Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide > Partner-to-Partner Collaboration >

Partner Collaboration

Partner collaboration allows partners to share information with either employees or organizations of other partner companies. It can be used to share information among two or more partner companies.

It also provides partners with an automated process of requesting and accepting collaborations. After using the Partner Locator to find partners it wants to collaborate with, the partner clicks Request Collaboration to send a message to these partners. The invitee partners can view these collaboration requests in the Collaborations screen and can accept or reject them by changing the value of the Status field.

When a request is accepted, a Collaboration record is created. Then partners associate this collaboration with resources, employees or organizations that will work on the collaboration.

It is not necessary for the partner to create a new collaboration whenever there is a need to collaborate on a new opportunity. After the collaboration and resources have been established, the resources can be used on any new opportunities (or on other data) for the duration of the collaboration.

After the collaboration is set up, the partner companies that are collaborating can share Opportunities, Service Requests, Quotes, Orders, Campaigns, Accounts, Contacts, Project, and other information.

We will look at one typical scenario, illustrating how a partner can work on opportunities in collaboration with other partner companies. This scenario consists of the following steps:

Step 1: A Partner Locates Other Partners and Sends Collaboration Requests

As the first step, the partner who is the initiator of the collaboration uses the Partner Locator and enters criteria to find other partners to collaborate on this project. For example, it might look for other partners in a specific location with a specific expertise.

Once the initiator has located other partners, it clicks Request Collaboration to send them a message asking them to collaborate. Because the initiator does not necessarily know individuals in the partner company they are inviting to collaborate, the message is sent to the organizations of the invitee.

To locate partners and send collaboration requests

  1. The initiator partner navigates to the Partner Locator screen.
  2. In the Partner Locator, the partner enters criteria to identify other partner companies for this collaboration and clicks Search.

    3. The Partner Locations list appears, listing all partners that match the criteria.

  3. In the leftmost column of the Partner Locations list, the initiator partner selects the check box for all the partner organizations in the list who will be invited to collaborate.

    4. The initiator partner checks the Available for Collaboration column of the partner locator to see whether a partner organization can be involved in a collaboration.

  4. The partner clicks Request Collaboration.

    5. The Outbound Request form appears.

  5. The partner fills out the Outbound Request form with the following information and clicks Send Request.

    6. Field
    Comment
    Initiating Organization
    Displays the organization that is initiating the collaboration.
    Recipient Organizations
    Displays the partner companies being invited to participate in the collaboration. This list includes the partner companies that were chosen in the partner locator. The partner can also click the select button and use the Collaboration Organizations dialog box to add or remove partners from the recipient list for the request.
    Description
    Enter a description of the collaboration, which should give other partners enough information to decide whether they want to join the collaboration.
    Type
    Select the type of collaboration. Types include Opportunity and Project.
    Request Date
    Enter the date of the request. The default is the date created.
    Expiration Date
    Enter the date the request will be made inactive. If the recipients do not respond by this date the request will be removed from the recipients' inbox.
    Name
    Enter a name for the collaboration request.
    Created By
    Displays the login of the creator of the request.
    Created Date
    Displays the date the request was created.
    Available to Recipients
    When you click Send, the Available to Recipients check box is automatically checked to indicate that the message has been sent. If you click Save without selecting Available to Recipients, then the message will not will available to the recipient partners.

Step 2: An Invitee Partner Accepts the Collaboration Request

The collaboration request will be in the Inbound Request list of each invitee partner. The partner can accept or reject the request by changing the value in its Status field. The default status of a new request is Pending. The partner changes this value to Accepted or Rejected.

The inviting partner checks the Status field of the request in the Outbound Requests view in order to see if the request was rejected or accepted.

To accept or reject a collaboration request

  1. The invitee partner navigates to the Partner Collaboration screen.
  2. From the Show drop-down list, the partner chooses Inbound Collaboration requests.
  3. In the Inbound Request list, the partner selects a new request.
  4. The partner clicks the Request Status view tab.
  5. In the Request Status form, in the Status field, the partner chooses Accepted or Rejected.
Step 3: The Initiating Partner Creates a Collaboration

After invitee partners accept the collaboration, the initiating partner creates the collaboration. When the initiating partner clicks the Create button, the collaboration is created and all the invitees who have accepted the collaboration are copied as participants of the collaboration.

To create a collaboration

  1. The initiating partner navigates to the Partner Collaboration screen.
  2. From the Show drop-down list, the partner chooses Outbound Collaboration requests.
  3. In the Outbound Request list, the partner selects the request that has been accepted and will become a collaboration.
  4. The partner clicks Create Collaboration.

    5. A Collaboration record is created based on the request, and all the invitee partners who accepted the request are copied as participants of the collaboration.

  5. The partner fills out the other fields in the Collaboration form.
Step 4: Both Partners Add Resources to the Collaboration

When an invitee partner has accepted the collaboration request, a collaboration record is created. The next step is for both the initiator partner and the invitee partner to add resources to the collaboration.

Resources may be the positions of employees in the partner's company or organizations in the partner's company. Each partner in the collaboration adds positions and organizations in its own company.

To add resources to the collaboration

  1. Both the initiator and the invitee partners navigate to the Partner Collaboration screen.
  2. In the Collaborations list, the partner selects a collaboration.
  3. The partner clicks the Resources view tab.
  4. In the Resources list, the partner clicks New and selects resources, displaying the following information in the fields of the new record.

    5. Field
    Comment
    Primary
    Select a resource from this picklist.
    Resource Name
    The name of the resource, entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    User ID
    If the resource is a position, the employee's login id is entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    Organization
    If the resource is an organization, the organization is entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    Type
    The type of the resource, position or organization, entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    Description
    The description of the resource, entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    Start Date
    The date when the resource becomes available, entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.
    End Date
    The date when the resource will no longer be available, if one exists, entered automatically when you select the resource using the Primary picklist.

Step 5: The Partner Companies Share Opportunities

After the collaboration is set up, the partner companies that are collaborating can share Opportunities, Service Requests, Quotes, Orders, Campaigns, Accounts, Contacts, Project, and other information.

For example, when a partner company in the collaboration works on an opportunity, it can share the opportunity and associated information with the other partner company, assigning the opportunity to any employee or organization in the other partner company that is a resource in the collaboration.

To share an opportunity with another partner company

  1. The partner navigates to the Opportunities screen.
  2. The partner creates a new opportunity or selects an existing opportunity.
  3. In the More Info form, the partner clicks Collaboration Resources.

    4. The Grant Access to Collaboration Dialog Box appears, listing all positions and organizations in other partner companies that this partner employee has a relationship with.

  4. In the dialog box, the partner selects resources and clicks OK.

    5. Partner positions that were selected are added to the sales team for the opportunity and can see it in My Opportunities view. Partner organizations that were selected are added to the organization team for the opportunity and can see it in All Opportunities view.

Step 6: Partners Monitor their Collaborations

At any time, a partner company can get an overview of all its collaborations.

To monitor its collaborations

  1. The partner navigates to the Company Profile screen:
    1. The partner clicks the Profile link at the top of the screen.
    2. In the Show drop-down list, the partner selects Company Profile.
  2. The partner clicks the Collaborations view tab.

    3. A list of all the partner company's collaborations appears.

  3. In the Collaboration list, the partner selects a collaboration.

    4. All of the resources for this collaboration are displayed in the Resources list, which is below the Collaboration list.

Step 7: The Brand Owner Monitors All Collaborations

Throughout the process, the brand owner can view all collaborations that partners have created, to monitor partner collaborations.

The brand owner can also view the opportunities, service requests, and other information being shared in the collaboration by using the appropriate view, such as All Opportunities Across Organizations view.

To monitor all partner collaborations

  1. Navigate to the Partner screen.
  2. Select the record of a partner company whose collaborations you want to view.
  3. Click the Collaborations view tab.

    4. A list of all the partner company's collaborations appears.

  4. In the Collaboration list, select a collaboration.

    5. All of the resources for this collaboration are displayed in the Resources list, which is below the Collaboration list.


 Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide 
 Published: 18 April 2003