Global Partner Management Newsletter - Volume 1
Global Partner Management Quarterly Newsletter | Q3 2023
Welcome to the inaugural issue of our Global Partner Management Newsletter! This quarterly newsletter will give our partners first-hand knowledge of changes, updates, forecasts, and tips to ensure a successful partnership with WWT.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your team. And use the links at the end of the newsletter to find other valuable articles and information as well as to provide feedback and suggestions.
Welcome Letter from Jack Campbell
Director of Partner Management
To Our Fabulous Partners,
It gives us immense pleasure to welcome you to our first newsletter! We are thrilled to have you onboard and would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for choosing to work with us. As a valued partner, we want to ensure that you receive timely updates and insights that can help you build your business alongside us. We will cover the latest in technologies, geographical expansions, and overall partner strategy.
Our newsletter is a great platform for us to share industry trends, the latest developments, and updates about our services and offerings. We believe that this will not only keep you informed but also help you to identify new opportunities to grow your business.
The newsletter is only one new change with Partner Management. At the beginning of the year, a leadership change happened. It was fortunate for me that after 16 years of leading engineering organizations here at WWT, I was able to step back and focus on our partner ecosystem.
With the change, I'd like to let you know that we are committed to delivering high-quality services and providing exceptional support to our partners. Our team of experts is dedicated to working closely with you to ensure that we meet the needs of our customers.
As we embark on this journey together, we encourage you to take advantage of the resources that we provide, and actively engage with us. Your feedback is important to us and we welcome any suggestions that you may have to improve our services.
Thank you once again for your partnership, and we look forward to working closely with you to achieve our mutual goals. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Jack Campbell
Director of Partner Management
Global Partner Management Team
WWT is a Great Place to Work – for Partners, Too!
WWT is honored to be named the 19th best place to work in 2023 by Fortune Magazine and Great Place to Work! Even more incredible is that this is WWT's 12th consecutive year to be included on this prestigious list. All of us in Global Partner Management would like to thank you, our trusted partners, for your invaluable contributions to making WWT a great place to work for all!
How To Be a Great Partner: No Surprises!
A major factor in WWT's success is our Integrated Management and Leadership (IML), which includes our core values. Our core values guide our interactions with teammates, clients, and partners, as well as show partners how to interact with us. We will be sharing parts of WWT's IML in upcoming newsletters, and you may find your company has similar values!
This issue highlights "No Surprises" which is crucial in building trust in any relationship. "No Surprises" is part of WWT's 8 Key Business Concepts and makes sense in many ways. It's possible that, even with the best risk mitigation plan, something may go wrong. "No Surprises" directs the team to alert the correct stakeholders when something doesn't go as planned…or even when there is a risk of something going wrong. The quicker the team knows about something, the quicker we can work together to solve it.
Communicating Effectively
An important facet of "No Surprises" is how to communicate effectively to avoid surprises. WWT uses our "Simple Guide to Communications". When in doubt, it's best to contact your WWT stakeholders first – which could be your partner manager, the project manager, WWT's account manager, or our Command Center.
Examples of when to communicate:
- The engineer won't be able to be on a scheduled call or a tech may have an emergency and won't make it to the site on time. We understand that unexpected events happen. In the spirit of no surprises and courtesy, a WWT stakeholder should be contacted immediately.
- The partner resource is well respected and has built a relationship with WWT's client. The resource finds out they won't be able to attend a cutover or a meeting. The resource needs to let WWT know so we can message that news properly to our client.
Every project includes a communications plan which details who the contacts are, as well as identifies escalation contacts. If this is not presented to you, please reach out to your project manager or your partner manager.
What's New in 2023?
PRM Quoting Tool – Global Partner Management kicked off the new year with an exciting new quoting tool. The Partner Relationship Management (PRM) tool is based in Salesforce and allows Global Partner Managers to send Requests for Quotes to partners quickly and efficiently. Partners can easily download WWT's RFQs, then respond using the same tool. This allows a trackable record of the quote allowing Partner Managers and partners to quickly find quotes and status. The GPM team has been reaching out to partners to activate their accounts and provide short training. If you have not been trained, please send an email to ps_ds_partner_managers@wwt.com and ask to be trained.
Assignment Partner Managers - WWT is currently assigning a Global Partner Manager to our most frequently used partners. These partners may continue to communicate with other partner managers for project-specific topics, but they will have a single point of contact for general questions and discussions. Their assigned Partner Manager will meet with them periodically as well as present business reviews.
What Good Looks Like – One of the biggest accomplishments in 2022 was the creation of "What Good Looks Like" which was a short document outlining what is required in quotes to WWT. Many partners found it helpful to reduce going back and forth numerous times with additions and corrections.
Our next version of "What Good Looks Like" will be introduced in June and will allow time for adaptation before being required. It will provide more robust details about what is needed and how information should be presented. Important additions include:
- A general template to follow.
- Reference to the Contract (MSA/PSSA) applicable to the SOW.
- Details on PMO oversight if required.
- Details on the required Health and Safety Hazard Assessment for all onsite work.
- Information about WWT's resource vetting process.
2023 Partner Symposiums: Share Updates, Insights, and Information
On January 24, 2023, Global Partner Management held our first virtual partner symposium and received positive feedback. The event included topics such as Building Strategic Resources; Partner Operations and Compliance; and Global Services. The day ended with virtual tours of WWT's NAIC in Illinois and our ATC at our Global Headquarters in St Louis.
We had 87 attendees from 68 partner companies who joined us. The presentation and videos are available on our GPM Platform Page at Professional Services Partner Community - WWT. Our next symposium will be held on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 – invites coming soon. We look forward to seeing you there!
Unified Security and Authentication
GPM is excited to announce that we will be rolling out a unified security and authentication feature providing streamlined access to the WWT-provided PRM tool. Additionally, this functionality will unlock access to some technical training, functional labs, and sales/business material with the end goal of strengthening the business relationship between WWT and our professional services partners. Stay Tuned!
Partner Surveys - the 5 C's of Being Great
Did you know that WWT project managers are required to complete a partner survey after every project? Partners are rated in five areas: Core Values; Confidence; Consistency; Collaboration and Cost. Below are items that project managers are asked to consider when completing the survey as well as the weight given to each category.
Congratulations to our partner KONNET for their collaboration with WWT on P&G CaaS Deployment at their Goa Plant in India. This project was completed in April 2023 with much praise from P&G's leadership.
The P&G Goa Plant (2862) CaaS deployment project included Cable Remediation and Validation, Pre and Post wireless site survey, and wireless deployment with Post hyper care Support and Validation. A follow-up action item was to resolve a single point of failure caused by fiber lay limitations because of public road governmental restrictions. KONNET successfully delivered at eight sites overall in India including Hyderabad Plant (Remediation) which is scheduled for completion in June 2023. Of course, there were setbacks and issues over the years, yet we were able to achieve success due to the entire team (WWT, P&G, & KONNET) working together as one unit towards the same goal.
Key success elements also included:
- Deployed professional/flexible team across the project.
- Standard agreed on pricing across the location.
- Working around customers' work hours meant onsite techs had to work after hours.
Thank you to KONNET for your partnership in this large and successful endeavor! And thanks for helping WWT be a great place to work for all!
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