Strategic Alliance Magazine Q4 2017 - 50

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By Cynthia B. Hanson

Every once in awhile when you are deep into an
interview as a writer, an extraneous nugget emerges that's
entirely separate from the topic at hand. It pops back up
in thought for days-sometimes for weeks and months-
reemerging as a reminder that it's worthy of review. One
of those golden moments happened recently during an
interview with Steve McGarr, senior director of the Cisco
global partner organization, about the dynamic coalition
formed by Cisco and Dimension Data to problem solve
the chronic issue of poaching rhinos and other endangered species in South African parks and reserves. It was
such valuable advice on a personal and professional level
that I need to share it with you.
When interviewing McGarr about out-of-the-box thinking, he digressed to the topic of finding the right partners
for your product. The partnership needs to have significant trust and commitment to really fly, he emphasized.
He then praised Dimension Data's exceptional role in the
two companies' 25-plus-year partnership that has resulted
in many exceptional projects, including their "Connected
Conservation" venture for endangered species. The accolades then got personal as he talked about Doc (Bruce)
Watson, group executive at Dimension Data.
"Doc told me one time that he and his wife have been
married for about 35 years. A group of us asked him
what the trick was. Always be courting your spouse-
every day," McGarr recalled him saying. "That's kind of
how I looked at our partners," said McGarr. "I don't want
to leave the door open at all for them to leave. We think
we know how to benefit our partners. Never assume. It's
just like asking your spouse, 'Are you happy-is there
anything I can do?' Ask your partner, 'Is there anything
Cisco can be doing to enhance your profitability?' "

Pay attention to your partners' needs, don't neglect them,
make them feel appreciated; remind them regularly that
you are there during the disruption and chaos as well as the
victories. McGarr then added a little warning: "You need
to keep in mind that partners have other options. If those
partners can't be profitable with Cisco, they will explore
other options. You have to look at it like playing offense-
growing and building-but also defense. I refuse to allow
our partners to entertain other options," he asserted.
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | Q4 * 2017

The 'Magic' in Finding
the Right Partner
"Find the right partner for your product, software,
application, services, your OSS/BSS layers, your virtualization, your data, etc. Don't leave anything open. It's
as if you are building an all-star team. You don't need
11 quarterbacks. You need 11 of the best players in the
right places," he added. "Everyone needs to know their
position, and you need to get the best position-players
that you can. Doing a product with NetApp, SAP, etc.,
everyone has a role and understands the value that they
bring-the benefits for the group. It takes trust as well;
we know very well-we know how we make money. It's
important when you are putting together a complex
ecosystem, it's important to understand how everyone
benefits. You need to make this clear for everyone."
He then provided an example of how Dimension Data
won his trust on this project: A Dimension Data executive showed him their books so that Cisco could
understand the responsibility they were engaging in.
You need to have that degree of trust and commitment,
he explained.
There was a huge learning curve for him with this project, he said. "Cisco and Dimension Data have been so
wonderful to me and my teams-they allowed us to
invest in projects like this to demonstrate our technology. Another project with Dimension Data helped
breast cancer patients in the United Kingdom ... stay
connected. It allowed us to imagine, build, deliver, and
help people while we demoed our tech. Is there business
value behind something like this?" he asked.
"Yes, lets demonstrate it while we see societal value," he
advised. "It's an opportunity to really be immersive in the
world. It's so much fun, it really is. Plus Doc is infectious!
Sometimes magic happens-the right individuals, environment, capability-and you dare to speak and share
your imagination," he enthused.
"We've been fortunate that [Cisco's] leadership rallied to
our imagination. Within Cisco's Global Partner Organization, we take very earnestly the expectation of a 'Value
Exchange' with our partners, as promoted by Wendy
Bahr," who is senior vice president of the organization,
he concluded. n

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q4 2017