Many organizations strive to make their business processes more efficient, or cheaper, in order to distinguish themselves and gain competitive advantage. Reducing costs and increasing the quality of products or services remains essential for organizations to consolidate their market position and guarantee their right to exist. They often set up programs called 'Operational Excellence', or you see functions with this term.
But what exactly is Operational Excellence?
Operational Excellence is a strategy in which organizations distinguish themselves from the competition by excelling in an excellent production process. This term has its origins in the model 'Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines' by Treacy and Wiersema (1993).
Service providers involved in this are striving for a high degree of standardization in their products and services; however, variation in the range is limited. A lot is invested in Supply Chain Management so that products are always in stock and delivered quickly, ensuring no more projects that more than six months to onboard an end customer.
Organizations that apply this philosophy in their business operations are able to offer products at a lower price by optimizing their operational processes. As a result, they create a higher margin than their competitors, which in turn gives them a competitive advantage.
How does the Citrix Service Provider program fit into this?
For years, the Citrix Service Provider Program has provided service providers with the resources they need to successfully deliver workspaces and build a differentiated hosting business. Now Citrix has new content, data, business architectures and experts to create the new Citrix Service Provider Center of Excellence, an exclusive program benefit.
End-to-end business and technology framework
The Center of Excellence is designed to help Citrix Service Provider partners through every stage of their business development lifecycle, from onboarding and planning, to technical implementation and marketing, to launch and growth. These prescriptive approaches leverage industry-proven best practices and include robust resources, sales training, a vibrant partner community, knowledge bases, and more — all focused on helping partners create a high-quality, differentiated hosted desktop and application business.
The Center of Excellence provides an end-to-end business and technology framework that includes guides and tools for strategy, operations, marketing, sales and technology planning so that your business can:
- Accelerate time to market with proven best practices and expert guidance for planning and starting a hosted desktop and application business;
- Ensure successful implementations through practical reference architectures and the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of solutions to deliver hosted applications, desktops, data and mobility solutions;
- Increase business value by leveraging out-of-the-box sales and marketing tools, advice from DaaS experts, the latest analyst and market research, and an expert community of program members.
Comprehensive resources for every stage of your business
The Center of Excellence offers partners the following resources.
Best practices and implementation guide
- Technology Reference Architectures – Validated multi-tenant reference architectures and design guides to help you with your technology implementation;
- Business Architecture – Prescribed business, marketing and sales play books and guides for developing your business plan and go-to-market strategy;
- Turnkey Marketing and Sales Tools – Customizable launch planning, marketing and sales tools to drive demand and awareness;
- Project Management – Ready-made launch templates and project management and service definition tools to market your solution and develop cross-organizational readiness.
Implementation Resources and Associates
- Technology Implementation Associates – Citrix technology and hosting experts who can assist with technical implementations, hosting consulting services, customer migrations and on-boarding;
- Business Implementation Associates – Sales and marketing specialists to assist with business planning, marketing and demand generation campaigns and operational readiness;
- Education Associates – Trusted advisors who provide technology, business and customer focus training for your team.
Knowledge bases and market research
- Analyst Research – Market estimates, trends, evaluations, reports and insights from industry analysts;
- Annual Partner Benchmark Survey – Valuable insight into the Citrix Service Provider landscape including company profiles, technology trends, target markets, hosted solutions and customer data;
- Market Size and Assessment – Quantitative data on addressable markets, vertical trends, in-market offerings, business models and pricing.
Partner community and recognition
- Vibrant Partner Community – More than 2,600 Citrix Service Provider partners in an active partner community that share knowledge, network and participate in advisory boards;
- Awards and Recognition – Technical and Marketing Citrix Service Provider awards, validation programs, certifications, case studies and press opportunities;
- Partner communication and comprehensive learning – monthly webinars, partner newsletters, LinkedIn, Twitter and more;
- Industry Events - A full Citrix Service Provider journey at Summit, the premier Citrix partner conference, including special breakouts, special events and awards.
Support for the complete Citrix Service Provider lifecycle
No matter what stage of the service provider lifecycle a business is at, Citrix provides resources to build value and accelerate growth. Everyone can benefit from the Center of Excellence members of a service provider's team - owners, product managers, sales, marketing and technical personnel - with comprehensive tools, prescribed guidance and expert advice.
Are you as an organization not yet a Citrix Service Provider, but are you interested? Please check this link first and then contact us for more information.