Red Hat Builds Another Partner Community

Connectivity

When it comes to building partner communities, Red Hat seems to be on a roll. First came Red Hat's successful ISV (independent software vendor) push for Linux. Then, Red Hat successfully built OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) relationships with folks like Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Now, Red Hat apparently has a hit on its hands with the JBoss middleware partner efforts. Here's the update.

The VAR Guy

May 19, 2010

2 Min Read

Red Hat Builds Another Partner Community

Jboss red hat isv certified

When it comes to building partner communities, Red Hat seems to be on a roll. First came Red Hat’s successful ISV (independent software vendor) push for Linux. Then, Red Hat successfully built OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) relationships with folks like Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Now, Red Hat apparently has a hit on its hands with the JBoss middleware partner efforts. Here’s the update.

Red Hat launched its JBoss Certified ISV Program in late 2008. Since that time, JBoss has attracted more than 500 certified ISV applications, Red Hat says. More than 50 percent of those ISVs are in Europe and Asia, the company adds. Middleware certainly isn’r a sexy business, so The VAR Guy is impressed with Red Hat’s progress.

Also of note: The Red Hat ISVs include such household names as Adobe, Hewlett-Packard and Sybase (which SAP intends acquire).

But how many channel partners profit from JBoss middleware projects? The VAR Guy doesn’t have an exact figure. But our resident blogger has been in touch with several JBoss consulting firms in recent days. All of them suggest that their businesses are up at least 15 percent so far in 2010 vs. 2009.

Plus, Red Hat has indicated that partners typically earn more than $10 in consulting fees for every dollar of JBoss subscription services they resell.

The net result: Red Hat is the rare open source company that has diversified beyond its original cash cow (Linux subscriptions) to generate additional revenue streams.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.