Red Hat has formally launched its Specialized Partner Program as well as introduced a Partner Demand Center designed to help channel partners more easily deliver impactful marketing campaigns, content and programs. The moves are part of the company’s efforts to enhance its partner engagement experience, according to a blog written by Stefanie Chiras, SVP of partner ecosystem success.
The Red Hat Specialized Partner Program was piloted as Partner Practice Accelerator. It’s intended to “drive enhanced industry recognition for validated partners and provide clearer pathways for partners to develop and showcase skills in high-demand areas that are critical to customer success,” Chiras said. The program “recognizes partners’ deep technical expertise and proven service capabilities to support the full customer lifecycle, aligning with strategic technologies and streamlining go-to-market efforts for partners.”
As a result of the launch, Red Hat is expanding its available partner specializations beyond Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat OpenShift to include additional products like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and RHEL AI. In addition, “the existing specialization for Red Hat OpenShift will be divided into specific focus areas, including virtualization, containers and application development. Qualifying partners will be recognized as Red Hat Specialized Partners categorized by their associated technical skills,” Chiras said.
Using the new Red Hat Partner Demand Center, partners can independently launch ready-made marketing campaigns as well as create workshop and webinar registration pages for customers and prospects. The platform offers autonomous campaign execution, customizable content, activity and lead tracking, and a content library with more than 16 campaigns available in nine core languages across Red Hat products.
