OEM Partners
What are OEM Partners?
Before we dive in to the benefits and options of OEM partners, first we have to define what is OEM. OEM, or original equipment manufacturers, make software that is used as components in another company’s products, which then offers that product to customers.
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners are companies whose software offerings can be embedded within proprietary products or applications. OEM partners’ software operates similarly to white label software, though they differ in the level of customization offered.
White labeling software basically entails cosmetic changes which let companies adapt the software to the look and feel of their brand. Software delivered by OEM partners allows companies to make integral changes to the core software itself based on their specific needs.
OEM partnerships are a cross-industry practice that empowers companies to design and incorporate the software they need without investing in specialized, costly IT experts.
The third-party software that OEM partnerships generate comes with a number of distinct benefits. For example, companies that enter into OEM partnerships can access ongoing customer support. Also, the OEM will take responsibility for any cybersecurity measures the software might entail.
Moreover, companies that choose to acquire software through OEM partnerships receive highly individualized software components that add value to their own products, while minimizing any maintenance issues the software may incur.
How can OEM partnerships help me?
The benefits that companies derive from OEM partnerships can be quite significant. In addition to the substantial savings on cost and time of development, it could expose your product to an entirely new market. It also means someone else is taking care of any ISO certifications or other quality requirements that are needed.
A classic example of an OEM partnership that positively impacts company strategies and practices is embedded analytics. Companies also can use OEMs to apply cloud, on-premise, or hybrid analytics to company data collected from different areas of the organization.
The high level of customization that OEM partnerships offers means that whatever their IT capabilities, companies can extract the maximal amount of actionable insights from their disparate datasets. (Wondering how to find the right OEM supplier for your embedded analytics?)
With tailored prescriptive analytic technology embedded directly into their software or hardware, critical vectors such as employee agility, marketing tactics, and inventory maintenance receive data-based recommendations to improve ROIs. As a third-party integration, embedded analytics are able to organically scale as companies grow.
OEM partnerships also offer specific software components that complete proprietary offerings. One industry that’s typically associated with OEM Partnerships is smartphones. Technology companies that produce smartphones often approach third-party software providers to design their phone’s pre-installed software.
Though this software company may build software for a variety of smartphones, each technology company that partners with them will receive a unique software product or products that are licensed to them, which they then bundle, brand, and sell as their own.
