Tech Integration partnerships: An Ultimate Guide

In ancient times (read: the ‘80s and ‘90s), getting different types of technology to talk to each other was time-consuming at best…

… and nearly impossible at worst.

Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. These days, sending data from one tech product to another is downright trivial.

Of course, this is possible because today’s technologies are designed with cross-compatibility in mind. But that’s not the only factor powering the tech integration revolution. Partnerships are the engine that’s driving the industry towards better products, smoother integrations, and higher value for consumers.  Here, you’ll find our complete guide to the ins and outs of creating a successful tech integration partnership.

What Are Tech Integration Partnerships?

Before you and your company can build a robust and valuable integration partnership, you’ll need an understanding of what these partnerships are. On a basic level, an integration partnership is any partnership established to introduce compatibility between two or more products or services. 

As you might expect, today’s most prominent partnerships related to integration take place in the technology industry. Have you ever found yourself in a work-related situation where multiple apps, programs, or products interact? If so, you’ve seen a tech integration partnership in action. 

Learn From These Successful Integration Partnerships

Even if you understand what a tech integration partnership is on a conceptual level, it can be tricky to know what these look like in action. Read on for a few examples of well-received partnerships in this category:

Amazon and Spotify

Amazon runs its own music streaming service, but signing up for Amazon Music isn’t the only way Echo owners can listen to music on these devices. Thanks to a tech integration partnership with Spotify, subscribers to that wildly-popular music streaming service can stream tunes via Spotify on their Amazon-brand smart speakers.

Both companies’ products brought value to the other, and tech integration was key to unlocking it. 

Google and Grammarly

Writers no longer have to visit Grammarly’s website when they want advice on improving their rough drafts. Instead, they can receive real-time feedback on their writing without leaving Google Docs by installing a simple browser plugin.

Google and Grammarly had to coordinate, share data, and run parallel testing to ensure compatibility. That’s the bread and butter of integration partnerships.

Apple and App Vendors

Not every partnership in the tech integration space is strategic in nature. One of the best-known examples of a non-strategic integration partnership is Apple’s App Store. This marketplace allows vendors to collaborate with Apple and offer their apps to iPhone and iPad users.

Apple’s partnerships program on this level is basically an out-of-the-box kit to make app integration easy. In tech terms it’s simple stuff and each partner is a small fish, but add it all up and it’s a gigantic and valuable ecosystem!

Here’s What Your Tech Partnership Needs

Integration is undeniably a hot topic in the tech community. But just like any other partnerships, collaborations built around integration require a great deal of thought and effort to go off without a hitch. The following things are crucial to forging successful integration partnerships. 

Close Communication

An integration partnership is all about compatibility, and that goes for stakeholders on both sides of the aisle as well. You’ll need to focus on internal and external alignment while putting the partnership together, and keep the right people talking. Troubleshooting and clear communication is key to making things click. 

Aligned Goals

Partnerships aren’t just about generating value—they’re also about sharing goals too. After all, when you’re integrating tech with another company, you’re building a joint future vision. Do they share that vision? Innumerable partnerships have been scuttled because the possibility of revenue overshadowed the deeper goals and values driving each side to integrate. 

APIs

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the “secret sauce” powering countless successful integrations. These popular interfaces are meant to allow for friction-free communication between software and hardware alike. Without the right APIs, your tech partnership will almost certainly go nowhere fast.

Follow These Steps to Get Integrated

Assuming your integration plans go smoothly, you’ll enjoy no shortage of benefits. A successful integration-focused partnership can:

• Drive growth in your customer base
• Introduce you to new markets
• Reduce your product’s replaceability
• Enhance consumer retention
• Close your product’s feature gaps
• Provide co-selling/co-marketing opportunities

Of course, there are all too many ways that partnerships can go wrong. To lower your risk of finding yourself in that situation, you should:

• Plan carefully before getting started. This process involves scoping out potential partners, but there’s more to it than that. You’ll also need to determine who will design your integrations and carefully research tech partnerships. (Good news: by reading this article, you’ve already started working towards the latter goal!)
• Avoid obvious red flags. Partnerships in the tech industry can flop as quickly as partnerships anywhere else can. Make sure you don’t lack the resources to maintain your budding partnership, jump into a partnership without looking at the data, or build a partnership the market isn’t ready for.
• Keep an eye on your progress. Successful partnerships aren’t something you can build and forget about. Be sure to track both your partnership’s bottom line and the satisfaction (or lack thereof) of everyone involved.

Take Your Partnership Skills to the Next Level

Whether you’re new to the world of partnerships or you’ve set up dozens in the past, this is far from an easy line of work. On top of that, most integration partnerships are highly technical in nature. That means you’ll have another layer of complexity to deal with when driving towards that partnerships contract.

Didn’t learn any of this in school? Don’t worry! At Firneo, we know all the tips and tricks to getting partnerships right. Our portfolio of partnerships leaders and experts have decades of experience in the industry, and we’re here to tell you everything you need to know. 

Check out our Certified Partnerships Professional program to find out how you can become a partnerships pro!