The Importance of Your Ecosystem

Ecosystem: noun – a system or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment. Source: Dictionary.com

The other day I was in a meeting with a customer when they asked me a question I did not know the answer to. But I had a hunch who might. Immediately I sent a text to a trusted colleague who responded quickly. Answer found. Problem solved. All in the space of about ten minutes.

Ecosystem. We often take it for granted, but in many respects our ecosystem is actually an extension of ourselves. Both formal and informal, our ecosystems span our personal and professional lives, and the boundaries are frequently blurred.

Ecosystems, such as those in nature, help us live on this planet. Bees pollinate, plants thrive, food grows, oxygen is created, we can all breathe – you get the picture. In nature, natural dependencies create ecosystems. The balance is delicate, the interdependencies crucial for our very survival.

Ecosystems also form outside of nature. We create ecosystems because, as human beings, we need to rely on others to help us accomplish objectives we could never realize on our own. We often become known for our ecosystems and we trust that our ecosystems will not let us down.

As in nature, our ecosystems are also crucial for our survival.

The NetApp Ecosystem

I have a terrific job working here at NetApp. We are a partner-led organization and that means we have a formal ecosystem in place. Partners, distributors, and alliances all interconnect to play important roles in the value chain for customers. I count myself lucky as someone who has the opportunity to interact daily with some really smart people who work together to solve problems.

FlexPod

If you know me, you know I like to talk about FlexPod, the converged infrastructure solution that NetApp jointly created with Cisco. No this is not a shameless plug, but I am still in awe of how an entire ecosystem came together to create a brand new concept – converged infrastructure – and then went on to dominate the market with billions of dollars in sales.

If you don’t know the story, it is pretty cool how a couple of guys met in a coffee shop to talk about the challenges of building out infrastructure and then – light bulb moment – wondered if our professional ecosystem could solve the challenge. Initially it was the internal ecosystem of NetApp and Cisco engineers, sales and marketing folks who worked together to create something new. Eventually it extended, and partners, distributors and other alliances – Citrix, VMware, Microsoft, RedHat, SAP, and many more – jumped on board to become part of the FlexPod story, the FlexPod ecosystem.

Healthy Ecosystems Help Us Thrive

FlexPod’s and NetApp’s ecosystems have helped us extend, to become better than we could ever be on our own. In fact, with the disruption that cloud has introduced in our industry, I would say that our ecosystem is a big part of our ability to not simply survive but to thrive in these tumultuous times, as traditional industries transform, new business models evolve, and global competitors emerge to rattle the foundations and test the viability of many organizations.

The Value of Your Ecosystem

What I think is really important to consider when you think about your ecosystem(s), is how does it play a role in your daily life? Do you value your ecosystem and have you recognized how it has shaped you? Would you consider your ecosystem to be strong and trusted? Or is there a missing link or a decline that needs shoring up? Like the example of the honey bees, is there an element in your ecosystem that you need to invest in or pay attention to?

A healthy ecosystem is good for you – good for all of us. Let’s keep on taking care of our ecosystems. And let’s also take care of our bees.