Purpose: This article aims to take a further step forward in examining those important business factors that will shape the future of best practice in the quality management of internal and external strategic alliances. Design/methodology/approach: The article presents a speculative scenario on the future of strategic alliances in education, training, development and business, inspired learning by applying information and data from well-established professional alliance management sources as the underpinning context for its guidelines. Findings: Many different attempts have been and still are being made by business and academic institutions to set up working relationships that are intended to work well for both parties. These relationships travel under various titles, with the term "partnership" being the most common. Problems of sustainability and/or quality of outcomes are prevalent as a result of the alliance management perspective being taken on a limited understanding of the total relationship dynamics for success; too narrow a perspective on what dynamics have to be managed. Models for success are, however, readily available. Research limitations/implications: In the broader context there is a wealth of research, best practice and practical experience in the field of strategic alliance management. iPCo's current research is therefore focused on how this professional resource and experience can be adopted to provide a quality framework of management practice that will enable business management to ensure that they make the right choices in the selection and construction of their strategic learning relationships both internally and externally. Originality/value: The need for major innovations in the management of lifelong training and learning is now well established. Trying to achieve the successful implementation of these developments on a piecemeal basis has, however, proved to be an unrewarding process for many managers. The inertia of large institutional bodies and the "not invented here" syndrome have been proved to slow down or sideline major innovations. Knowing the size of the problem in each situation and how to deal with it effectively and efficiently at the right level is now one of the main strategic imperatives for corporate university managers. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)