Look at any company’s web site and it’s likely you’ll see a “Partner” section. It seems that everybody has partners, and the more the better. Thinking about this today, for some reason an old Barry Manilow jingle for Dr. Pepper got stuck in my head.
I’m a partner
You’re a partner
He’s a partner
She’s a partner
Wouldn’t you like to be a partner too?
So, are today’s partnerships simply about logo swapping? Absolutely not.
As discussed in earlier entries here in Core Values, partnerships are all about creating efficient ecosystems of companies that add value to each other. Let’s survey the types of partners we see out there in IP Land:
• Design service partners. IP companies can connect to companies that specialize in providing design services to common customers. A number of IP companies have established special programs that provide training to their service partners so that these companies can provide more value to their common customers.
• EDA partners. Tools for chip design change so often that customers are constantly changing the tool flow they are using to keep in step with the latest and greatest features. IP companies are challenged to keep up with the changes to ensure their IP will work seamlessly with whose ever flow their customer is using.
• Semiconductor partners. In the end, everything we do is reduced to silicon and a tight relationship with the foundries, ASIC, and FPGA companies is an essential “reality check” for IP companies to validate their designs before their customers. No customer likes to pay for the privilege of being a guinea pig.
• Software tool partners. Compilers and debuggers are an essential part of any processor ecosystem. While most of the above partners are focused on the hardware designer, the software tool partners are squarely targeted at ensuring a high quality experience for the software engineers.
• Embedded software partners. Almost every chip today contains licensed semiconductor IP, almost every chip tomorrow will contain licensed embedded software. This software is frequently implementation dependent (drivers, etc) and therefore closely tied to the IP itself.
Successful IP companies know this and make a point to ensure that their customers are well-served with a rich environment of partner choices that provide those things which they don’t. It’s all about helping customers. In short, partners are the essential spice that every IP partner needs. Like a little Pepper on that?
