Overview

A partner is any external party that helps a buyer manage their solution sourcing workflow on Human Cloud. Partners act on behalf of buyer organizations — they don't use Human Cloud for their own purchasing needs, but rather manage the process for their clients.

Think of it like an accountant who manages your finances: you give them access to your accounts, they do the work, and you review the results.

Partner Types

Solo Consultant

An individual user with delegated access to one or more buyer organizations. A solo consultant signs up with their own email, gets invited by a buyer, and works independently.

Example: A freelance HR consultant who helps three mid-size companies evaluate and select workforce solutions.

Consulting Firm

An organization on Human Cloud whose members get delegated access to buyer organizations. The firm itself has a presence on HC, and individual team members within the firm receive delegated access.

Example: A workforce strategy consultancy whose team manages the solution sourcing process for enterprise clients.

Solution Acting as Partner

A solution vendor that also manages buyer accounts — for example, an MSP (Managed Service Provider) that sets up their clients' accounts and helps them evaluate complementary solutions.

Example: An MSP that onboards new clients by building shortlists of staffing vendors and running RFI processes on their behalf.

How Partners Differ from Buyers

	Buyer	Partner
Purpose	Sources solutions for their own organization	Manages sourcing for other organizations
Data ownership	Owns their shortlists, briefs, and engagements	Creates resources scoped to the buyer's organization
Access	Full access to their own org	Permissioned access defined per buyer org
Identity	Always themselves	Can appear as the buyer, as themselves, or anonymously
Account	Standard HC account	Standard HC account + one or more delegations

The Delegation

The relationship between a partner and a buyer organization is called a delegation. A delegation defines:

Who the partner is (user and optionally their organization)
What they can do (granular permissions)
How they appear to solutions (identity mode)
What they can see of the buyer's existing data (visibility scope)

A single partner can have delegations with multiple buyer organizations, and a single buyer organization can have multiple partners — each with independent permissions.

Delegation Status

Status	Meaning
Pending	Invitation sent but not yet accepted by the partner
Active	Partner has accepted and can act on behalf of the buyer
Revoked	Access has been permanently removed by the buyer

Permissions

Permissions control what actions a partner can perform for a buyer organization. They are additive — each permission grants full access to that capability.

Permission	What it grants
Shortlists	Create, edit, delete, and publish shortlists. Add, remove, and reorder solutions within shortlists.
Briefs	Create, edit, send, and close briefs/RFIs. View responses and quotes from solutions.
Notes	Create and manage personal and shared notes attached to solutions, shortlists, and briefs.

Permissions the partner does not have result in the corresponding UI being hidden entirely (not just disabled).

Identity Modes

Identity mode controls how the partner appears to solutions when acting on behalf of a buyer:

Mode	What solutions see	Use case
As Buyer (default)	The buyer's org name and contact info. Partner is invisible.	Buyer wants to appear as if they're managing directly.
Transparent	Partner's name + "on behalf of [Buyer Org]"	Buyer is fine with solutions knowing a partner is involved.
Anonymous	"Anonymous Buyer"	Full anonymity for both buyer and partner.

Data Visibility

Data visibility controls what the partner can see of the buyer's existing resources:

Level	What partner can see	Use case
Full	All buyer org resources (shortlists, briefs, engagements)	Trusted partner managing entire process.
Partner-created (default)	Only resources this partner created	Scoped engagement; buyer keeps internal work private.
None	Nothing existing — can only create new	Partner is starting fresh; buyer will review output.

Context Switching

A partner working for multiple buyers switches between buyer contexts — similar to switching Slack workspaces. The Partner Switcher dropdown in the header lists all buyer organizations the partner has active delegations with.

When a partner selects a buyer context:

All actions (creating shortlists, sending briefs, adding notes) are scoped to that buyer's organization
The UI shows an "Acting as" banner confirming which buyer org the partner is managing
Resources shown in the workspace are filtered to that buyer's organization

When no buyer context is selected, the partner sees their own personal account.

Draft Workflow

When a partner creates a shortlist for a buyer, it starts as a draft. Drafts are only visible to the partner until they choose to publish. Publishing makes the shortlist visible to the buyer's team.

This gives partners a private workspace to curate and organize before sharing their work.

Whether the buyer can peek at drafts before publishing is controlled by the buyer_can_see_drafts setting on the delegation (defaults to off).

What Happens When Access is Revoked

When a buyer revokes a partner's delegation:

The partner immediately loses access to the buyer's workspace
All resources the partner created remain — they belong to the buyer's organization, not the partner
The partner is notified of the revocation
The delegation status changes to revoked and cannot be reactivated (a new invitation would be needed)