PARTNER PORTAL IMPLEMENTATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
RealWear’s global partner network had grown to 250+ partners across multiple geographies, verticals and partner types — but the infrastructure supporting them hadn’t kept pace. All partner content lived in a shared Box folder with a single universal password, zero usage metrics, no tiered access control and no data protection. There was no way to know what partners were using, what was out of date, or whether sensitive materials were being shared inappropriately.
The operational cost was significant: the sales and marketing team fielded constant one-off document requests, partners couldn’t self-serve, and there was no foundation for running scalable co-marketing programs. Before RealWear could build a partner ecosystem that performed, it needed infrastructure that worked.
Project initiation and charter development · Vendor evaluation and procurement · Content audit and migration · Work breakdown structure · Playbook development · Internal change management · Partner onboarding · Usage tracking and governance
Initiating the Project
I developed the project charter defining the problem statement and business case for investment in a structured partner relationship management platform. This required building a clear picture of the current state — what was broken, what it was costing the team, and what a functioning system would enable — and presenting it in terms that would secure leadership buy-in and budget approval.
The case was straightforward once documented: the absence of content governance, usage visibility and data protection wasn't just an operational inconvenience, it was a business risk.
Vendor Selection and Procurement
I led the vendor selection process, evaluating platform options against budget constraints and functional requirements including tiered access control, playbook hosting, deal registration and campaign management capabilities. MindMatrix was selected as the platform best suited to RealWear's partner structure and budget.
I managed procurement from evaluation through contract execution, coordinating with finance and legal stakeholders to complete vendor onboarding within the project timeline.
Content Migration and Portal Build
Before a single partner was onboarded, I conducted a full audit of all existing materials in Box, categorising every asset for migration, update or retirement. This was foundational: launching a new portal with outdated or inconsistent content would undermine adoption from day one.
I created a work breakdown structure covering content migration, partner-type-specific playbook development, internal team training and partner onboarding sequencing. Every playbook — covering product launches, solution selling and industry-specific packages across construction, healthcare and manufacturing — was reviewed against brand and messaging standards before publication.
Change Management: The Harder Problem
The technical implementation was the straightforward part. The real challenge was behavioral: getting an internal sales and marketing team to stop sending documents directly to partners and start directing them to the portal instead.
This required a structured change management approach. I developed communication frameworks explaining the why behind the shift, built incentive mechanisms to encourage partner self-service behavior, and created reinforcement loops that made using the portal the path of least resistance for both internal teams and partners. Without this, the platform would have launched and immediately been bypassed.
Outcomes
70% platform usage rate and 50% playbook adoption across 250+ global partners within the first year of launch. The portal became the operational backbone for all subsequent partner enablement activities at RealWear, including asset distribution for the Cisco Webex and OverIT co-marketing campaigns.
The governance model and content refresh cadence documented during this project later informed the design of Miro's partner enablement hub, extending the impact of the original implementation across a second organisation.
Laura Farbo 