Opportunity Through Alliance

Electronic commerce specialist Triptych Systems diversifies through a strategic alliance from the bookselling market into supporting computer sales

Whenever a small IT company announced twenty years ago that it was 'forming a strategic alliance' with one of the classic computer vendors, sceptics would take that as a euphemism for 'take-over' or 'sell-out'. Today, the battle order has changed, and the Great Names heavily rely on an association with companies only a fraction of their size to help deliver encompassing solutions to an increasingly competitive market. Reports that the UK electronic commerce specialist Triptych Systems had struck up an alliance with NCR would suggest, therefore, a carefully thought-out development strategy on the part of both organisations; where the potential strength of the partnership would exceed the total capabilities of the parties trading on their own initiative.