Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2021 - 27

ALLIANCE INTEGRATION
Exceptions Aren't Always Exceptional
In many acquisitions of smaller startups, there's often no alliance
manager to absorb. This has been the case for almost
all of Logically's and SailPoint's recent acquisitions. Schramm
has found that alliance work tends to fall under a vice president
of sales or similar executive. He conceded that this could
mean that some partnerships are not being run according to
best practices, which was the case with one acquired company's
collaboration that wasn't realizing the value of its joint
product development efforts. It was up to SailPoint's experienced
partner professionals to step in and assess, " What are
you doing right? What is it that could be done better to make
that partnership around that solution more meaningful? "
said Schramm.
When the target does have trained alliance personnel, those
new partnering professionals can bring new perspectives-
and skills. The alliance manager who came with Cerdant, the
lone Logically acquisition where collaborations were being
managed by someone with an official alliance management
title, specializes in partner marketing.
For larger acquisitions, the acquirer's alliance leadership
has some tough decisions around to what degree they make
new alliance managers conform to the parent organization's
standards and practices. One school of thought is that there
is no need to disrupt alliance managers running highfunctioning,
productive relationships when their methods
are clearly working. After all, micromanagement makes for
a bad first impression. Others think that if you make one
exception, it sets the precedent for the rest of the practice
to demand more, including the acquirer's original alliance
management team.
" You end up piling up exceptions upon exceptions and not
managing things well, " said Palmer. " Are you willing to incur
the cost of managing that alliance in a completely different
way than you do your other alliances? "
It's hard for even the most empathetic of managers and companies
to avoid turnover in the acquiree's personnel over
the course of the first year following the transaction. Senior
leaders rarely back away from a deal because of potential
culture clashes, but that doesn't mean the culture of an alliance
practice should be glossed over.
" The question of manageability of those acquired relationships
is rarely asked, and even when it is asked, it's often
dismissed with a cursory, 'Well, it's not that big a deal,' " said
Palmer. " It is. "
Q2 2021 | www.strategic-alliances.org
27
n Allow acquired alliance managers to
run their well-functioning alliances
in the manner in which they feel
comfortable, even if their methods
differ from parent company policy,
but be careful not to grant too many
" exceptions " or deviations from
standard company practices.
Partner relations
n Explain the rationale for the
acquisition/merger to existing
partners as soon as the company is
able to disclose details-illustrate how
the new asset(s) will enhance existing
collaborations.
n Reconcile disparities between the
acquirer and acquiree's contracts
with the same partner-although
companies will tend to want to push
hard to retain better rates and terms,
it's important to balance the overall
health of the relationship in these
negotiations.
Most of all, alliance professionals will
find that each acquisition will require a
different approach in each of these areas
because no two transactions are alike.
" There is no one-size-fits-all in this business, "
said Carl DCosta,
general manager of partner success at
Blue Yonder.
worldwide
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Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2021

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