October saw the return of a face-to-face ASAP EU Summit, this year held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
With an audience consisting of many new members, it was clear to see that strategic alliance management is a strong and growing function that provides great value to organizations.
Delegates travelled from all over Europe to learn from senior alliance management professionals and likeminded peers presenting on topics with cross-sector and cross-industry themes.
3 key learnings stood out to the allianceboard team as areas of discussion and interest to the delegates we spoke with.
There are many operating models for operational alliance management teams to use. On day 1 we listened to senior directors of alliance management in life science organizations describe their different operating models. Operating models that ranged from working alongside their business development colleagues, working separately to their business development colleagues, managing both BD and alliance management as one function and collaborating with project managers to manage partnerships on an initiative basis. Each method was effective for that business. The key takeaway from this discussion was that there are many effective ways to manage alliances and each concentrated on the best possible outcomes for that organisation.
Moving beyond life sciences, there is a growing focus on transitioning the established alliance management function from bi-lateral partnerships to multi-lateral ecosystems. We heard several ecosystem orchestrators talk about the opportunities and benefits available for multiple partners to co-create and co-innovate. While partnerships facilitate a desired outcome bi-laterally, a well-orchestrated ecosystem can allow better outcomes to occur with greater speed and at scale.
Alliance management teams need to own their alliance data in an intuitive, modern, digital way to keep and attract the best people. Digitizing the alliance management function is of growing importance to achieve intended alliance outcomes faster, reduce administrative burden and mitigate effects of employee turnover. Whichever operating model you identify with and whichever type of partnership or ecosystem you are part of, digitizing the alliance management function reinforces your alliance management blueprint, provides strong foundations on standard alliance management practices, and enables partner collaboration in real-time.
allianceboard gives alliance managers a purpose-built platform to manage their entire alliance portfolio in one place, helping to stay on top of decisions, milestones, risks and the numbers, while demonstrating organizational impact.
To find out more about allianceboard, get in touch with our team. https://www.allianceboard.com/contact-us