Red Hat 2024 Partner Program Changes Include Accelerator, Product Demo Platform

'[The program] gets rid of that old structure around partner type, and it allows them to engage in activities and motions that are relevant to their business and build upon those collectively,’ Red Hat channel chief Stefanie Chiras tells CRN.

Red Hat will launch a series of updates to its partner program this year, promising partners a new accelerator program, a product demonstration platform, greater transparency, upgraded tools for cross-collaboration and easier access to technology, training and resources.

The upgraded partner engagement model and programming is set for the second half of 2024, according to the Raleigh, N.C.-based vendor of open-source enterprise tools and IBM subsidiary. The Red Hat Partner Practice Accelerator Program is already open but invite-only. The Red Hat Demo Platform is slated for May availability.

“Our goal here with Red Hat and the Red Hat ecosystem is to really build, connect and catalyze that coalition of experts, that ecosystem of partners so that together we can build those customer-relevant solutions, which incorporate Red Hat technologies, but they’re bigger than that,” Stefanie Chiras, Red Hat’s channel chief—her official title is senior vice president of partner ecosystem success—told CRN.

Red Hat Updates Partner Program

Dayn Kelley, director of strategic alliances at Irvine, Calif.-based Technologent—an IBM and Red Hat partner and No. 61 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500—told CRN in a recent interview that Red Hat has been a great partner with co-marketing initiatives and servicing customers.

With Technologent making a concentrated effort to grow its IBM business this year, the Red Hat side should also continue to grow, Kelley said.

“Whether we’re talking about Ansible or OpenShift, they’ve got a great portfolio, they’re still continuing to build it out,” he said. “And it’s an easy one for us to promote. So I see that continuing to grow.”

Although he understands the value of Red Hat’s autonomy from IBM, Kelley said, he still sees some areas where both vendors can further integrate “from a process and program standpoint.”

About 80 percent of Red Hat’s revenue comes from solution providers, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM has about 55,000 worldwide channel partners, 12,000 in North America, according to CRN’s 2023 Channel Chiefs. The vendor makes about 30 percent of its revenue from the channel.

Red Hat Changes In Detail

Chiras said that the new partner program framework corrects the previously too-linear program.

“It was based upon partner identity and geography of where we worked with them,” she said. “While partners could participate in more than one route, interconnection between those routes, if they had different engagement models with us, was a bit clunky and not very simple.”

Red Hat has updated its partner program with a modular design so that partners can get the resources that correspond with their business model or models.

“It allows them to move seamlessly between different activities and different routes to market,” Chiras said. “It gets rid of that old structure around partner type, and it allows them to engage in activities and motions that are relevant to their business and build upon those collectively. … It’ll provide a standardized approach for partners to engage with Red Hat across all the multiple motions. But all of that activity then feeds into a common tiering system so that they can be recognized holistically for the full scope of their activities with Red Hat.”

The company has promised more accessibility to Red Hat resources, expertise and open-source products and services. Partners will see improvements in partner certification and credential pathways on the Red Hat Partner Training Portal and expanded visibility for co-created solutions in the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog.

Learning pathways have been consolidated and simplified, Chiras said. Ansible content collections also have been added to the catalog along with co-created, multi-vendor products and services.

Partners will have updated incentives and rebates available based on program participation, Chiras said. And the company is streamlining deal registration to make the process more consistent globally.

Chiras said deal registration changes are rolling out worldwide during the first and second quarter.

“That’ll help increase as well the partner autonomy, which has been a big focus for us,” she said. “And [it will] promote greater visibility for partners on sales opportunities.”

The demo platform becoming available in May will provide partners with demos on demand, product step-by-step instructions, scripted workshops and customer talking points, according to Red Hat.

Partners will have early access to demos for product releases ahead of general availability, Chiras said.

“It’s really another way that we’re working to provide a simplified access and a way to support our partners to have a simplified presentation as they talk to their customers and … build that trust with the customers,” she said.

The Red Hat Partner Practice Accelerator Program is meant to identify, enable, validate and provide incentives to partners based on the commercial segment—which includes midmarket businesses and SMBs.

The invite-only program will include partners with demonstrated advanced technical knowledge and Red Hat professional services credentials and certifications related to automation and application development. Chosen partners should be able to improve profitability and market differentiation through the program’s resources and professional services, according to Red Hat.

Partners already in the program include Li9 Technology Solutions, Linux Plus, Sekom and Stone Door Group.

The Partner Practice Accelerator Program also provides Red Hat sellers a way to identify partners that are trusted and validated, Chiras said.

“We’re supporting them to build up that comprehensive way to engage and recognizing them for building that skill,” she said.