Building Strong IT Relationships

Strong and enduring relationships are important but often get overlooked in IT. Strong relationships are built upon shared commitment and trust. Without these, awesome ideas die on the vine. I am sure you’ve seen this before. Forming long term relationships with IT providers can be difficult too, particularly in our world of probity and procurement standards.

In the realm of the Microsoft 365 universe, strong relationships start with your Cloud Services Provider (CSP). Not sure if you have a CSP? Login to the Office 365 Admin Center, and click on Settings | Partner Relationships in the left-hand blade. You should see a list of direct and indirect resellers/providers – these are your CSPs. You can leverage these relationships to:

• Spin up demos of any Microsoft cloud product of your choosing (including anything in the Dynamics 365 suite),

• Get access to Microsoft planning, training and adoption guides,

• Automate the rollout of new devices (through Autopilot),

• Get access to new Microsoft 365 features,

• Receive special offers – like Microsoft training and certification exams at no cost.

• Get special pricing,

• Access deep experts in Microsoft cloud technologies within your CSP’s ranks, their wholesalers or Microsoft themselves,

• Get direct support from Microsoft on cloud adoption through the Fast Track program

Note that conditions apply to some of the above.

Strong relationships in IT must go beyond your CSP. If only there was a framework and a set of tools for building strong relationships? Well, I am glad you asked. Sometimes, something from left-field can give us the insight we need. The Gottman Method (focused on building strong couples relationships through research) can give a guide to building strong IT relationships. Shared commitment and trust are cornerstones of the Method. Shared stories and meaning deepen relationships. I could go on, but I am sure you get the idea.

Great relationships help everyone grow. What would have Charlie Babbitt have become without Ray, or Jerry McGuire without Rod Tidwell?

Across the Industry

• InvertiGro wins the Food Agritech InnovationAus Award with indoor vertical farming solutions

• Tuvalu plans to become the first nation to exist in the metaverse

• Recording a visual history of the LAN party

Recent Government Tenders

• WorkSafe Procurement: Functional & Non Functional Testing Services (VendorPanel)

• Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning: Warehouse Inventory Management System (VendorPanel)

• Attorney Generals Department South Australia: Implementation and Support of a MS Dynamics 365 Finance System (Consolidated Tenders)

• Procurement Services South Australia: Telecommunication Services Marketplace (TSM) (Consolidated Tenders)

• City of Burnside: Multi-Function Device Replacement Program (Consolidated Tenders)

• Department of Health Tasmania: Identity and Access Management (IdAM) Solution (Tasmanian Government Tenders)

• Albury City Council: Supply and Implementation of Open Data Platform – RFQ (TenderLink)

Microsoft News

• Microsoft 365 Health Dashboard launched to provide snapshots of an organisation’s digital health

• Bank of Queensland partners with Microsoft to speed up digital transformation