Sia Partners’ 2024 Non-life digital customer…
Strategic Partner Ecosystems
Having struggled to address key systemic issues in isolation, executives are considering solutions involving partnerships and an operating approach enabled by collaboration. A Partner Ecosystem helps engage and entrust the best partners to tackle these issues and maximise collective value.
Strategic Partner Ecosystems: Cadent x Sia Partners
Complex multi-party issues demand bold solutions. Ecosystems provide an effective way to resolve complex business challenges by connecting effectively across traditional boundaries between firms and industries. In a rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations that leverage the power of ecosystems will achieve outstanding results and growth.
Saving Lives…
We worked with a major Gas Network operator to adopt an ecosystem approach to reduce harm from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Councils, Emergency Services and Charities amongst others shared their perspectives on the problems encountered. New connections were made, and a new integrated approach was designed and piloted.
This will help reduce the risk of harm from Carbon Monoxide poisoning and save lives.
What makes an Ecosystem solution unique and powerful?
Sia Partners focuses on five key factors to design and establish effective Ecosystem solutions:
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Interconnectedness – a high degree of innovative collaboration to form unique networks to achieve outstanding results
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Collaboration over Competition – offers new potential value from collective success
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Value Creation through Network Effects as a multiplier of project benefit
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Open Innovation in ideas, expertise and resources beyond a single organisation
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Customer-centric focus considering the entire customer journey and experiences. Finding innovative solutions within a broad Ecosystem collaboration
Evolving Capability
Your Partner Ecosystem capability can evolve as the nature of its partnerships more strategic and the business value generation increases. There are five ecosystem stages (shown below). Building from the foundation, a company can build and extend incrementally to achieve more advanced forms of the ecosystem. Alternatively, you can fast-track your solution to generate greater business value in a shorter time.
New technology advances such as Internet of Things and the decentralized web (Web3) are enabling more efficient collaboration and multiplying the network benefits. This is very relevant in the achievement of Environmental, Social and Governance objectives.
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Platform foundation and capability building – more transactional, early stage that may involve exploring options and small “demonstrator” projects.
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Extending strategic collaboration – beyond transactional and into sustaining, projects have very specific scope or theme.
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Cross-sector collaborations – truly collaborative relationship that drives value creation through the use of new channels, the combination of services and the inclusion of wider areas of operations.
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Innovation ecosystems – focused on new and disruptive innovation with complementary partnerships that allow for co-creation and strategic outcomes.
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Strategic Business Ecosystem Alliances – cross-sector collaboration in an alliance and sharing model which uses joint innovation activities and resembles a new and distinct business model rather than discrete projects.
Sia Partners expertise
Sia Partners follows a structured four-step approach to enable your organization to launch the most appropriate Partner Ecosystem with a high degree of confidence. The key stages are;
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Opportunity mapping and engagement: explore problems, assess potential value & early engagement of likely partners
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Ecosystem foundation and collaboration: co-design ecosystem model, funding and partner commitment
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Ecosystem launch and scale: launch “demonstrator” projects and scale up based on value
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Business Ecosystem embedding establish the extended operating model and embed optimisation process and structures
If you would like to learn more about our Partner Ecosystem offer, latest experiences and our credentials in this area, please do not hesitate to reach below.
Our Success Stories
The client: A UK Water Utility responsible for providing water and wastewater services across Scotland.
The ask: The client had made commitments to reach net zero emissions by 2040. Key to meeting this is tackling scope 3 emissions – of which approximately 18% are attributable to concrete usage. However, this wasn’t something the client had direct control over or could do alone – it required collaboration across the supply chain, influencers and the wider industry.
Our Approach:
- Explored and prioritised challenge areas within net zero, validating concrete as the key focus area.
- Identified, engaged and convened strategic partners into a Partner Ecosystem (PE) based on concrete usage and supply chain influence.
- Designed and developed a vision, brought into by all partners, that focused on accelerating the development, availability, and adoption of next-generation low-carbon concretes.
The Outcome:
- Launch of a strategic Partner Ecosystem, bringing together influential industry leaders around Scotland
- Bought partners together around a bold vision to work with the supply chain to develop next-gen low-carbon concretes, increasing the availability of these novel products and enabling widespread adoption
- Given its strategic focus, this PE will continue to be driven by the client and its embedded PE capability for the next 3-5 years.
The client: A UK Water Utility responsible for providing water and wastewater services across Scotland.
The ask: Our client was looking to develop a framework and playbook for a new approach to Partnering that would enable them to solve key challenges in collaboration with Partners.
Our Approach:
- Defined the objectives of the Partner Ecosystem (PE)
- Conducted comprehensive research and interviews to identify and prioritize opportunities, focusing on client value and partner buy-in
- Shortlisted opportunities and established overarching propositions and benefits
- Developed a vision for prioritised PE Proof of Concepts, outlining the needs, challenges, and strategic objectives of potential partners
- Engaged partners to validate the proposed solutions, benefits, and roles, followed by a co-design workshop to refine the proposition and business models
- Leveraged insights from adjacent industries to shape the PE’s vision
- Created a Partner Ecosystem playbook as a repeatable process for the client to integrate across teams and effectively execute future ecosystems
The Outcome:
- Secured internal support for transitioning from traditional partnerships to a collaborative Partner Ecosystem approach
- Established a shared vision with partner agreements to co-design and execute pilot initiatives
- Delivered a comprehensive playbook for a scalable and repeatable process
The client: Cadent, a leading British regional gas distribution company, operates and maintains the UK’s largest natural gas distribution network.
The ask: Our client sought to address fuel poverty by establishing a partner ecosystem that integrates various funding sources, best practices, and delivery mechanisms. The goal was to offer a comprehensive suite of fully-funded measures: financial aid, energy efficiency improvements, and low-carbon technology to support fuel-poor customers.
Our Approach:
- Problem Identification and Prioritization: We pinpointed and validated challenges faced by initiatives supporting people affected by the cost of living crisis that could be effectively addressed through collaborative partnership solutions
- Partner Selection: Identified and approached suitable organizations through both warm and cold contacts, gauging their potential interest and roles within the ecosystem
- Collaborative Workshops: Organized workshops to bring together partners for collaborative design and creation of a collective initiative, ensuring benefits for each organization in their respective roles
- Pilot Testing: Launched smaller-scale pilots of the partnership ecosystem to test the multi-partners collaborative approach and the initiative to gather insights from partners, feedback from customers and identify data points for a scaling strategy
- Operating Model Development: Designed an operating model to establish the necessary processes, people, and technology for a successful and self-sustaining ecosystem
- Scaling Strategy: Developed a strategy, governance and operating model to transition towards a self-sufficient partner ecosystem at scale
- Marketing: Developed and implemented a marketing strategy to improve awareness among customers and gather interest in securing additional funding
The Outcome:
- Engagement: Over 58 partners joined the Warm Homes Network initiative, leveraging connections from Cadent, NGN, and Sia Partners. This diverse group included local governments, charities, technology providers, and utility companies
- Pilot Success: Conducted two pilots in Cumbria and Birmingham, providing valuable insights from both rural and urban settings
- Insights and Refinement: Incorporated over 200 insights from pilot feedback and partner discussions to refine the delivery and scaling strategy
- Media Coverage: Partnered with a PR agency to secure national press coverage in Utility Week, BBC Radio Cumbria, Charity Today, and the Daily Express
- Impact: The ‘one-stop-shop’ support has resulted in average savings of £8,950 per household, offering extensive assistance including grants, benefits checks, money management advice, fuel and water debt support, energy efficiency guidance, low carbon technology advice, and comprehensive retrofitting measures
The client: A British multinational energy company that supplies electricity and gas to millions of customers in the UK and Ireland. It focuses on energy production, distribution, and related services.
The ask: Our client was looking to accelerate the growth of its DE business through partnership channels but needed to define the strategy & develop a scalable framework.
Our Approach:
- Applied four lenses to identify, assess, and prioritize the top sectors and partners
- Conducted value chain analysis to understand key activities and roles within high-priority sectors
- Developed sector portraits, highlighting key pain points and unmet needs, and defined a proposition toolbox for each sector
- Created bespoke pitch decks to support initial partner meetings
The Outcome:
- Prioritized five partner sectors that offer both long-term strategic and short-term tactical opportunities
- Identified and assessed over 100 potential partner companies, narrowing down to the top 20 for engagement
- Defined a ‘Partner Support Framework’ to drive growth through partnerships
- Secured 5 partners, resulting in a pipeline exceeding $200 million
The client: A leading global defence, aerospace, and security company, providing advanced technology solutions for air, land, sea, and cyber domains. Headquartered in the UK, it delivers innovative products and services to governments and commercial customers worldwide.
The ask: Our client wanted to secure its future growth by building a Smart Transport ecosystem to offer data-driven insight to the transport industry.
Our Approach:
- Identified over 25 ecosystem opportunities, focusing on key trends like the Internet of Things, customer data, gaming, and health
- Prioritized two key opportunities in Smart Transport and Customer Data, conducting market sizing and competitor analysis for each
- Engaged with potential participants to validate these opportunities, building use cases and propositions
- Developed a Smart Transport Business Case Story, including market validation, value proposition, and a roadmap highlighting both quick wins and strategic opportunities
The Outcome:
- Secured commitments from participants to develop an experimental Smart Transport tool
- Prepared for the launch of the Smart Transport pilot, including commercial and cost models, operational design, and go-to-market strategy
The client: Consortium of 16 of the major UK Water Companies.
The ask: Many water companies have been bringing data and people together to innovate for some years now but this has largely been in a shared sense and whilst the model has delivered some benefit it can’t and doesn’t scale. Stream (a consortium of 16 Water Companies) funded by the Ofwat Breakthrough Challenge sets out to unlock the potential of water data to benefit customers, society and the environment. It will achieve this by setting up a data-sharing infrastructure to drive consistency across the sector.
Our Approach:
- Stream’s vision is to "unlock the potential of water data to benefit customers, society, and the environment.”
- In 2020, Sia Partners supported Northumbrian Water Group to form and validate the need for Open Data with several other Water Companies involved
- In 2021, Sia Partners translated this strategy into a delivery plan and were involved in securing funding for the Blueprint phase
- Sia Partners led the Blueprint phase which involved working with both partners and Water Company members to detail the design and execution of an open data solution. This led to Stream winning its next set of funding in 2023 to deliver the Implementation phase
- Sia Partners acts as a strategic partner to the initiative, responsibilities include Operating Model design and implementation; Business Model planning and execution; Programme Management; Use Case definition and prioritisation; Leads for MVP and Day-1 launches
The Outcome:
- Secured two rounds of funding from the Ofwat Water Breakthrough Innovation Challenge
- Launched an MVP of the first open sharing data platform in the UK water sector
- Programme management of a £4m+ project with 20+ organisations
- Further outcomes to be delivered up until 2025 including formal Day-1 industrialised service launch and future business model implementation
