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Red Hat and IBM have opened up their partner programs to each others' channel networks following the US$34-billion mega merger.
Although both have vowed to maintain their own programs, the two companies are now looking for “synergies” to help partners use both Red Hat and IBM solutions.
As such, Red Hat partners have now been invited to apply for IBM’s PartnerWorld, while those in the Big Blue channel are able to apply for Red Hat Partner Connect.
“IBM has made a significant investment to acquire Red Hat, and respects that Red Hat wouldn’t be Red Hat without our partner ecosystem. Partners open more doors for open source than we can alone and are vital to our success," Red Hat SVP for global channel sales and alliances Mark Enzweiler said in a blog post.
However, he added that the acquisition would help “open pathways where it makes sense”, in particular across open hybrid cloud.
Claiming the Linux developer had been “talking about hybrid cloud for years” and had a flexible open hybrid cloud portfolio, Enzweiler added partners would now be able to use the “scale and depth of IBM’s innovation and industry expertise” and build new services.
“It really is the best of both worlds for our partners. There is an exciting opportunity in front of all of us to scale and accelerate our partner efforts while maintaining what we worked together to build.”
In particular, Enzweiler said cloud and service providers (CCSPs), systems integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs) and embedded, technology partners will play an important role in Red Hat’s future and strategy, while still building on relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Big Blue first announced it planned to acquire Red Hat last October. The US Department of Justice approved the acquisition in May, and the EU gave its approval at the end of June, removing the last major hurdle.
The deal, considered one of the largest in history, officially closed on 10 July. Going forward, Enzweiler added: “Our investment in the partner ecosystem will continue to be a priority for us and we will approach our relationships with partners with the same open source spirit built on transparency, collaboration, engagement and community."
