????根據我的經驗，一個架構良好、極具影響力的合作伙伴關系勝過100個平庸的分銷合作。分銷伙伴關系需要花費巨大的努力方能產生效果。同時擁有眾多分銷伙伴根本就不切實際，正是因為這個原因，選擇合適的分銷伙伴、精心打造合作關系才是最為重要的。過去8年間，Opsware公司只有一個重要的分銷伙伴，但它對公司產生了非常大的積極影響。

該找一個分銷伙伴了

????2005年初，當時成立僅3年的Opsware公司開始步入良性發展軌道。我們剛剛完成了對Rendition Networks公司的收購，這項耗資3,300萬美元的收購案為我們帶來了一個輕量級、但功能強大的網絡自動化軟件產品，我們將其命名為Opsware NAS（網絡自動化系統）。NAS使得我們在該領域占得了一席之地，并迅速地為新客戶創造出價值，爾后說服它們購買我們公司另一項級別更高、同時也更加昂貴的產品：服務器自動化系統SAS。NAS的銷售合同一般價值11.5萬美元，銷售周期需要1個月，安裝需要幾個星期，而SAS的銷售合同一般價值76.5萬美元，銷售需1年時間，安裝調試需6到12個月）。

????對于我們來說，積極推廣和銷售NAS是一個明智之舉，但我們當時面臨著一項挑戰：我們的直銷團隊規模很小，只能覆蓋美國和英國市場，而且缺乏跟網絡買家的業務關系。我們需要一個擁有買家關系和銷售團隊覆蓋全球（這些都是我們欠缺的）的大型合作伙伴。

合適的合作伙伴

????顯而易見，合適的合作伙伴是思科公司，而合適的產品則是NAS。

????得益于我們在戰略性商業拓展方面的投資，自Opsware公司成立之日起，我們就一直拜訪思科公司，其中既包括最高管理層，也包括處于中層的數據中心經理?，F在，我們終于可以開始跟思科談生意了。盡管思科公司在路由器和交換機硬件市場占據著主導地位，但我們從客戶那里得知，思科管理軟件對其自身設備的管理能力讓人不敢恭維，對客戶網絡系統中其他公司、比如瞻博網絡公司（Juniper）的設備則根本就發揮不了任何作用。而我們的產品不僅在市場處于領先地位，還能跨平臺應用。完成對Rendition Networks公司的收購之后幾天，我們就拜會了思科公司負責管理軟件的高級副總裁，向他提供了他的客戶們需要的解決方案。

明確任務

????籌劃一份極具影響力的協定之前，首先得搞清楚你想從中獲得什么。我們事前花費了大量時間讓公司內部明確我們通過這次合作所要達成的目的，并就這一問題在公司上下達成了共識。我們的主要目標如下：

????? 思科公司真心致力于推廣，并以對我們具有吸引力的利潤率銷售大量的NAS產品。

????? Opsware公司有權面向Cisco NAS 的所有客戶推銷 Opsware SAS 。

????? Cisco NAS產品需注明Opsware 公司的標識。

????? 最小幅度的產品調整，單一的代碼庫。

????? 思科方面必須保證足夠大的銷售額，這樣我們才能投入資源，支持思科實現銷售目標。

????In my experience, one well-constructed, high-impact partnership is better than a hundred run-of-the-mill arrangements. Distribution partnerships take an enormous effort to make work. It's just not realistic to have many of them, which is why picking the right one and constructing it intelligently is fundamental. At Opsware, we only had one significant distribution relationship over eight years, but it had a massively positive impact on the company.

Time to find a partner

????It was early 2005, and things were starting to go pretty well for three-year-old Opsware. We had just closed our $33 million acquisition of Rendition Networks, giving us a lightweight but powerful network automation software product that we christened Opsware NAS (Network Automation System). NAS would allow us to penetrate and rapidly deliver value to new accounts, then upsell them to our considerably heavier and more expensive Server Automation System. (Our average NAS deal size was $115k, took a month to sell and a couple of weeks to deploy, whereas SAS deals averaged $765k and could take a year to sell and six to twelve months to deploy.)

????It made sense to market and sell NAS as aggressively as possible—but we faced a challenge: Our direct sales force was small, only covered US and UK, and had few relationships with network buyers. We needed a big partner with the buyer relationships and global coverage we lacked.

The right partner

????The right partner was obvious: Cisco. So was the product: NAS.

????Thanks to our investment in strategic BD (see Part I and Part II of this series), we'd been calling on Cisco since the founding of Opsware, from the C-suite to mid-level data center managers. Now we finally had something to talk about. For all its pre-eminence in router and switch hardware, we knew from customers that Cisco's management software capability was weak for its own devices and non-existent for, say, Juniper devices in the customer's network. We had the market-leading, cross-platform product. Within days of closing the acquisition, we visited the Cisco SVP responsible for management software and offered him the solution his customers were demanding.

Mission clarity

????Before you can construct a high-impact deal, you have to be crystal-clear on what you want to achieve. We spent a substantial amount of time up front to achieve internal clarity and consensus across the company on what we wanted from a partnership. These were our main objectives:

????? A real commitment by Cisco to market and sell a lot of NAS product, at an attractive margin to us.

????? Opsware's right to target every Cisco NAS customer for an Opsware SAS sale.

????? Opsware branding on the Cisco NAS product.

????? Minimal product changes and a single code base.

????? Enough assurance of financial potential to allow us to invest in the support Cisco would need to succeed.