Gartner Research

Best Practices, Trends and Issues in Alliance Development and Management

Published: 12 February 2001

ID: G0094912

Analyst(s): Christine Adams

Summary

This Focus Report is Gartner Dataquest's annual report on best practices in IT services alliance development and management. This year's study focuses on emerging alliance management models as well as general trends and issues in services partnering. In a departure from earlier years, Gartner Dataquest has elected not to rank individual alliance organizations, but rather to highlight new and innovative practices in alliance development and management based on information from both industry leaders and emerging growth companies. Gartner Dataquest believes this approach more accurately reflects the diverse business needs and activities surrounding alliances.

Table Of Contents
  • Executive Summary
    • Study Objectives
    • Methodology
    • Survey Population
    • Definitions
    • Major Findings
    • Dataquest Perspective
    • The Next-Generation Alliance Organization
  • Balancing Opportunity With Results
    • An Increasing Focus on Selectivity
    • Enduring, Strategic Relationships Are a Priority
    • The Volume of Alliance Building Shows No Signs of Decreasing
    • Dataquest Perspective
  • Organizational Commitment
    • Resource and Budgetary Commitments Are Lagging
    • Budgets Are Indicators of Commitment
    • Dataquest Perspective
  • Alliance Development and the Fit Factor
    • Collaborative Team Approaches Are Favored for Identifying Potential Partners
    • Formal, Collaborative and Systematic Partner Evaluation Processes Are Viewed As Essential
    • Dataquest Perspective
  • Making it Work: Emerging Alliance Management Practices
    • Implementation of Key Success Factors
    • Key Success Factor: Strong Relationship Management
    • Key Success Factor: Implementation Blueprints
    • Key Success Factor: Get it Right Upfront
    • Key Success Factor: Communications and Knowledge Management
    • Dataquest Perspective
  • Managing and Measuring Results
    • Market-Facing Measures Predominate
    • Return on Investment Is Nice Work if You Can Get It
    • Evaluation Frequency Varies
    • Portfolio Management ... Is Not
    • Dataquest Perspective
  • Recommendations
    • The Next Phase of Alliance Building — Operational Excellence
    • The Long-Term View — Value Optimization

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