Last year, the technology sector experienced aboomof new possibilities and remarkable advances, from new opportunities in artificial intelligence to changes in the virtualization market, and Red Hat has partnered with its allies to meet these demands and pave the way for innovation. To help them stay agile in this dynamic industry, in 2024 the corporation launched the first phase of updates to its partner program, offering a new modular program structure, standardized incentives, and enhanced digital tools.
This year, it will be no different. Anchored in a co-creation module of products and technologies, new distributor engagement policies, and courses focused on the importance of incentives and reimbursements to stimulate sales, the second phase of updates to the global partnership program aims to bring more improvements for partners and assist them in their business journeys alongside Red Hat.
Partner Program Co-creation Module
In 2024, Red Hat implemented a modular approach to its partner program, starting with three modules focused on Reselling, Distribution, and Joint Selling, designed to help clients achieve greater accuracy in their core business activities. Now, a new module, Co-creation, will be available in the coming weeks to further reward Red Hat's technology partners.
The Co-Creation module will be aimed at partners who certify or validate their products and develop new solutions using the company's technologies. The course is particularly relevant for companies that identify as independent software and hardware vendors (IHVs and ISVs), system integrators (SIs), and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Those interested in the training will earn points for activities such as joint solution creation, validation and certification of Red Hat platforms, and development of content and go-to-market strategies to bring these solutions to customers. The accumulated points will unlock various benefits, including training, sales, marketing, and technical support within the platform.
Streamlining engagement with distributors
The company is implementing a distribution model to encourage greater engagement between distributors and their focused partners, helping to increase skill development and improve the execution of product launch strategies in the market. This will enable relationshipsbusiness-to-businessempowering partners to choose a distributor of their preference, with whom they can develop a long-term plan.
Through the incorporation of activities go-to-marketwithin the partner program modules to recognize value-added initiatives, such as joint creation of marketing assets, customer demos, proof of concept development, and much more. This allows partners to earn points and rewards and enables the progression of opportunities in the generation ofawareness of the client. By integrating these activities, Red Hat aims to recognize partner activity performance through more holistic forms of relationship in order to achieve higher levels of accuracy.
These go-to-market activities are included in all modules of the partner program. Therefore, regardless of how partners choose to work with Red Hat, they can be recognized and rewarded as they participate and engage with this content.
Expanding incentives and reimbursements
Based on the latest updates from the global partner engagement program experience, Red Hat has been standardizing refunds and incentives for reselling and distribution partners to achieve greater visibility and more predictable growth. This is a global implementation to provide companies connected to the company with clear and advanced insights to maximize profitability, plan sales cycles more effectively, and strengthen competitive positioning. The updated structure of refunds and incentives complements the contract registration incentives previously announced by the organization, providing greater opportunities for partners to successfully register and develop new business.
Next steps
The transformation of the global partner program represents the company's commitment to promoting an open approach with the alliance ecosystem, whether to deliver impactful and customized solutions for clients or to drive lasting changes in organizational structures. At the core of Red Hat's strategy is greater autonomy among the different parts, so that everyone benefits and has clearer growth opportunities.
Throughout 2025, members of this ecosystem will receive additional updates to develop new business flows and foster a more holistic and collaborative market vision. Meanwhile, as the news does not arrive, partners can find more information about the different modules of the programs, go-to-market launch opportunities, the model aligned with the distributor, and incentives in the Red Hat Content Center.
