In order to view technology vendors as partners, you should take a look at your business and which aspects of it can be streamlined through the use of technology. After the opportunities for efficiencies or new ways to add value have been identified and prioritized, vendors can become partners who help implement and accelerate the integration of industry best practices they see from their other customers.
Oftentimes, the issue that seems most challenging with technology is making multiple platforms communicate with one another and display information in a useful format after it's been aggregated. IT vendors will usually have encountered this issue before and will have ideas for avoiding the expensive process of reinventing the wheel.
They will use this knowledge to take the edge off how daunting the challenge seems. This closes the gap more quickly and allows the advisor to immediately add value with the integration. A collaborative approach creates momentum for more and more impactful idea sharing going forward.
