OEMs Enabling System Integrators to Deliver Value to Customers

The global system integrators (GSIs) often work for the OEMs and provide consulting, outsourcing, digital transformation platform/products, new-age technologies, and managed services to their customers, depending on various business cases and requirements. A considerable amount of time is spent in identifying potential software partners by the GSIs, who can assist them in getting those products, which can fit into their overall solution offering. And, the job of the GSIs becomes relatively smoother when the original equipment managers (OEMs) or a product company come into the picture.

OEMs help GSIs in - 
 Identifying the GSIs’ customers’ requirements
 Evaluating the fitment of product components
 Creating the architecture of the products/solutions based on the customers’ needs
 Facilitating implementation
The products and software/solutions provided by these OEMs play an essential role in helping GSIs in addressing their operational challenges and delivering value to their customers.

Here’s how OEMs facilitate GSIs to achieve their business objectives - 
Comprehensive product suite: The OEMs offer a comprehensive product suite, which helps GSIs in developing business solutions for their customers. As OEMs develop solutions on their own and their offerings are field-tested, it becomes easier for GSIs to take their projects forward and work closely with them.
Cutting-edge technologies: The OEMs, operating on a macro scale, do not limit their capacities to a specific products’ suite. Instead, they integrate the right set of cutting-edge technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, enterprise mobility, robotics, etc. to give their products the right boost in this digital age.
Instead of getting into the process of developing on their own, the GSIs can smoothly collaborate with OEMs to identify, create, and deliver such solutions while channelizing their efforts toward attaining business objectives.
Prototype creation: OEMs offer evaluation copies to the GSIs. Evaluation copies, a software that is designed to allow customers to try before buying the product. Leveraging this offering, GSIs create prototypes of OEMs’ products in their respective labs. And, OEMs help the GSIs in guiding them through the prototype creation process.
Customised offerings: Typically, GSIs have region-specific teams responsible for their respective geographies and verticals. OEMs with their global reach and business insights about various geographies help GSIs in creating and executing a strategically devised sales plan.

Risk mitigation in delivery: Delivery of solutions, depending on size and complexity, need to be handled differently. For instance, implementation of a banking solution - check truncation system (CTS), in Papua New Guinea (PNG) will require a different approach than image enablement solution in Saudi Arabia or a business process-based retail loan solution in the United States.
In cases like CTS implementation in PNG, there is a need for extensive experience and expertise. There is a high probability of the GSIs avoiding getting into the nitty-gritty of such implementation and going ahead with partnering with an OEM. However, in the case of an implementation of a simple solution like image enablement that can be done quickly, the GSIs can evaluate the financial feasibility of skilling their team and simultaneously leveraging the OEM’s help, executing the project jointly.
Concluding Remarks
The OEMs, with their strong technical expertise and proven implementation methodologies, work closely with the GSIs to deliver high-value solutions, support them, and emerge as their partner of choice. The solutions, offered by OEMs, are coupled with expert support services, which help in connecting data and critical business processes in ways that help in improving the operational efficiency and overall business outcomes of GSIs.

--Manojit Majumdar,  VP, Channels, Newgen Software Technologies