• Level two maturity: tactical corporate alliances. At level two, end users can expect some repackaging of independent but complementary solution offerings. The partner and the keystone vendor often offer separate but coordinated go-to-market strategies that touch upon coordinated sales plans and potential deal financing. End users can expect separate support programs, individual ecosystems, and separate but coordinated incentives. Users who choose a level two solution do so at their own risk, as these programs do not come with enough guarantees to provide a comfortable level of support or technical integration.
• Level three maturity: technical solution partnerships. A hallmark of level three partnerships includes certified integrations and related certification programs for the solution. The keystone vendor and the partner coordinate go-to-market strategy including packaging, pricing, and sales incentives. Vendors and partners will often coordinate support delivery and ecosystem infrastructure. Level three provides end users with the minimal amount of confidence that the partner solution meets vendor requirements, is upgradeable, and is supported by both the keystone vendor and partner.
• Level four maturity: strategic solution partnerships. Partner solutions that achieve level four maturity engage in strategic co-development, upgrade support and certification, and provide coordinated testing environments. Go-to-market and support strategies include key features such as shared price list and warranties, shared maintenance contract, and coordinated support delivery. Ecosystem programs focus on a shared approach toward end user communities, events, recognition, and incentive programs. At this level of maturity, end users benefit from a clear vision of product road map as partners and keystone vendors co-innovate in very close relationships across the solution offering, go-to-market and support strategies, and ecosystem program.
• Level five maturity: shared innovative networks. Few solutions will achieve a level five designation. These solutions share a joint product strategy and effort toward co-innovation. Key features include software escrows and a shared testing environment. Go-to-market strategies focus on rapid implementation methodologies, centers of excellence, and shared training programs. Support and ecosystem offerings emphasize a shared or joint venture capability. Few solution-centric ecosystems reach this level. Users will often find that partners that reach this level become acquisitions targets for the vendor, and that the solution will eventually be integrated into the keystone vendor's operations.

The Bottom Line: Third-Party Certification Firms Will Emerge
The current "Wild West" environment for partner solutions forces many business process and applications professionals into a caveat emptor situation. Partner solutions should be evaluated on criteria from an independent third-party certification body. In the near future, Forrester believes that there will be opportunities to outsource or offload such evaluation to neutral consulting firms. Business process and applications professionals can expect innovation network brokers to serve as trusted intermediaries that orchestrate the delivery of partner solutions with the vendor ecosystem. Once such certification is in place, buyers will gain the confidence to be able to select and compare partner solutions in an objective and informed manner. In the meantime, use Forrester's Solution-Centric Ecosystem Maturity Model as a proxy until certification bodies and standards emerge.


Foster City, Calif.-based R "Ray" Wang leads Packaged Apps Strategy and Partner Ecosystem research for Forrester Research, Inc. His personal blog can be found at http://blog.softwareinsider.org/ To see the full Forrester report and accompanying ecosystem maturity assessment tool, click on the link http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/0,7211,45742,00.html

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