Beyond the Alliance Team: The Hidden Key to GSI Partnership Success
- Mike Nevin
- May 24
- 5 min read
Most partnerships with global system integrators underperform not because of strategy, but because of relationships.
Alliance Best Practice Ltd (ABP) has been benchmarking strategic alliances for over 22 years. In that time we have discovered 52 Common Success Factors (CSFs) that show up time and time again in commercially successful alliance relationships. Number #28 on the list is S28 'Other relationships with same partner'. The S in the numbering system refers to the fact that the CSF in question is in the 'Strategic' category. The other categories are Commercial, Technical, Cultural and Operational.
In our recent work with GSIs we have discovered that this particular factor is the hidden killer in many alliance relationships. In other words the partnering company is given access to the alliance team in the GSI but no further. No direct contact with the sales teams or marketing departments, no interaction with technologists to create joint offerings and in particular no contact with the account teams in clients to be able to drive joint value to clients / customers.
This lack of access to cross functional collaboration in the GSI has serious consequences both for the partner but also for the alliance team in the GSI. For the partner the frustration is that they don't get access to account executives in joint clients. For the alliance team they run the risk of becoming known as a 'talking shop' with no real influence on business and thus their role is devalued both internally and externally.
The blog below summarizes our experiences in this area and offers some tips on how to overcome this problem. The article will be of use to companies looking to partner with GSIs but also with GSI alliance teams looking to break down internal silo barriers.
Sales Activation Requires Trust from the Field
GSIs are highly decentralized. While alliance leaders may greenlight a partnership and set strategic priorities, it’s the regional account teams and field sellers who determine whether your solution is brought into a deal. If they don’t understand your value or don’t trust you to deliver, you’ll never gain traction.
Product Teams Drive Technical Credibility
Co-selling with a GSI often means solving complex customer problems — and that requires technical alignment. If your product team isn’t collaborating directly with the GSI’s architects or solution engineers, you risk misaligned roadmaps, clunky integrations, or missed opportunities for co-innovation.
Marketing Drives Pipeline and Visibility
The best GSI partnerships leverage joint marketing to amplify reach and generate demand. But without relationships inside the GSI’s marketing function — and a clear understanding of how to navigate their campaign planning and branding rules — you’ll struggle to get campaigns off the ground or see measurable impact.
Accountability Comes from Distributed Buy-in
Without buy-in from people across the GSI’s organization, your alliance will remain theoretical. True accountability — for pipeline contribution, co-sell motions, or joint solution development — comes only when stakeholders beyond the alliance team are committed and engaged.
Why These Relationships Are So Difficult to Build
Even highly capable alliance professionals run into brick walls when trying to build cross-functional relationships at GSIs. Here’s why:
Global System Integrators are massive, matrixed organizations. They have thousands of employees spread across dozens of business units, countries, and service lines. Finding the right contacts is hard. Getting their time is harder.
Most employees inside a GSI don’t care about the alliance. If a seller doesn’t see how your product helps them close a deal this quarter, they won’t pay attention. If a marketer doesn’t have a mandate to work on alliance campaigns, your emails go unanswered.
There’s no formal incentive alignment. Unlike the alliance team, many functional roles don’t have KPIs tied to partner success. That means your outreach competes with other priorities that do impact their compensation.
Information doesn’t travel well inside a GSI. Even if you’ve briefed the central team or leadership, that doesn’t mean sellers or marketers in the field know who you are or what you do.
How to Build Cross-Functional Relationships That Drive Results
To succeed in a GSI alliance, you need a structured, intentional approach to building relationships across sales, marketing, product, and delivery. Here’s how to make it happen:
Step #1 - Map the Relationship Landscape
Start by identifying which functions and roles at the GSI are critical to your success. Consider:
Sales/account teams aligned to your target customers
Industry or regional business units
Marketing teams managing partner campaigns or customer events
Technical architects or solution owners with integration influence
Delivery teams who own post-sale success
Use your alliance team counterparts to help you navigate the org chart and identify the right entry points.
Step #2 Co-Develop a Relationship Enablement Plan
Work with your GSI alliance partner to define a joint plan for building these relationships. Your plan should include:
Specific roles and individuals to engage
Engagement methods (e.g., field enablement sessions, lunch & learns, shadowing opportunities)
Metrics of success (e.g., number of seller briefings, joint campaigns launched, roadmap workshops held)
A regular cadence for review and adjustment
Step #3 Enable the GSI Field with Value, Not Just Information
Your messaging to sales and delivery teams must be grounded in clear, immediate value:
How do you help them close bigger deals?
What use cases do your solutions unlock?
What customer logos or wins can you point to?
What’s in it for them — professionally and financially?
Package your story in seller-friendly formats: 1-pagers, win wires, customer case studies, and simple enablement decks.
Step #4 - Appoint Functional Champions Inside Your Own Org
You can’t do this alone. Build your own cross-functional GSI task force:
Assign a marketing manager to co-own GSI campaign development.
Get a product manager aligned with the GSI’s industry or vertical focus.
Involve customer success or solutions engineering to support pre-sales motions.
Encourage them to build direct peer-to-peer relationships with their GSI counterparts.
Step #5 - Leverage Executive and Field Leadership to Accelerate Connections
Executives open doors. When you’re trying to break into a GSI’s regional sales organization or build bridges to delivery leaders, an intro from your SVP to theirs can cut through red tape.
Equip your executives with talking points and target outcomes. Make the most of joint business reviews, QBRs, and industry events as opportunities to expand your network.
Step #6 - Celebrate and Share Early Wins
Success breeds interest. As you start to collaborate with a product team, close a co-sell deal, or launch a joint campaign, tell the story:
Share it internally to reinforce the value of the partnership.
Promote it within the GSI to build momentum.
Highlight individuals who contributed — especially those outside the core alliance team.
Nothing builds goodwill and engagement like public recognition.
Final Thoughts
Winning with a GSI is about more than strategy decks and executive alignment. It’s about mobilizing the full ecosystem of people who influence, enable, and deliver value to customers — many of whom sit outside the formal partnership structure.
When you invest in building these relationships — with empathy, clarity, and persistence — you transform your alliance from a paper partnership into a revenue-generating force.
Start with the mindset that everyone is part of the alliance — and act accordingly.
Further Help and Advice
If you would like further help on this topic or advice on how to increase your own alliance cross collaboration feel free to contact us for a no obligation discussion at info@alliancebestpractice.com
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