Red Hat Fortifies Commitment to Partners

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, January 16, 2013 – Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today celebrated its channel partner ecosystem at its North America Partner Conference in San Diego. Red Hat’s channel has grown over the past four years with channel bookings at 53 percent of total bookings in FY08 to 60 percent in FY12 and most recently, 65 percent for Q3FY13. Channel momentum has contributed to total company annual revenue that reached $1,133M in FY12.

As the IT landscape continues to evolve and create new opportunities for partners, Red Hat is announcing several partner program enhancements and investments designed to support and reward Red Hat partners.

Refreshed Global Partner Training Curriculum
Red Hat is launching an overhauled training curriculum for all partners, including a refreshed curriculum covering pre-sales, sales and delivery training that provides qualified partners with access to Red Hat Services best practices. Additionally, partner training will now be available online and free of charge, making training available to partners when and where they need it. The updated Red Hat partner training is available immediately via Red Hat Partner Center.

New Partner Resources
Today, Red Hat announced availability of the Red Hat Partner Demo System, a new, online virtual demo lab that partners can use for training, customer demonstrations or to provide proof of concepts. The Partner Demo System includes demonstrations for all Red Hat products and requires only a browser to access, designed to save partners time and expense while adding convenience. The Red Hat Partner Demo System is available today in North America via Red Hat Partner Center, with other regions to follow.

In 2012, Red Hat launched a new Partner Lead Pass Program, a program designed to pass qualified sales leads from Red Hat to qualified partners. Since its launch, Red Hat has made several enhancements to the program, including making leads available through the Red Hat Partner Center and creating a one-step process for converting eligible leads to deal registration opportunities.

Red Hat has also invested in additional partner-specific marketing, sales and technical support over the past year. With the updated Red Hat Channel Marketing Center, Red Hat has created a content syndication and marketing automation tool to assist partners in generating leads and developing pipeline for joint opportunities. To support partner growth, Red Hat has also added channel solution architects and partner sales representatives. These trained technical resources are available to help Red Hat partners architect and configure Red Hat solutions for customers and work exclusively on joint selling opportunities. Additional investments have been made in Red Hat’s Partner Help Desk, making it easier for partners to get quick answers to questions regarding the Red Hat partner program, Red Hat Partner Center and other system infrastructure tools.

Supporting Quotes
Roger Egan, vice president of North America Channel Sales and Development, Red Hat
“This is not the strategy du jour. Working with and growing out our channel is imperative to Red Hat’s ability to deliver reliable, enterprise-ready, open source solutions to customers. We are committed to our partners and working with them to provide the technology necessary to meet the IT demands of today and tomorrow.”

Steve Lankard, US CTO, OnX Enterprise Solutions
“Red Hat has historically been very supportive of their Solution Provider partners providing sales and technical support coverage as well as advanced training opportunities. These latest initiatives reinforce Red Hat’s commitment to the Solution Provider partner community. Red Hat clearly understands the value of their Solution Provider partners to growing the enterprise open source solutions business and is investing in the resources that their partners need to be successful.”

About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.

Media Contact:
Colin Saldanha
PROCRE8 for Red Hat
Villa 41, 81-d Street, Uptown Mirdif
P.O. Box 78835, Dubai
United Arab Emirates

This release was published on openPR.