Strategic Alliances and Partnership Programs in the New Economy: Russian and Global Experience in the IT Industry

Abstract

Companies from the “new” economy are quickly adapting traditional methods and approaches to increase business efficiency, including economic integrations with other market participants. In the IT industry partnership programs and strategic alliances have become the critical factors in the competition. At the same time, there are a lot of specific industry features in the construction of those economic integrations, related to rapid change in the expectations of market participants. The article describes typical partnership programs and strategic alliances in the IT industry, gives classifications and examples from the Russian and Global markets for software and hardware development and system integration. The paper also analyses essential industry specifics, shows their impact on the cost structure of participants and the speed of strategic decisions in the field of business development. The article defines a relationship between typical economic integrations in the industry: from affiliate programs to M&A deals.