Choose wisely.
Since the days of ancient philosophers, every type of pundit imaginable has preached a variation on this common admonition – in life and in business. When it comes to partnerships today, however, in personal or professional relationships, those two words pack much deeper meaning than ever.
Consider the whirlwind of technological advances and challenges sweeping across society, including virtually every aspect of enterprise business environments. From cybersecurity and the Internet of Things to cloud and artificial intelligence, alliances and partnerships are what turn the buzz into reality.
Sure, good people and partnerships have always been critical to success. What’s different is the magnitude and complexity of what’s now at stake. And how fast the world wants to adopt the latest innovations. Abundant pressures and demands stem from every direction, including top company management seeking efficiencies and growth as well as the modern workforce that’s more technologically adept, mobile and purpose driven.
Reliable alliances and partnerships are no longer just important in the equation. They’re imperative – the lifeblood of current and future success. As an enterprise leader, you want to stay ahead of the curve in your own respective core competencies. Outsourcing other functions is likely on your mind, as it should be, and HR continues to be one of the most ripe areas for such strategic decisions. Why? Because HCM cloud technology is radically overhauling and improving how related data is captured, maintained and accessed as well as in regard to how corresponding services are handled.
Separating Winners from Also-rans
Having the right connections will ultimately separate winners from also-rans on the HR front. Whether you’re looking to elevate HCM software deployment and leverage; prepare for GDPR or optimize business processes, working with an HR expert like Zalaris can even help save you from potential disaster. Slip up on the Right To Be Forgotten, for instance, and your company may ultimately end up being forgotten. Deep and lasting partnerships and alliances allow you to turn concerns into solutions — and industry hype into progressive outcomes.
By turning to Zalaris, you gain a partner with sharp expertise in HR across both public and private sectors as well as geographic borders. We enable human capital management and payroll processing best practices to thrive. You also gain through Zalaris the benefits of deeply established alliances, which was among the principles that our CEO Hans-Petter Mellerud instilled early on when he founded the company nearly two decades ago. My role at Zalaris focuses directly on alliances and partnerships, ensuring we’re continually developing them and effectively fostering new ones as we continue to expand on an international basis.
SAP from the Starting Line
As you’ll see from this interactive look at Zalaris’ history, our partnership with SAP began during our formative years. Hans-Petter instinctively knew that the world’s largest provider of enterprise application software would ideally complement his ambitions and operations at Zalaris.
Fast-forward to today, and we are a two-time winner of SAP Innovation Partner of the Year awards, including for our analytics developments with SAP HANA. Last year, we became one of the first SAP SuccessFactors Cloud BPO service providers, offering customers additional services expertise and value on the industry’s top cloud-based HCM suite. We also established an SAP SuccessFactors Center of Excellence in 2016, providing end-to-end insight and guidance on complex questions pertaining to secure cloud-based HR solutions.
There’s also no shortage of opportunity, with 50,000 SAP HCM on-premise installations that may all convert to cloud-based solutions over time. SAP turns to partners like Zalaris to help make it happen. This symbiotic relationship reaps tremendous value for our customers. We’re also part of a broad ecosystem within and outside of SAP to support our continued growth and knowledge development.
On other ends of the HR/HCM/payroll processing spectrum, you can trust that additional Zalaris partners are equally well-vetted and reliable in areas ranging from hosting to digital forms.
Race Toward the Future
It’s clear that alliances and partnerships will chart the course in today’s global economy. Who to pick and how to engage are what will matter most, as a wrong choice can be insurmountable.
There’s also really no limit to how and why a company should form an alliance or partnership. I advocate quality over volume. Proof over potential. Whatever the case, choose wisely.
Ismet’s responsibilities focus on developing, maintaining and executing Zalaris strategy in the alliance and partner ecosystem. He joined Zalaris in 2007 and has extensive experience working within the strategic HR space supporting Nordic and global clients. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter @Ismetmm.