Red Hat simplifies product access with subscription offering

Red Hat has rolled out a subscription offering to enable partners to get their hands on more of its technology and give them the ability to deepen their knowledge of the products.

Red Hat Partner Subscriptions is a no-cost model that makes it easier for the channel to acquire product subscriptions, which can be used to develop software solutions, test products and proof-of-concepts to show customers, and enhance in-house technical skills.

The open source specialist is making the offering available to Ready, Advanced and Premier Business Partners, as well as those technology partners that have completed, or are in the process of gaining, product certifications with the vendor.

Some of the benefits of the programme include giving the channel access to hundreds of self-support subscriptions for Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud portfolio, with the ability for partners to mix and match product subscriptions.

There is also extended use of software development, demos, testing and internal training, with the technology able to be used on-premise or in the public cloud.

“The transformative capabilities of open hybrid cloud and, ultimately, our customers’ business outcomes can only be unlocked through a collaborative and knowledgeable partner ecosystem,” said Stefanie Chiras, senior vice-president, partner ecosystem success, at Red Hat.

“Red Hat is committed to catalysing open source innovation with partners by enabling deeper access to leading Red Hat technologies and support resources. By introducing new and improved Red Hat Partner Subscriptions, partners will have more visibility than ever before into the Red Hat open hybrid cloud portfolio to fuel real business outcomes and success with customers,” she added.

The concept also got the thumbs up from industry observers, who viewed it as a positive attempt to increase the level of skills across the partner base and the chances of them hitting the mark with customers.

“In the current industry landscape, customers and partners alike are faced with maintaining success and fuelling growth while navigating emerging technologies, changes to company business models and new collaboration methods. Therefore, it is critical for software vendors to empower a trained, efficient and loyal partner ecosystem that can react swiftly to evolving customer demands,” said Steve White, programme vice-president, channels and alliances, at IDC.

“Red Hat Partner Subscriptions offers a simplified and comprehensive avenue for partners to strengthen their business and deliver solutions, skills and support on Red Hat technologies,” he added.

Chris Reed, a sales engineer at TD Synnex, which will be on the receiving end of the subscription offering, said he had learned a lot by being involved in the pre-launch pilot.

“Participating in the pilot programme for Red Hat Partner Subscriptions has completely changed our outlook on how we request and maintain technical subscriptions and sales support,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to explore open source solutions now more readily available to us through Red Hat Partner Subscriptions and expanding upon our collaboration with Red Hat.”

The vendor is holding a webinar on 28 February for partners to find out more details about the subscription offer.