Many corporations are restarting their transformation initiatives as they transition from defending their survivability in a unstable market, to actively accelerating their digital transformations to remain aggressive in a digital-first world.  This has elevated the demand for system integrators (SIs) who will likely be offered with many alternatives to have record-breaking quarters this 12 months.

SIs clearly anticipated a spike in demand heading into 2021.  For fairly a while now, they’ve been buying corporations in among the extra cutting-edge facets of digital transformation to strengthen their experience and shore up their topside mental property.

Whereas the SI group will face preliminary challenges integrating the businesses they acquired, you possibly can count on them to beat these challenges rapidly and for there to be minimal impression in your engagements due to the energy, depth, and breadth of their core operations.  The larger concern for corporations needs to be how they may tackle the heightened demand for SI providers and the potential impacts that may have on how SIs view the chance you current to them.

In our work, we’re seeing Tier 1 SIs being extraordinarily selective when selecting which alternatives to bid on.  Firms are extra continuously getting “no bid” responses once they go to market.  The SI providers market is now a vendor’s market, that means corporations as we speak have to promote the alternatives (their initiatives) to SIs—one thing they haven’t needed to do earlier than.

Listed here are 4 techniques that may enhance your probabilities of SIs bidding in your venture:

1. Establish your focused SI preferences early

Shortlisting your preferences to judge SI companions in your transformation program early on affords you time to judge your sourcing technique and the impacts an award of your transformation initiative may have on that technique. Evaluating the efficiency and capabilities of incumbent companions is a superb first go at compiling your shortlist.

In case your shortlist consists of looking for bids from SIs which are new to your group, safe non-disclosure agreements early and have interaction in dialog.  Share high-level scope, normal timing, and anticipated advantages.  Search to know their capabilities, expertise, methodology, and accelerators to each vet their match and get every SI invested in your course of.

2. Socialize your technique

It’s necessary to speculate time in sharing the small print of your technique, particularly with any new SIs.  The marketplace for SI providers is so sturdy that SIs have turn into extra selective over the place they place their sources.  Competitors for providers is excessive sufficient now that new SIs have to really feel as if they’ve an opportunity competing along with your incumbents.

Make no mistake, the SI group is extraordinarily nicely linked.  Any new SI you would possibly wish to solicit a bid from in your venture already is aware of prematurely who you’re employed with as we speak.  They have already got sense of the hill they must climb to unseat your incumbent(s), they usually know they already are at an obstacle from the beginning.  Demonstrating early on that you’re keen to spend money on educating potential new SIs to shut the hole of their understanding of your surroundings will improve your probabilities that they’ll bid in your venture.

One very efficient method to do that is to share your imaginative and prescient for this system and the way it suits along with your general company technique.  Each little little bit of perception you possibly can present will get the eye of non-incumbents and empower them with data they will use to rapidly assess the probability they are often profitable in a aggressive situation.

3. Govt-level engagement

A extremely efficient tactic to exhibit your willingness to speculate effort and time into cultivating new relationships is gaining the involvement of executives to assist your message.  Nothing reveals critical curiosity greater than executive-level assist and direct executive-level engagement with the suppliers in your shortlist.

Reveal top-down govt assist by investing, constructing, and cultivating SI relationships along with your program sponsor and your executives.  SIs place a really excessive worth on with the ability to get the eye of the choice makers.  When SIs really feel they’re able to set up relationships, bend ears, and are offered a platform to study extra about your transformation objectives and targets, they are going to be higher outfitted to evaluate the chance and their probabilities ought to they compete with an incumbent.

4. Contemplate sole supply negotiation

One closing tactic you need to use to preemptively tackle the potential of an SI responding to your RFP with “no-bid” is to supply an incumbent the chance to submit a proposal previous to taking the chance to market.  That is greatest thought of for corporations which have a excessive diploma of customization and/or a longstanding incumbent with important expertise and tribal data of your group.

With a lot demand, it merely doesn’t make monetary sense for SIs to bid on each alternative that comes their method.  They wish to know whether or not there’s a actual alternative for them and what their revenue will likely be in the event that they land your small business.  In the event you’re out there for SI work this 12 months, maintain this in thoughts and make an additional effort to point out the SIs how taking in your venture will profit them within the short- and long-term to extend your probabilities of getting their curiosity, their greatest folks and their providers.