According to Wikipedia "The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
The "Alliance Bermuda Triangle" is typically where partners wind up when attempting "triangulation" - the pursuit of that elusive holy grail resulting from the coming together of 3 companies.
It typically goes like this..... you're working with a partner on an initiative, and he mentions, "hey, we have a partnership with Acme Technologies, we should loop them in to our discussions. There's typically lots of enthusiasm in the beginning after a series of exploratory discussions...Lots of IGBG - "it's gonna be great" and then..... nothing.
Why? Because getting alignment between two companies is challenging enough. Adding a third to the mix increases the complexity (and risk) by an order of magnitude.
I'm not saying it can't work... I've seen a few. Just know what you're getting into, ask a lot of questions and set expectations all around.
Thanks Donna,
ReplyDeleteindeed, three way partnership is more complex than two way, and more so than it appears.
Still, its rewards are correspondingly greater, and more special - a key to making partnerships a differentiation factor.
My experience in a global systems integrator engaging niche Independent Software Vendors together with large global application platform vendors has been rewarding.
Global platform vendors themselves, who seek standard and simple approaches in engaging partners, have acknowledged the special value this three-way teaming has provided.