Prosoft Systems Canada (A)

Prosoft Canada is a major competitor in the enterprise software business. The company is planning to bid on a large contract with the city of Winnipeg. Prosoft is considering bidding on the project in a partnership with a major systems integrator, but the company has just been approached by two other partners about including them in their bidding process. Prosoft must decide whether to bid independently or in one or more alliances. The complexity of forming and managing alliances in the enterprise software business is explored. The supplement Prosoft Systems (B), product 9B03A003, poses the issue of developing an alliance policy for guiding similar decisions.