Tech Data creates ecosystem to super-charge Red Hat adoption

By Simon Meredith | 23rd July 2020
  • Goal is to bring partners with skills in container-based development of microservices together with resellers that have access to the market
  • Increasing migration to hybrid environments making use of public cloud services is presenting new opportunities for partners

Basingstoke, 23 July 2020 – Tech Data (Nasdaq: TECD) has launched a Red Hat Ecosystem initiative that will bring together partners that have complementary capabilities – skills and experience in Red Hat on the one hand, and an established presence and reach into the market on the other –  with the goal of opening up new opportunities to deploy and manage containerised applications on hybrid cloud platforms.

It will seek to emulate the success of the company’s existing schemes for the healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing and industrial, and retail and distribution sectors, all of which have seen a number of partnerships formed and new solutions being taken to market. All four schemes are being supported by IBM.

Tech Data’s Red Hat Ecosystem programme will empower partners to pro-actively build out their own offerings more rapidly and effectively. While current restrictions mean that industry partners can only be brought together in virtual environments, Tech Data will be running a series of Red Hat events to trigger discussions on potential development opportunities and encourage sharing of ideas, content, and information.

Neil Cornish, Business Development Manager – Industry Solutions, UK and Ireland at Tech Data, said: “The current move towards hybrid infrastructures and meteoric rise in consumption of public cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, means that there is a real need for highly-portable microservices that can be deployed swiftly and efficiently.

“We want to bring partners who have complementary skills and capabilities together within Tech Data’s Red Hat Ecosystem. ISVs and developers who can build great containerised applications, and reseller partners who have access to key markets and are talking to customers about their evolving needs. By bringing Red Hat and reseller partners together, we hope to deliver new kinds of solutions to enterprise customers and drive significant new business opportunities for partners.”

Partnering with Tech Data’s ecosystem will immediately elevate the potential of any partner by opening it up to the widest possible market and collaborative opportunities, said Cornish. “Where partners know the missing components to their jigsaw, Tech Data’s ecosystem can help. Where partners may not even know they have a piece missing, the ecosystem could prove to be priceless.”

Tech Data has already established a thriving ecosystem and community of partners in the healthcare and life sciences and the manufacturing and industrial sectors. It has also been building a community for the retail and distribution sector. In all these ecosystems, Tech Data is connecting businesses and creating an environment conducive to the formation of new partnerships and value propositions. IBM has been a strong supporter of these initiatives and a number of solutions are already being built or adapted for IBM Power, Cloud and Watson platforms.

As well as connecting partners, Tech Data is providing, where required, expertise and professional services to fill any gaps that partners and developers may have in their own capabilities.

Tech Data is supporting partners in all these sectors with a series of virtual meetings, Market Readiness Workshops and access to specialist experts, providing them with a framework for the development of partnerships, solutions, value propositions and go-to-market plans.

Further information is available at http://trustedadvisor.techdata.co.uk/vendors/microsoft/solutions/ecosystems-solutions/redhat

Picture: Neil Cornish, Tech Data.

Tech Data Neil Cornish

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