Announcement

Announcing AVP’s B2B4C Program

By: Chris Lacinak
August 7, 2018

Introduction

In the next few weeks we will be rolling out new web pages and announcements dedicated to the formation of strategic partnerships with other providers of services and products. In this blog post, I want to make clear what this does and does not mean and provide a bit of background on the philosophy and logic behind this move.

At AVP, we have established a strong reputation, in part due to the fact that we are independent from other vendors. We have never served as representatives for other vendors, received any type of compensation from other providers, and have never had any exclusive relationship with other vendors. Our autonomy, independence, objectivity, and focus on the client is central to our integrity and quality of service.

Definitions

I use the term Client and Provider a lot in this post so I thought it best to define what I mean just in case it’s not clear.

Client: An organization procuring services from AVP and/or other providers.
Provider: An organization that is selling products or services.

What does the B2B4C program mean?

AVP will be engaging in strategic partnerships with other providers of services and products in support of shared clients, placing the interest of the client first and foremost. We believe that a rising tide lifts all boats and when clients prosper, so do their partners and collaborators. We also believe in partnerships that organically create win-win-win outcomes for the client, AVP, and providers of other products and services. We call this approach B2B4C, or business-to-business-for-clients.

Over time, we find ourselves working repeatedly and consistently with other providers, due to our shared clients bringing us together. For example, a client may have selected a particular technology, but needs support for the migration of data from a legacy system to the new one, and brings us in to help out. In these cases where we share a common client base with other providers, it becomes beneficial for AVP to have a working relationship with those providers. It is helpful for the clients of these providers to know that AVP has experience helping other organizations ensure successful utilization of the product or service, and that we have access to expertise, documentation, training, and related resources from these providers that may not be publicly available. This increased access yields a benefit to the client because it expedites our work and helps avoid disconnects and gaps in communication that can lead to unnecessary spending and costly mistakes.

Providers also find a strong relationship with AVP as a collaborator to be of great benefit because we help ensure that the project is successful, and that the client is fully utilizing the provider’s services or products.

Based on this background, AVP is launching our B2B4C program in the coming weeks. You will see:

Press releases and announcements coming from AVP and other providers broadcasting the formation of strategic partnerships.
A new webpage on the AVP website dedicated to B2B4C and identifying our strategic partners and their offerings.
Case studies on the AVP website and partner websites, highlighting our common clients and the work that they have done that we have supported them in.
Joint marketing, promotions, and events from AVP and our strategic partners.

What will be less evident is that AVP will be working with these providers behind the scenes to make sure that our work together in support of a shared client base is as productive and successful as possible.

What are some examples of how AVP engages in projects with clients and providers?

The role that AVP often plays is to remove roadblocks and we are brought in when these roadblocks cannot be addressed by the client or are not within the core competency of the provider. These might include:

Planning and budgeting
Policy development
Requirements and use case elicitation and documentation
Workflow design and implementation
Data acquisition, migration, consolidation, and clean-up
Data analysis and visualization
Inventory of physical and/or digital collections
Data modeling
Taxonomy development
Automation and integration

These are a few of many examples where AVP has worked with other vendors and mutual clients to ensure success resulting in win-win-win outcomes. For more ideas on how we can help review the consulting and software development services we offer.

To be clear

In addition to communicating what the B2B4C program IS, it is important for us to be clear about what the B2B4C program IS NOT, and what aspects of how we work will remain the same.

We are fully maintaining our autonomy, independence, and objectivity. AVP is still vendor agnostic, does not engage in exclusive relationships, and does not accept financial compensation from providers of other products and services.
There is no restriction on who we (or our partners) can work with, whether or not they be competitors. There is no quid pro quo or expectation that we owe our strategic partners anything or vice versa.
We do not endorse a particular provider’s product or service. Rather, we recognize that there is a client base around a particular product or service, and that we can greatly increase the chance of success for those clients in the adoption and implementation of that product or service by offering our skills and expertise.

Is it possible that AVP may be influenced in technology selection projects, resulting in selecting providers that they have strategic partnerships with?

The processes and systems we employ for technology selection use a methodological approach that is designed to ensure that the client requirements and use cases are the basis for determining the appropriate selection. The process is systematic, transparent, and leaves the client with all of the information that they need to make the best decision for themselves. We do not make these decisions on behalf of our clients. This does not mean that our strategic partners will not be selected, but it does mean that their selection will not be based on the fact that we have a strategic partnership with them. Selections will always be based on being the best fit for fulfilling the client’s requirements and use cases and we will remain transparent about our relationships with other providers to ensure there is no confusion.