Introduction

A business partnership is all about individuals or companies coming together to achieve a common goal. Depending on the type of partnership, your partners may share in the liability and profit of the business. Find out more about 5 tech partnerships that worked in 2021.

Some businesses may go into a partnership agreement with other individuals or companies and end up being  a huge success. Others may turn out to be an utter disaster. 

A partnership agreement is often best suited for a group of professionals in the same line of work where each partner can contribute effectively. Unfortunately, having a common goal and industry doesn’t automatically make your partnership a success.

You can, however, look to other successful partnerships as a blueprint for your own. So, if you’re thinking about introducing partnership into your tech business, this article is for you.

In this article, you’ll get to learn what business partnerships are all about, as well as some of its advantages and disadvantages. We’ll also take a look into some examples of successful tech partnership businesses in 2021 to help you better understand how a partnership works.

What is a Business Partnership?

A partnership is a legal form of business between two or more individuals or companies sharing liabilities and profits. Partnering with other people especially in the tech industry is a strategic way to grow your business to better serve your consumers.

When you partner with a brand that has technical expertises you don’t, it helps your business stand out from its competitors. As such, whatever products or services that result from such partnership are often better rated than when you produce them solo. 

Also, having the right business partner can help increase your brand awareness. This helps your business expand into new markets, which positively impacts your total revenue generated. 

Take note that you are only able to mitigate some of your insufficiencies when you go into the right type of partnership; the success of one brand depends on the success of the other. 

There are different types of partnerships, and you should acquaint yourself with them before making a proposal to your tech business. No matter what type of partner works for you, it is important that it is a win-win for all involved.

Examples of Successful Tech Partnerships

There are several examples of successful tech partnership out there. To help you understand what a successful tech partnership looks like, we have curated a list of 5 examples of great partnerships that arose in 2021.

Microsoft and SAS

SAS, a long-time independent statistical analytics company, first partnered with the tech giant Microsoft in 2020. When you think about these two companies, it makes sense for them to enter a partnership agreement.

SAS is known for its expertise in machine learning, data science, and analytics, while Microsoft is known as a leader in cloud solutions, which makes it an interesting strategic alliance.

The partnership between Microsoft and SAS was built to provide a cloud platform (Microsoft Azure) for SAS analytics products. In return, SAS migrated its analytics tools onto Microsoft Azure. With this alliance, these two tech giants were able to develop an efficient go-to-market strategy that stood out from the competition. 

The result of this partnership agreement is that Microsoft and SAS combined expertise to turn data into information, and helped the consumer solve their problems.

Some of the features that make this partnership a success include a strong working relationship, the popularity of Azure with SAS, and potential synergies between Microsoft 365, Dynamic 365, Azure, and Power BI.

In other words, from this partnership, business users can easily use their tools to develop apps without being an expert in data science or coding.

Fiserv and USDA 

Another successful tech partnership in 2021 is the one between Fiserv and USDA. Fiserv Inc., is a financial service and technology company that works with banks, credit unions, securities broker dealers, and the like. USDA, which stands for The United State Department of Agriculture, is a federal agency responsible for overseeing the agriculture industry and regulating food safety, quality, and nutritional labeling. 

The partnership between Fiserv Inc., and USDA was aimed at helping the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants purchase groceries online. This was necessary because, prior to the partnership, SNAP participants were only able to pay for groceries in store or in person with a cardholder’s pin to authenticate the transaction. 

Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing guidelines, and limited face-to-face interaction, SNAP participants were limited in their shopping options. The partnership between Fiserv, USDA, and its Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) transactions support was necessary. With EBT transaction support, SNAP participants are able to purchase groceries online.  

EBT transaction allows grocers to use a Fiserv PIN-on-glass solution to develop a digital PIN pad which allows them to verify their transaction. Also, this partnership is the only USDA-approved solution that enables grocers to accept customer’s EBT payment online, resulting in a monopoly market.

Airbnb & Flipboard 

Airbnb is a platform that helps people find other people who want to rent their homes, cabins, beach houses, and so on around the world. Flipboard is a news-reading app that gathers articles from around the web and delivers them in an attractive magazine.

The concept of the Flipboard and Airbnb partnership was pretty simple. Flipboard rooted Airbnb in a natural way that fitted the right content and to the right audience. When you open the Flipboard app, you can explore and ‘heart’ Airbnb stories for the chance to win a free Airbnb trip. 

Airbnb and Flipboard partnering is a great one in the sense that Flipboard can encourage people to use Airbnb whenever they are on a trip and looking for cheap housing. 

To ensure there is high enough traffic, Flipboard utilized several strategies from target emails, display, and video ads to push notifications and social media, both on and off Flipboard.

PwC & AXS Lab

PricewaterhouseCooper, or PwC, is a professional multinational service network and accounting firm. AXS Lab, a client of PwC founded by Jason DaSilva, is a social enterprise that has built a coalition of organizations and individuals to boost the inclusion of people with disabilities. 

DaSilva uses a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis, and wanted to create a platform for other people with mobility impairment to tell their stories. In the US alone, 1 in every 7 adults are affected with mobility disability.

With this problem in mind, AXS Lab and PwC’s digital team launched AXS Map, a user-friendly and crowdsourcing platform powered by Google Map. The goal of this platform is to map the accessibility of different places to help people with mobility or vision related disabilities navigate the world with ease. 

AXS Map is backed by web app users who rate the accessibility of locations like grocery stores, train stations, restaurants, coffee shops, and so on. 

The PwC and AXS Lab partnership was a success, as it impacts how several businesses learn and operate. And as the web app develops and expands, businesses will be able to discover users how to best serve dis- and differently-abled individuals around the world. 

Uber and Spotify 

Another perfect example of a successful partnership business agreement is between Uber and Spotify. Uber is a service provider in the transportation industry which redefines how people get from point A to point B. Spotify is an audio streaming and media service provider.

The partnership allows users to connect to their Spotify account and stream their favorite tunes while riding in an Uber. 

The aim of this partnership is to allow Spotify users’ to engage on a more personal level by linking their Spotify account while in an Uber. Provided the user has an active subscription on Spotify, they can enjoy this service and even start listening to the music before getting into the Uber. 

As a result of this partnership, Uber can get a more competitive advantage over other competing ride-sharing services. Uber and Spotify can also both increase their brand recognition and awareness to a much larger audience.

Advantages of Business Partnerships

Several tech businesses go into partnership because of the many benefits it offers. Below are some of the advantages of a business partnership. 

Better Decision Making 

As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one when it comes to tackling problems. In a partnership agreement, each member has a unique perspective and set of experiences. If a conflict or debate should occur, you and your partners can call upon your diverse perspectives to reach a far better conclusion.

More Available Funds for the Business

Every business needs funds to grow. When you partner with other businesses, they will definitely bring something to the table, and oftentimes, that something is cash. Your business will be able to use the funds to do things like buy more equipment, fund research, or improve on a sales strategy.

More funds can also help the business attract more investors. Additionally, partnering with the right entity can also help you enhance your business’s ability to borrow more funds. 

Bridge the Gap of Expertise and Knowledge

No business is an island. Even though you may be delivering good stuff to your consumers, that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.

This is where partnership comes in. Partnering with other tech companies opens the door to new levels of expertise and knowledge. A good partner will bring to the table the experience and skills you’re lacking to help you grow.

Lower Tax

Partnerships can also save you on tax. In a partnership business, you’re required to report shares on an individual tax return.

This means the profits made from the business are taxed once at the personal level rather than twice as in the case of a corporation which is taxed at the corporate as well as personal level.

With a partnership, you also save costs by not paying the annual filing fees that come with corporations, which can be very expensive, sometimes.

Disadvantages of Business Partnerships 

While people often go into business partnerships because of its potential advantages, it is equally helpful to know its downfalls to save the business from spiraling into an inevitable failure. Below are some of the downsides of being in a business partnership.

Liabilities

One disadvantage of partnership that makes everyone worried is the risk of liability. In a partnership agreement, your assets (even personal ones) are at risk.

For example, if the business runs into excessive debts, the partners are responsible for paying up. This can place a burden on personal finance and assets, and is the primary reason many businesses form a limited liability partnership, or even better, a corporation.

Risk of Disagreement 

Collaborating with partners in a business is great until there is an unfixable disagreement. When there’s a conflict with partners in a business, running it effectively will always be a struggle. Conflicts can arise from so many things, like how to spend revenue, what business strategy to adopt, how to expand the business, and so on.

Loss of Autonomy

A business partnership agreement means you share ownership and control over the business with your partners. This also means whatever important decision you’re making must be made jointly.

You must be comfortable compromising or relinquishing certain ways of doing business before signing a partnership agreement. 

Vulnerability of Departure

If a partner retires or withdraws from the business, it will affect the overall stability of the business. In a partnership agreement, there is also a provision for a buy-out if a partner decides to withdraw.

Note that shelling out the funds to buy out all the partner’s assets may cost you a lot of money.

Looking for Joining Forces and Implementing a Business Partnership?

If you’re looking for a way to increase the revenue of your business, it’s time you started considering a partnership. However, understand that going into a partnership agreement is not as easy as it sounds.

You’d have to make a lot of compromises and give up a part of your right in the business. However, if you can successfully onboard your partners, it will get them operational quickly which will impact your overall revenue. 

To achieve this, you need an effective PRM solution such as Kiflo. At Kiflo, we provide your business with an extensive partner onboarding process and everything else you need to keep your business running successfully.