Sydney: Stefanie, Red Hat is such a well-known leader in open source. What are some of the key benefits that come with partnering with Red Hat?
Stefanie: At the highest level, it’s access to the latest innovation that’s been tested and ready to be delivered in the most rigorous customer use cases. Partners also gain access to a vibrant ecosystem of other partners using that technology.
Red Hat is a large-scale innovator in open-source technologies. While we collaborate closely with open-source communities, partners and customers, we also do extensive engineering work to ensure our products are ready for enterprise-wide, critical deployments and integrate smoothly with our ecosystem partners’ technology.
Sydney: In this competitive market, standing out is more important than ever. How does working with Red Hat help partners differentiate themselves and gain a competitive edge?
Stefanie: One of the ways we deliver tangible value to partners—and I’m really excited about this—is through our Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. This catalog is an expanding library of partner offerings, supported by a large, growing user base, and it’s available at catalog.redhat.com. It’s a trusted resource that customers and other partners can rely on during their buying journey. It helps them discover and connect with partner solutions that extend their use of Red Hat products into that ecosystem. The catalog also helps connect customers to the most appropriate partners and solutions in order to meet their business needs by providing engaging, discoverable and actionable content. Plus, it’s a great place for partners to see what the other partners are doing.Advertisement
Sydney: Red Hat’s partner ecosystem is a big focus. Can you share how the partner program is set up to help partners succeed and how you’re working together to drive growth?
Stefanie: We have made a pivot in how we support the ecosystem. We’ve built a new modular and configurable program, that’s supported by a consistent and operationalized approach to incentives, tooling, and programming. We’re focused on fostering greater simplicity, global consistency and flexibility for partners as they extend their work with Red Hat and others across that broader ecosystem.
Sydney: Can you share a scenario of how partners can grow their business, expand into new markets or take advantage of new opportunities with Red Hat’s support?
Stefanie: One of the things I get most excited about is the breadth of partners we work with here at Red Hat—everything from ISV partners to processor and server partners. We work with them to integrate our technology, making sure it really works. That integration can then be brought into a customer use case that we can package and hand to a distributor, who can use it to work with their community of reseller partners to bring it to customers. This approach also feeds into the value it creates with systems integrators, regional SIs and VARs. I love how the dynamic of building and innovating together with partners brings value to the broader channel community we work with here at Red Hat. And nowhere does that come together more than in the world of AI.