3 Keys to Partnering Through a Global Pandemic

The change our world is experiencing is unprecedented and it’s been discussed at exhaustion, but I confess, I see some interesting trends. What I’ve found is that this environment is creating both change and opportunity and it’s more important than ever to cultivate the right partnerships.

Between global volatility and instability in the market, the consensus is that it will be a slow recovery and that some of the economic damage from the worldwide pandemic could be long lasting. It’s clear some of the areas hit the hardest are the restaurants, hospitality, airlines and travel industries. Yet even with the slowed economy, there are opportunities as agile businesses and their trusted partners shift to meet them. In fact, the US government CBO (Congressional Business Office) still forecasts a strong rebound in the second half and real GDP is expected to be a healthy 4.2% growth in 2021:

The CBO also predicts the recovery is like a check mark, not a “V” as earlier thought, as people worldwide slowly come out of isolation, businesses rehire and economies start to recover.

The check mark also indicates that we are beginning the recovery now with ample time to seize this opportunity. So how do partners navigate their business to become stronger and more strategic to customers during a global pandemic?

Here are 3 key partnering values that position businesses for both the unprecedented economic downturn as well as the massive opportunity the global pandemic recovery presents:

1. Choose your friends wisely: Integrity is key to strong relationships especially during an economic downturn. During a pandemic people might take more risk than otherwise. Organizations should demonstrate a strong level of trust and integrity with their business partners and customers. They should also demand it of their vendor partners. Vendors who continue to practice their partner strategy with enforced rules of engagement, joint selling motions and a shared value for driving the best customer experience are poised to come out of the pandemic stronger. Tough economic times adds stress to any partnership, same goes for business partners. If there isn’t strong mutual trust the stress of a global pandemic will quickly tear the partnership down.

2. Get noticed: Strategic differentiation will play a huge role in creating value for existing customers and generating new ones as the world recovers from the global pandemic. It’s important to choose partners wisely who can bring innovation and compelling value that complements your own. Together your solutions are much more valuable than just yours alone. Creating these type of innovation partnerships will deliver unique, synergistic value at a fair price. Exactly what businesses will be looking for coming out of the pandemic-induced economic downturn.

3. Stay ahead of the curve: As a partner, the ability to understand and recommend innovation around AI and automation to drive out human dependencies, human failure and improve overall customer experience will set you apart. IT and business automation improves ROI and decreases operational costs. Those vendors that can make automation easy to adopt and deploy will create a best in class customer experience and set their business up for success during our global economic recovery.

Bottom line: Opportunities abound for partners today and I’m proud to say that Hitachi Vantara is known for trusted IT automation solutions and the ability to innovate. We have created unique programs to support both customers and partners alike. Most recently, we have introduced programs like EverFlex from Hitachi Vantara that provide flexible consumption models tailored to meet both demanding IT and cost conscious budget needs. We’ve also invested in innovation like our new all-flash NVMe VSP E990 storage platform designed for mid-size enterprises that out scales and outperforms our closest competition. Finally, we have more innovation in the pipeline this year to help ensure our partner and customer communities have the support and services needed to thrive through the challenging times as well as the economic opportunities that lie ahead.