The Feeling is Mutual

Cleveland says that the motivations for these hardball tactics are really not that different from those that drive PwC. Just as Klaber talks about "Barney alliances," Cleveland says, "We don't want partnerships that are just press releases."
He also says that PwC seems to understand. "They [PwC] never had a problem with our process. They understood it logistically and emotionally."
And there is no arguing with success. Siebel's famous aggressive style has made that firm one of the most recognized names in business software. This willingness to engage, even at the risk of making enemies, seems to appeal to Klaber as well. "It can get interesting talking to Tom [Siebel]," says Klaber. "Things always get lively when I bring up our practice with another CRM vendor, or when Tom talks about how great things are with Andersen."  It is a liveliness that so far has created enough business to make both sides happy. "We have," says Klaber, "a certain chemistry that works."

2. Helping Clients Make Decisions

Time was, when a strategy consulting firm such as Bain & Company left most of the technology stuff to implementors and systems integrators.
So it's a sign of the times that Bain has established BainNet, an alliance program that counts software firms such as i2 Technologies, a Dallas-based supply chain management vendor, among its members. "This is a change for us," says Steve Berez, vice president of e-commerce for Bain in Boston, MA. "Until recently, technology was not a prime driver of business strategy."

Now, however, the technology is often front and center, no longer an afterthought in strategy consulting. "When we formulate a strategy for a client, we also need to be more cognizant of the technology necessary to implement it," says Berez.
Let there be no mistake: Bain is not about to tackle this part of the job directly. "We are not systems integrators," says Berez. "We don't write code, and we don't install packages." But, Berez explains, Bain consultants will factor a particular software package and its specific requirements into the job of strategy consultation. "Since i2 is now one of our partners, we know exactly what kind of data the i2 application will need. We can then design a strategy for our client with this in mind that reduces the time needed to implement and realize an ROI."
As befits a strategy firm such as Bain, BainNet alliances are largely gentlemen's agreements. "There are no commercial arrangement here," says Berez, "and no exclusivity."

A deal with that kind of understanding begs the question, "Why bother?" But Berez says the bother is well worth it. "In the case of i2, for example," he explains, "we get ready access to their technology. This is critical, since it means we can help a client make a decision more quickly. And we get access to the right people within i2 when we need their input."
i2, on the other hand, gets some solid strategy consulting credentials. It is a need that grew along with supply chain management software's rise up the food chain to become more than just another add-on to existing enterprise applications.
"We really needed to supply more strategy consulting for our customers," says Doug Connor, vice president of strategic services for i2. "Bain, like us, came to the conclusion that it is no longer possible to separate strategy from technology."

He says that the Bain relationship is very different from i2's associations with other consulting firms. "Prior to this [BainNet]," says Connor, "we would work mostly with Big Five–type firms. They would help us sell the technology and then do the implementation. This is definitely not the case with Bain."
Connor confirms that what Bain gets out of the deal is primarily knowledge. "They learn about the latest i2 technology," he says. "They are still very cautious about recommending a particular vendor, but in some cases they will recommend i2 to a client."
So far, Berez says, Bain and i2 have worked together on only about six client engagements. "These tend to be global 1000 companies," he says. "And it is still too early to estimate the results or cost savings." But he obviously thinks they will be there. "We are in the process of adding about a dozen more software partners to the BainNet alliance," he says. And to underline the nonexclusivity of these partnerships, one that is already a member is Oracle, an i2 competitor. And i2 is also moving aggressively on this front. "We have signed a letter of intent to do some similar things with McKinsey," says Connor.

3. Projecting a Confident Swagger

In mid-1999, when Leonard Palomino joined Infogain, a Los Gatos, CA–based consultancy specializing in e-business solutions, the firm had what he calls a "partner du jour" model.
"Infogain approached partnerships," says Palomino, who is the chief operating officer, "very much like most consulting firms." Which means, he explains, that historically Infogain's technology partners varied from client to client. But Palomino felt the firm's partnering practices were undermining the value Infogain could bring to its clients as well as its own competitive footing. "I moved to a strategic, focused, partner model," he says. In at least one case he chose wisely: Infogain's alliance with Veritas Software, a storage management application firm, has proven itself where it counts.
The word on the street is that Infogain and Veritas are together raising the bar inside consulting's now-heated alliance-building competition. Together, they already share nearly 200 clients, including such blue chip accounts as Intel Corp., Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. It's a track record Palomino can't help but tout. "I don't know what our actual percentage is, but it is true that when we pursue an account together with Veritas we tend to win," he says.

Palomino recalls considering other storage technology vendors, such as EMC and Legato, before advancing with Veritas. "Veritas was relatively young, but I thought they had superior business savvy," he confides. That business savvy underscored the need to make training the linchpin of the fledgling alliance. While Infogain's commitment to training and keeping its people up-to-date on Veritas technologies helped advance it within the ranks of Veritas's consulting partners, it also gave it a competitive edge inside client accounts that few consultancies were prepared to leverage.
Storage technology has never been one of the tech world's sexiest offerings, but for those who dwell in the trenches of the Internet economy, Veritas and vendors like it now enjoy something of a swagger inside client accounts, where an explosion in digital data continues to drive ever higher the demand for data management software.

Tony DeCicco, vice president for professional services at Veritas, thinks that Infogain's ability to clearly separate business from technology issues has helped advance the partnership. "The problems our customers face often have more to do with business processes than technology. Infogain can really make these distinctions and make the business sale," he says.
Business savvy aside, Palomino says it is Veritas, the technology partner, that initiates the majority of deals. "This is by agreement," he explains. "I'd say they [Veritas] make the sale about 65 percent of the time." Neither Palomino nor DeCicco claims to understand exactly why this partnership works as well as it does. Reputation, luck, and personal contacts all play a part, but there is one other factor: Palomino says that the two companies work hard at projecting mutual confidence.
"Here is an example," he says. "I was talking to a potential client the other day. They had not made a decision on storage management software. I told them, 'If you choose Veritas, we're there — if not, good luck.'"
It's an attitude that might not win every deal, but there is no ambiguity in the message, and as any salesman will tell you, sometimes that's all it takes.