Tech Ecosystem Collaboration

"Palantir and Anduril, two of the largest US defense technology companies, are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for US government work in an effort to disrupt the country’s oligopoly of “prime” contractors. The consortium is planning to announce as early as January that it has reached agreements with a number of tech groups. Companies in talks to join include Elon Musk’s SpaceX, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, autonomous shipbuilder Saronic, and artificial intelligence data group Scale AI, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. “We are working together to provide a new generation of defence contractors,” said one person involved in developing the group. The move comes as tech companies seek to grab a bigger slice of the US government’s huge $850bn defence budget from traditional prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing. The consortium will bring together the heft of some of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies and will leverage their products to provide a more efficient way of supplying the US government with cutting-edge defense and weapons capabilities, according to a second person involved." #palantir #anduril #openai #scaleai #lockheedmartin #boeing #raytheon #technology #innovation #defense #pentagon #acquisition https://lnkd.in/euGnTzmf

We are starting to see significant industry disruption (on the partner side) as we accelerate into the Gen AI era. The next 20 years will look very different from the client/server (1981-2001) and cloud (2002-2022) eras. What is different? --> Younger (now majority) millennial buyer with new psychology, behaviors and journey --> Explosive growth of digital marketplaces which has now been further fueled by the micro-consumption models of agentic AI. --> Platform ambitions of the largest vendors moving from Gold/Silver/Bronze reseller programs to points systems (redistributing resell margins across the customer journey) How have the largest partners responded? About a year ago we started to see very large resellers acquiring non-reselling "multiplier" partners. Those are partners that generate revenue in services such as consulting, design/architecture, implementations, integrations, managed services, etc and don't rely on collecting the customer's money on behalf of the vendor. For example, the "Google partner of the year (7 times over)", SADA, An Insight company was acquired by Insight a year ago. They then followed it up with an acquisition of "ServiceNow partner of the year" Infocenter a few months later. This got the attention of Wall Street as well as their competitors. Presidio acquired another ServiceNow partner of the year Contender Solutions in November. CDW then followed up in December with an acquisition of Mission who was announced as "Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner of the year" on the same day! As we move into 2025, the disruption is accelerating. Major Microsoft reseller SoftwareOne announced the acquisition of Crayon as well as World Wide Technology acquiring Softchoice. Expect these changes to continue and expand into distribution as well.

Rapid Growth in US DoD SATCOM Investment: Key Trends & Technologies The US Department of Defense (DoD) has significantly ramped up its investment in military satellite communications (MILSATCOM), driven by the growing strategic necessity for secure, resilient communications. 🔺Fiscal Year 2022: Investment stood at $638 million, marking the baseline for subsequent expansions, focusing initially on programs like Maneuverable GEO satellites. 🔺Fiscal Year 2023: Spending surged to $788 million - as per GAO report on DoD satellite communications - driven by the Proliferated LEO Satellite-Based Services contract, emphasizing low-latency communications crucial for UAVs and secure tactical networks. 🔺Fiscal Year 2024: The budget request sharply increased to approximately $4.7 billion, with notable investments in: > $632.8 million for the Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program, modernizing nuclear command-and-control. > $360.1 million for Protected Tactical SATCOM to enhance anti-jamming capabilities. > An increased ceiling ($13 billion) for the Proliferated LEO contract, primarily benefiting commercial providers. 🔺 Forecast for Fiscal Year 2025: In its 2025 budget request, an amount of ~$5 billion is devoted to SATCOM—nearly 15 percent of DoD's entire budget. And in its commercial strategy released in April 2024, the Space Force listed SATCOM as a priority mission area for further institutionalizing commercial SATCOM partnerships. Key Technologies Targeted: 1. Multi-orbit (LEO, GEO, MEO) and multi-waveform architectures for redundancy and resilience. 2. Advanced cybersecurity measures like Communications Signal Interference Removal (CSIR™) and Transmission Security (TRANSEC), 3. Integration of commercial SATCOM solutions, reducing reliance on bespoke military satellites. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for DoD SATCOM spending from 2022 to 2025 far outpaces overall defense budget growth. This trend aligns with the National Defense Strategy’s emphasis on space resilience and the Space Force’s mandate to “deliver combat-ready space capabilities”. As geopolitical threats evolve, robust MILSATCOM capabilities will remain essential. The DoD’s strategic shift towards commercial partnerships and advanced technological solutions underscores the critical role of space-based communication in modern defense operations. Know more about Analysys Mason's Government and Military Space Offering: #MILSATCOM #SatelliteCommunications #DefenseTech #SpaceForce #SatelliteIndustry #Geopolitics #DoDSpending #SpaceTechnology

#Space-Enabled #Resilience: Non-Terrestrial #Networks for Mission-Critical #Connectivity Ericsson outlines how non-terrestrial networks (#NTNs) are shaping the future of mission-critical communications (#MCN). Key takeaways: Ubiquitous Coverage: NTNs extend secure, resilient connectivity to remote, underserved, and disaster-affected areas crucial for #defense, emergency response, and public safety. #3GPP Integration: Standardized NTNs across #5G and upcoming #6G enable seamless service continuity between terrestrial and #satellite networks. Use Cases Expanding: From satellite-to-phone services to #drone ops, #maritime missions, and #IoT via #LEO/#GEO satellites NTNs support multi-domain crisis coordination. Security by Design: #Encryption, #quantum #cryptography, and isolation from untrusted domains are core to safeguarding sensitive mission data. Key Challenges: Coverage gaps, latency, mobility, cost, and mission-critical feature parity must be addressed for full operational readiness. Rapid Growth: The 5G NTN market could hit \$30B by 2030 driven by public sector investments and multi-orbit satellite collaborations (e.g. #IRIS², STARLINK , #OneWeb). Road to 6G: Future 3GPP releases (Rel-18–20) focus on regenerative architectures, multi-orbit handovers, and full voice/data parity over satellite. Bottom line: NTNs are becoming indispensable #infrastructure for real-time, secure, and reliable mission-critical operations worldwide. #NTN #MissionCritical #5G #SatCom #MCN #PublicSafety #DefenseTech #3GPP #SatelliteConnectivity #EmergencyComms #IRIS2 #LEO #6G https://lnkd.in/d9AdfBNX

Venture capital-backed defense technology companies such as Anduril, Palantir, and Scale AI are rapidly gaining prominence in the weapons industry, increasingly securing military contracts over traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. In a strategic move to further this trend, Anduril and Palantir are forming a consortium with other tech upstarts, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Saronic, and Scale AI, to jointly bid for military contracts. This collaboration aims to deliver advanced technological infrastructure to the government, transforming America's AI advancements into next-generation military capabilities. However, the formation of such a consortium suggests a shift from competition to collaboration among these companies, potentially concentrating lucrative government contracts and political influence within a select group of tech startups and their influential backers. This development raises questions about the future dynamics of the defense industry and the balance of power between emerging tech firms and established defense contractors.

Another game changer for the Defense world.... Multi-Orbit Warfare — SES & Quvia’s Next-Gen Satellite Collaboration Multi-orbit satellite integration isn’t just about better bandwidth—it changes the defense communications architecture. By blending MEO and GEO capabilities, forces gain redundancy, latency optimization, and persistent coverage in contested or denied areas. This directly impacts situational awareness, autonomy, and the resilience of kill chains.   Product Lifecycle Challenges: ❓ Integration of different orbital infrastructures with existing comms ❓ Configurable payloads and modular software updates at scale ❓ Ensuring secure and redundant transmission paths ❓ Supply chain complexity for space-qualified components How We’d Go About It: With battlefield networks expanding from the ground to orbit, how do we ensure modular, upgradeable, and secure communication platforms across orbits? Can PLM and MOM systems keep pace with the speed of orbital development, or do we need a new thread entirely?

Mission to be acquired by CDW. It's not the biggest tech news this Monday morning (Intel Corporation wins that), but it represents one of the big themes we keep seeing play out in the world of #partner #ecosystems. - #VARs are reinventing (pun to deliver in last point) themselves as the technology paradigm evolves. CDW adding one of Amazon Web Services (AWS) top consulting partners ensures they are moving with the technology stack. However, it is a bit more of a tuck-in compared to Insight getting SADA, An Insight company; the team there has a much more aggressive strategic approach to pivoting towards becoming a "solutions integrator". - Specialist "born in the cloud" partners are becoming extinct. The sector had a great run, but it's now time to cash in. GSIs have been hoovering them up for the past 5 years, and now VARs are getting in on the act. As any technology/service capability becomes more commoditized, brand and overall breadth become key differentiators. Every major GSI, SI, VAR will be able to offer cloud migration and mgmt services...in addition to other stuff. Better to be part of that engine than to compete against. Major specialists like Slalom and Ollion still out there and ones to watch... - CDW is under pressure and needs to pivot fast. I got this one wrong. I've long been saying (amongst industry friends) that CDW should just go full throttle on its position as the world's largest reseller. Granted, much of that expansion would have had to been international, and no doubt there are complexities with scaling that way. But the reality is that there is a limited growth ceiling in hardware (short of expanding into consumer or specialist categories), and software is going subscription (so no gross revenue lift there). CDW needs to take a page from Insight's book - advocate a new market definition and focus on gross margin improvement. - Good timing with this announcement coming at Amazon Web Services (AWS) #reinvent. A great way to accelerate conversations with customers and partners!

AWS Ecosystem Analysis: Partnership Strategy and Market Impact Based on analysis of interviews with AWS partnership leaders, here are key findings about AWS's ecosystem approach: Partnership-Centric Model - AWS operates with dual focus on customers and partners, viewing partners as force multipliers providing industry expertise. Internal KPIs align with customer growth metrics, reflecting that partner success correlates with AWS performance. AWS Marketplace Performance - The Marketplace has evolved from AMI distribution to a comprehensive platform serving 300,000+ active customers, with all top 1,000 AWS customers utilizing it. Key metrics (let me know if these numbers have changed): - 27% higher win rates for marketplace transactions - 80% increase in deal values - 40% faster sales cycles - Procurement reduced from months to days AWS implements "Marketplace Everywhere," integrating purchasing into service consoles (EC2, RDS, EKS) and providing API access for custom storefronts. The goal is positioning AWS Marketplace as the primary enterprise IT procurement channel. Partnership Framework - AWS works with technology partners (ISVs), consulting partners (GSIs, Advisory, Born-in-the-Cloud), and channel partners (Distributors, Resellers). Partner progression model: - Validate: Technical solution verification - Spotlight: Enhanced resources and management attention - Endorsed: Joint go-to-market activities Partners are directed toward targeted approaches focusing on specific customer profiles and industry segments. AWS invests in global marketplace localization for currency, language, and regulatory compliance. AI Integration - AWS characterizes AI as a foundational industry shift, integrating capabilities across all solution areas. Partners extend core AI services like Bedrock with domain-specific applications. The company encourages building on their AI stack immediately, calling out unprecedented market demand. Co-selling Operations - Partnership leaders must demonstrate quantifiable value through metrics including deal velocity and success rates. Sales teams are incentivized to co-sell with partners, and partners are encouraged to consistently register opportunities (e.g., through ACE) to gain visibility and establish patterns of success with AWS field teams. Performance Measurement - AWS evaluates partners across four dimensions: market presence expansion, partner-generated deal flow, product capability enhancement, and customer retention improvement. Centralized tools enable real-time ROI tracking and adoption monitoring. Market Implications - AWS's ecosystem strategy demonstrates how cloud platforms scale through strategic partnerships. The marketplace model represents a shift toward platform-mediated procurement, establishing new standards for enterprise technology acquisition. Thoughts or something I missed or got wrong? Feel free to comment below. #AWS #CloudComputing #Partnerships #EnterpriseStrategy