Accreditation - Red Hat aims to brand 500 VARs
Linux vendor Red Hat has launched its certified reseller programme for its partners and aims to have at least 500 UK VARs trained by the middle of the year.
Linux vendor Red Hat has launched its certified reseller programme for its partners and aims to have at least 500 UK VARs trained by the middle of the year.
The vendor, which has been steaming ahead with European channel plans since it opened its UK offices last August, began offering Linux accreditation via specialist training centres at the beginning of this month.
Red Hat resellers will be encouraged to train at least one engineer for a fee of £1,599. The engineer will undertake a four-day course and an exam. Resellers already adept at Linux or the Unix operating system will be allowed to take just the exam for £499.
In return for passing the training programme, VARs will receive Red Hat logos, access to an online reseller zone providing sales and marketing assistance and a listing on the company's European Web site, which will be launched in a few weeks.
John Winters, owner of VAR Linux Emporium, said: "Certification is certainly one of the things people look for, especially the large corporate companies. Corporates are also more likely to go to Red Hat to find a list of suppliers. My only concern is the perception that any man on the street can learn Linux within a few weeks."
According to Andy Dickens, European sales director at Red Hat, the exact number of VARs is hard to guess, but at least 60 per cent of the channel currently selling Red Hat products are expected to join the scheme.
Dickens added that there would be two levels of Red Hat VARs. The lower level will continue to sell the Linux box and buy from one of Red Hat's four distributors and the higher level will have accreditation and be backed by the Red Hat brand.
"At present, there is a shortage of Linux expertise and not enough VARs to satisfy the demand from the enterprise," said Dickens.
"The training will assure enterprise customers of a VAR's skills. There has been a huge amount of interest from resellers about Red Hat and Linux and this programme has been driven by their interest," he added.