Stephen Lane blogs about outsourcing maturity and talks about creating strategic partnerships with a select group of vendors. From a vendor perspective, what does it mean to be a 'strategic partner'?  'We are your partners' is a much bandied about phrase in software services circles. Short of giving their right arm, vendors would do anything to get the client to call them 'partners'. Believe me, the word 'partner' can be a loaded one. It can mean anything from being a whipping boy to a trusted advisor. Here's are ten questions that could help you figure out where you stand on the partnership continuum.   

-How good is your price realization ? Do your fixed price contracts often run into trouble with payments in spite of decent delivery ?

-Do you get to shape needs or do you get resource requirements conveyed to you ?

-Does the client ask for your opinion in matters that concern outsourcing ?

-Are you executing around well defined SLA's ?

-When you make a mistake, does the client show you the contract, or does he work for a win-win solution ? When the client slips up, is it a negotiated win-win or are contracts conveniently forgotten ?

-Does the CIO and her direct reports give you access ?

-Do you know what the forward looking twelve month business plan for your customer looks like ?

-Can you name the top five strategic initiatives in your client's business ? Have you met the executives who run these programs in the last one month ?

-How good is the demand pipeline visibility ? Do you know with a fair amount of confidence what your revenue run rate will be at the start of a quarter ?

-What is your share of wallet compared to the competition ?

The fact is that not every client wants you to be a 'strategic partner'. But it does help to know where you figure.