A far different competitive landscape.

• Author: Benson, Jerry
• Position: NEC Technologies' Strategic Software Partnership

To advance its new technologies and products, NEC Technologies is boldly entering the new and inevitable era of strategic partnerships.

There was once a dark time when companies thought of each other as "the enemy." One met with the enemy only on the battlefields of product reviews, trademark infringement suits or in the shadowed alleyways of corporate information gathering. Any other association with the enemy was forbidden. Companies were proud, noble and strong, set in their ways and adamant about those ways being upheld and honored. So intense was this battle that casualties were enormous. Companies would continue to stand alone, watching their soldiers -- their products -- fall again and again.

The war continues today, and some things have remained the same. Companies are still as proud, noble, and strong as they ever were. However, some companies are becoming smarter and more strategic. Companies are finding that the competitive landscape is broadening, tactics are changing, and old ways are no longer effective. In a classic case of learning by doing, learning from observation, or a combination of both, companies are letting down the walls of isolation and extending their vision beyond the borders of their own boardrooms into those of other similarly aligned companies, with similar goals.

One interesting case study is NEC Technologies' Strategic Software Partnership (SSP) program. This revolutionary program was fostered by the NEC Technologies Advanced Media Strategic Business Unit as an integral part of NEC's release of the MultiSpin 3X Series of CD-ROM readers. To support the release of its CD-ROM readers, partnerships were formed with 16 leading multimedia software manufacturers to create an environment that would assure earlier time-to-market and adoption of NEC's new triple-speed CD-ROM technology in newly released software.

The majority of current CD-ROM software is based on lower-performance 1X and 2X technology. Though triple-speed readers are able to utilize lower-speed CD-ROM software, the video and animation capabilities are not maximized in these software titles. Since multimedia has become such a booming market, the availability of 3X-capable software becomes a must in order to keep driving the market forward. NEC needed to find a way for users to have full possession of triple-speed software as quickly as they would a triple-speed reader. SSP was the solution.

Through its SSP program, NEC brings multimedia software...