Partner-to-Partner Collaboration

Other chapters of this book describe ways in which Siebel PRM allows the brand owner to work with partners. This chapter describes ways in which your partner companies can use Siebel PRM to collaborate with other partner companies. The brand owner can track the collaboration, but does not have to participate in it.

Partner Collaboration. Provides a powerful way for partners companies to share information with employees or organizations of other partner companies.
Siebel Projects. Provide a simple way for partner employees to share information with employees of other partner companies.

It includes the following topics:

You can also configure visibility using Siebel Tools to allow partners to share information in other ways. For more information, see Configuring Visibility for Siebel PRM.

About 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 navigates to Request Collaboration to send a message to these partners. The invitee partners can see 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. Partners associate this collaboration with resources, employees, or organizations that work on the collaboration.

The partner does not need to create a new collaboration whenever it has to collaborate on a new opportunity. After the collaboration and resources have been established, the partner can use resources 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, projects, and other information.

Example of Partner Collaboration

The following is an example that describes how a partner can work on opportunities in collaboration with other partner companies. This example consists of the following tasks:

Locating Other Partners and Sending Collaboration Requests (Initiating Partner)

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.

After the initiator has located other partners, it navigates to 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

The initiating partner navigates to the Partner Locator screen.
In the Partner Locator, the partner enters criteria to identify other partner companies for this collaboration and clicks Search.
The Partner Locations list appears, listing all partners that match the criteria.
The initiating partner selects the records of all the partner organizations in the list to be invited to collaborate.
The initiating partner checks the Available column of the Partner Locator to see whether a partner organization can be involved in a collaboration.
The partner clicks Request Collaboration.
The Outbound Request form appears.

The partner fills out the Outbound Request form with the information in the following table, and navigates to Send Request.

Field	Description
Initiator	Displays the organization that is initiating the collaboration.
Recipients	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 Multiple 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 that gives other partners enough information to decide whether they want to join the collaboration.
Request Type	Select the type of collaboration.
Request Date	Enter the date of the request. The default is the date created.
Expiration Date	Enter the date the request becomes inactive. If the recipients do not respond by this date the request is 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	Displays the date the request was created.

Accepting the Collaboration Request (Invitee Partner)

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

To accept or reject a collaboration request

The invitee partner navigates to the Partner Collaboration screen, then the Inbound Collaboration Requests view.
In the Inbound Request list, the partner drills down on the name of a new request.
In the Request Status view, in the Status field, the partner chooses Accepted or Rejected.

Creating a Collaboration (Initiating Partner)

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

The initiating partner navigates to the Partner Collaboration screen, then the Outbound Collaboration Requests view.
In the Outbound Request list, the partner selects the request that has been accepted.
The partner clicks Create Collaboration.
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.
The partner fills out the other fields in the Collaboration form.

Adding Resources to the Collaboration (Initiating and Invitee Partner)

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

Resources can 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

Both the initiating and the invitee partners navigate to the Partner Collaboration screen.
In the Collaborations list, the partner selects a collaboration.
The partner navigates to the Resources view.

In the Resources list, the partner adds a record and selects resources, using the following fields.

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

Sharing Opportunities (Initiating and Invitee Partner)

After the collaboration is set up, the partner companies that are collaborating can share opportunities, service requests, quotes, orders, campaigns, accounts, contacts, projects, 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

The partner navigates to the Opportunities screen.
The partner drills down on an existing opportunity or creates a new opportunity and enters information in the record and More Info form.
The partner clicks Collaborate.
The Grant Access to Collaboration Resources dialog box appears, listing all positions and organizations in other partner companies with which this partner employee has a relationship.
In the dialog box, the partner selects Resources and clicks OK.
Partner positions that were selected are added to the sales team for the opportunity and can see it in the My Opportunities view. Partner organizations that were selected are added to the organization team for the opportunity and can see it in the All Opportunities view.

Monitoring Their Collaborations (Initiating and Invitee Partner)

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

To monitor its collaborations

The partner navigates to the User Profile screen, then the Company Profile view.
The partner navigates to the Collaborations view.
A list of all the partner company’s collaborations appears.
In the Collaboration list, the partner selects a collaboration.
All of the resources for this collaboration are displayed in the Resources list, which appears after the Collaboration list.

Monitoring All Collaborations (Brand Owner)

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 the All Opportunities Across Organizations view.

To monitor all partner collaborations

Navigate to the Partners screen, then the Partner List view.
Drill down on the name of a partner company whose collaborations you want to see.
Navigate to the Collaborations view.
A list of all the partner company’s collaborations appears.
In the Collaboration list, select a collaboration.
All of the resources for this collaboration are displayed in the Resources list, which appears after the Collaboration list.

About Siebel Projects

Siebel Projects is a virtual work space that allows direct partner-to-partner collaboration among employees of different partner companies. Partners can use it to work together on software deployment, installation of equipment, sales opportunities that require involvement of multiple partners, and many other types of projects.

All partner employees who are part of the project can view information associated with the project, so employees of different partner companies can use the project to share information and work together.

The brand owner also has visibility across all projects on which the partners are working. Brand owners can monitor the status of the project based on project time lines, project budget, and key risk areas. For more information about Siebel Projects, see Siebel Project and Resource Management Administration Guide.

Example of Using Siebel Projects for Partner-To-Partner Collaboration

The following is a example that describes how a partner that specializes in deploying software applications uses Siebel Projects to work with a partner that specializes in hardware. Because these partners are part of the same project, they can share information and work collaboratively on the project.

This example has the following tasks:

Creating a New Project (Initiating Partner)

In the example used in this scenario, a partner company that specializes in implementation has won a contract to deploy the brand owner’s software. This partner uses the Siebel PRM Portal to create a project, which it can use to work with the brand owners and with other partners.

To create a project

In the Siebel PRM Portal, the partner navigates to the Projects screen.
In the Projects list, the partner adds a new record.
The partner confirms that its own organization has been added to the project by making sure that it is listed in the Organization field of the new project record.
In the new project record, the partner fills out the fields with information about the project, such as project description, time lines, budget, and key contacts.

Locating Other Partners and Adds Them to this Project (Initiating Partner)

The partner company that created the project realizes that it needs the help of a partner that specializes in hardware to work on this project.

The partner can locate appropriate partners and add them to the project in two different ways:

Use the Partner Locator to find partners with relevant skills, and create a collaboration with those partners, as described in About Partner Collaboration.
Use the Partner Locator to find partners with relevant skills, and have the brand owner add them to the project team.

When they use the Partner Locator, partners can find appropriate companies by searching based on expertise, location, and other criteria. In this situation, the partner would enter a criterion such as Partner Type = Hardware.

After the initiating partner has found the appropriate partner to work with, the two partners can initiate a collaboration. Assuming the hardware partner accepts the collaboration, the initiating partner can add the hardware partner to the project team.

Alternatively, they can request the brand owner to add the hardware partner to the project team using the All Projects Across Organizations view in Siebel PRM Manager.

To use the Partner Locator

In the Siebel PRM Portal, the partner navigates to the Partner Locator screen.
The partner enters the appropriate search criteria, and clicks Search.
A list of partners who match the criteria appears.

Adding Their Employees to the Project (Initiating and Invitee Partners)

Once the partner companies that need to be involved in a project have been added to the project, each partner company can add its own employees as users of the project. These users form the virtual project team.

Note: All partner companies in the project must add their own employees to the project, to allow those employees to access information about the project.

To add partner employees to the project

In the Siebel PRM Portal, the partner navigates to the Projects screen.
The partner drills down on the name of the project.
The partner navigates to the Access view.
In the Access list, the partner adds a new records for each employee of that partner company who work on the project.

Working Together on the Project (Initiating and Invitee Partners)

All of the partner employees who have been added to the project can use the Siebel PRM Portal to view information about the project, such as the project summary, and to add information to the project, such as activities, contacts, invoices, notes, risks, service requests, status reports, tasks, and other information.

Any partner employee who is on the project can see the information that the other partners have added.

To add or view information about the project

In the Siebel PRM Portal, the partner navigates to the Projects screen.
The partner drills down on the name of the project.
The partner navigates to the appropriate views to add or view information about the project.

Tracks the Partners’ Work (Brand Owner)

The brand owner can view the project to track its progress, even though the project was set up by partners independent of the brand owner.

The brand owner can view all projects, even if it has not explicitly been made a member.

To track the partners’ work on the project

In the Siebel PRM Manager, the brand owner navigates to the Projects screen, then selects All Projects Across Organizations.
In the Projects list, the brand owner selects the project.
The brand owner navigates to the appropriate views to view information about the project.