The Value of Strategic Partnerships

An effective strategy has the potential to influence the product side, the marketing side, and everything in between. Our guest today has designed his career around the things that he likes to do most, including creating collaborations between companies to give customers what they want. On today’s episode of the Digital Enterprise Society podcast, Thom Singer and Craig Brown are joined by Brett Hillhouse, IBM Global Industry Leader of Automotive at AI Solutions.  Together they discuss where the future value of cars lies, the true value of exchanging data and encouraging partnerships with competitors, and how anyone can work to shape a career around the work they want to do most.    On today’s podcast, you will learn: Where is the future value of cars? Battery and car parts are becoming less important compared to software.  The value of cars in the future is clearly in the software.  There is an increasing need for software experiences that delight and customize for the customer.  Consumer expectations will continue to shape the innovation of each brand.    Exchanging data and encouraging partnerships with competitors Not everyone is willing to develop partnerships with competitors, but Brett sees immense value in doing so.  Helping clients often happens best with competitor collaborations.  Recognizing that every other company is not a competitor can help make collaborations easier.  Cross company partnerships focus on finding solutions together.    Advice for improving partnerships There has to be a company-produced cultural element to successful partnerships.  Company values don’t necessarily need to duplicate, but they do need to closely align.  From a customer perspective, everything needs to be use-case driven.  Integration can happen with tool stacks if users are open-minded.  Value has to come from both sides, not a one-way data transfer.  The goal of partnerships should be a full digital thread that goes in both directions.    What can customers do with partnership solutions?  Brett’s greatest hope is that users find deficiencies in partnerships.  By finding these deficiencies, development times and overhead costs are all reduced.  The technologies going into today’s sustainable vehicles are constantly improving and enabling innovation.    Creating a your own role within a company Identify what is more important to you than simply moving up the chain.  Increase your awareness about what you want to do within your career.  Create value and expertise around the work that you do.  Respect those that you work with so that they are interested in working with you.  Establish yourself as the expert in your role.    Continue the conversation with us within the Digital Enterprise Society Community at www.DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org.   Digital Download: Virtual Round-Table Series