecosystem and channels Kevin Ichhpurani
Our goal is to equip you with unique insights into how each of the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies are working with ecosystem partners to generate better business outcomes for you at every step of process: from initial discussions around business strategy to post-implementation optimization.
And these company-by-company profiles culminate in a high-level event on April 20 called the Acceleration Economy Partners Ecosystem Digital Summit featuring presentations from each of those Cloud Wars Top 10 executives plus in-depth commentary from ecosystem experts Janet Schijns, Jay McBain, Vince Menzione, and your humble correspondent.
Please join: Registration is free, and the insights are unmatched!
Register here for your on-demand pass to view all content from Partners Ecosystem Digital Summit. The digital event, which took place on April 20, focused on analyzing the business and IT imperatives around cloud, AI, automation, data modernization, and cybersecurity that define the future of partnerships.
