Powerful Partnerships

Computerworld - Partnerships are a fact of life in today's world. Strong IT partnerships have the power to vitalize and even transform a business, provided you follow a clear strategy and manage them carefully.
At the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, we've developed partnerships that not only serve our IT needs but also contribute to the overall mission of the university. The strategy we follow is straightforward enough to work for any IT organization: First, serve the customer -- in our case, that's faculty and students - and second, build the brand.
I rely on four basic techniques to maintain and leverage partnerships. And while it's true that businesses come in different shapes and sizes, any company can apply these concepts to create opportunities for growth.
1. Insure the Essentials
The most crucial collaborations are what I call "insurance policies." These are the must-have partnerships that support infrastructure and critical services. Although they're the most obvious kinds of partnerships, they're not necessarily the easiest to nail down. It can take time to find the right fit.
At Wharton, our relationship with IBM fits into this category, because when it comes to our infrastructure, we know the company will be there when we need it.
One of the tough lessons I've learned is that many vendors may not be able to deliver what you need. A few years ago, we temporarily lost our entire application environment, which was running on another vendor's servers. When we really needed top-notch support, it was clear that our old vendor's best just wasn't good enough.

Wharton School CIO Deirdre Woods Image Credit: Scott Nibauer