When business customers asked for help selecting appropriate applications to meet their mobile needs, O2 was not found wanting. It set up the O2 Partnership Programme.
Choosing the right software applications to work with your mobile communications is not a simple task. The market is vast and fast-moving.
Of course, if you've got your finger on the technological pulse and are prepared to look hard enough, you could sort the wheat from the chaff. But it's time-consuming stuff. And there's a danger you might miss the diamond in the rough: the mobile solution that's just right for your business.
Scrupulously high standards
This is where the O2 Partnership Programme is proving itself invaluable. O2 has created the Programme to find the providers of the best software applications for O2 customers. 'We realised that customers often don't have the designated resource to find out who's offering best of breed. So we do it for them,' explains Ilona McMullan, Head of Applications at O2 UK. 'The O2 Partnership Programme narrows the field - pinpointing technically and financially robust solutions.
We apply a process of technical assessment and credit vetting to find partner providers who we trust and respect.' And because quality control is paramount, the vetting process is rigorous. Potential partners first become 'Accredited'. This is the entry level where the market testing is carried out. To ensure that the match is good, all applications are trialled and tested on the O2 network and handsets. If successful, they move to the second 'Preferred' level, and then finally to the third, where they become 'Certified' - a position they must continue to justify throughout the relationship or face slipping back to the lower levels.
Sharing expertise
The Partnership Programme is all part of O2's drive towards excellence. The recent Autumn launch of the O2 Enterprise Centre of Excellence to help O2 Partners communicate with corporate customers and enhance their offerings with O2's corporate expertise, was yet another demonstration of O2's commitment to working with the indirect channel to meet the needs of corporate customers. And again the bar is set very high. To qualify for the O2 Enterprise Centre of Excellence, O2 Partners must meet stringent criteria, including connection targets, dedicated 24/7 service management and a structured customer satisfaction programme. 'We have always been determined not to be a jack of all trades and master of none,' explains McMullan. 'So instead of trying to do everything ourselves internally, we've gone to the market in search of the real mobile applications experts - to partner the very best products supported by the best organisations, and then share this expertise with our customers. That's the way we do things around here and it works.'