The idea of establishing a strategic partnership with an
IT supplier is often greeted with a degree of
scepticism.
The aim is simple enough: both supplier and user strive to work
closer together on common goals, for the benefit of both
organisations. Research from analyst group Gartner has found that
forward-looking enterprises are moving towards a more proactive,
managed relationship that provides a level of control over supplier
interaction.
According to Gartner, IT directors who consistently struggle
with suppliers should develop a proactive strategic supplier
programme to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The benefit to
the supplier is that it is included on the shortlist in requests
for proposals (RFPs) whenever the user organisation is looking to
procure IT.
But how can an IT director be confident that the strategic
supplier will not simply push for a sale just to meet quarterly
sales targets, rather than to offer real business benefits for the
user company?
Unilever, the international consumer goods group whose brands
include Birds Eye, Dove and Lynx, has five IT suppliers it regards
as strategic: Microsoft, SAP, BT, IBM and Accenture.
Choosing a strategic supplier is a major decision for any
company. At Unilever, the disciplines, tools and techniques used
for a merger due diligence exercise are used to evaluate whether
suppliers are in good shape and are a good fit for the business
Neil Cameron, chief information officer at Unilever, said,
“There are some similarities [to a merger] in moving to a
partnership.” For instance, Cameron will quiz the supplier on how
it will derive value from the strategic relationship, how working
with Unilever fits with its own business strategy, and its
commitment to investing for success and working towards the long
term.
“What we try to do is dip into our M&A organisation and use
their skills, their knowledge and their expertise selectively,” he
said.
With Unilever’s multimillion-pound spending power on tap for IT,
one would expect Cameron to have little trouble in getting all the
attention he needs. However, his main objective is to get these key
suppliers to work together and he has recently begun organising
meetings where they can all sit in the same room and discuss
strategy.
BT might be regarded as an unusual choice of strategic partner.
At the time Unilever signed a global deal with BT in 2002 to manage
and develop its global network, Cameron said BT’s global footprint
was relatively small. “It was a first for us and a first for BT,”
he said. S
ince the two companies were working in partnership, BT would be
gaining some of Unilever’s resources. In particular, among the 200
staff transferred to BT, some operated in geographic regions where
BT did not have much of a presence.
It takes time to build such a strategic relationship and on top
of the contracted reviews which occur quarterly, Cameron has
regular meetings with Andy Green, chief executive of BT Global
Services.
“Andy Green put a lot of himself in this deal. He took some
risks in his own business and I respect that. He is very engaged on
our account,” Cameron said. “It is about talking and reaching a
point when you can both be honest with each other, but without
giving too much commercial ground away.
Earlier this month, the company signed another deal with BT to
operate and manage Unilever’s firewall infrastructure globally, to
improve network security and to help develop deeper online links
with retailers.
“We do not have the discipline and standard technologies, and
frankly it is not very important to us until it goes wrong. But
[firewall management] is a core business to BT,” said Cameron.
The question is whether Cameron could have got a better deal
elsewhere if the managed firewall contract had gone out to tender.
Possibly, but Cameron said, “I would not have had much of a clue
about who to choose and in the end I would have gone for price. But
I do not want to build my business on lowest-price components. It
just does not work.”
He did, however, hire a research firm to assess the market to
ensure that the BT rate was in line with similar deals.
Strategic partnerships are notoriously complex, so IT directors
will need to accommodate errors and differences in understanding.
Cameron said, “Most large companies make mistakes and sometimes the
[supplier] does not fully understand what you are talking
about.”
Even after a few years, when things appear to be running
smoothly, there may be need for improvement and a temptation to get
a better deal.
In Cameron’s experience, during the first year of a major
contract, the IT director needs to work with the supplier on small
issues around understanding the scope of the contract, which
inevitably leads to confrontations.
Next is building trust. Three years into the project some of the
original aspirations will have changed, Cameron said. It is at this
time that the IT director should look at how the contract can be
adapted to reflect the way the business has evolved.
Unilever has the global clout to spar with the mighty
Micro¬soft, SAP, IBM, BT and Accenture, but what hope is there for
smaller companies? Smaller user organisations are also looking at
strategic partnerships to move beyond a purely transactional seller
and buyer relationship.
High street retailer Halfords is limiting the number of main IT
suppliers it deals with to a handful, including ITNet (now owned by
Serco), Ciber Novasoft, Manhattan Associates and BT Expedite.
Brian Scott, head of business systems at Halfords, said, “I
prefer to have a small number of trusted suppliers. I know them and
they know my business. I want to be their favourite client.” Scott
said he is quite limited in terms of the number of suppliers he can
deal with, which means he tends to turn down IT companies trying to
book appointments.
As at Unilever, the benefit of limiting the number of major
suppliers to a few strategic partners is in improving the
understanding of business objectives.
“The level of understanding I can get with my suppliers means we
should be able to do things more efficiently,” said Scott, adding
that this would not be possible if Halfords had to deal with 40
suppliers.
Being small has its benefits. It means Halfords can get all its
strategic IT suppliers together at one time to present the
company’s business strategy. This is something a larger
organisation can find challenging because of conflicting interests
among the key suppliers.
“I hold annual conferences for my partners to explain what the
business is trying to achieve and what the requirements of the
business systems department are,” Scott said.
A critical test for a business partner at Halfords is if they
can proactively help the retailer to run the business cheaper,
faster and to a better quality. “I want them to make money, because
they won’t be there if they can’t. It is important there is a
balance. If I am investing my time and effort in getting close to
my suppliers, it pays back both ways since the suppliers can be
more efficient as they know my business better,” said Scott.
Like Cameron, Scott believes a strategic partnership is built on
trust between both parties. “The difference between a supplier and
partner is trust. They have earned that trust by doing great work
for me. They treat my budget as if it was theirs and they seek ways
of reducing my outlay.”
Part of the problem with strategic relationships in a smaller
company, where IT spending is limited, is maintaining the level of
interaction with the suppliers.”You do not always have huge amounts
of work to do,” said Scott. To overcome this, he tries to maintain
meetings with Halfords’ strategic IT partners.
“I would have dinner with Roy Tomlinson, Ciber Novasoft’s
managing director, and we do not just talk about business. We try
to understand each other as individuals because it helps our
businesses work better together.”
Some organisations treat their suppliers with little respect,
which Scott feels is unhealthy in building a strategic partnership.
This, however, does not mean they have an easy ride at Halfords. “I
am a tough negotiator and I will not be oversold to,” Scott
said.
Within the IT industry, companies get acquired, reorganise and
people constantly change jobs. This means that the account manager
at the strategic IT supplier may not necessarily be the same
person. Halfords has seen its fair share of IT acquisition leading
to changes in its strategic suppliers.
Scott said, “We started working with Novasoft and it was
acquired by Ciber. We started working with ITNet and it is now
owned by Serco.”
So how does he cope? “I work harder during the time of
transition to re-establish a level of confidence in that
supplier.”
So when ITNet was taken over by Serco in February 2005, Scott
said he hosted a session for the people from Serco to explain
Halfords’ strategy. “That was the time to be very proactive,” he
said.
In many ways, a strategic partnership is like a marriage, said
Cameron. Once the honeymoon period is over, the supplier and user
company will face contractual challenges. After a few years, the
business will inevitably change and the IT director will be tempted
to look elsewhere.
It is at this time that the supplier and the user business need
to focus on strengthening the partnership to ensure it
succeeds.
Whether a business is multi¬national or an SME, the rules of
engagement with a strategic IT suppliers are the same. Key to
success is trust and having confidence in the supplier’s people.
Scott said, “You have to treat strategic partners as if they were
your own people.”
There will always be a better deal, but a strategic partner
should remain competitive, while offering suitable products and
services to help the IT director deliver an IT strategy.
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