Red Hat and IBM join hands for Linux certification
Red Hat and IBM will jointly help software vendors certify their applications for Linux in a partnership announced today.
The programme is designed to make it easier for vendors to migrate their software to Linux, and will also give IBM and Red Hat a boost by enlarging the pool of applications certified to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux with IBM hardware and middleware.
ISV (independent software vendor) certification has become more important as Linux has moved further into the enterprise, since certifications allow businesses to ensure a particular package will run on their platform. However, because each Linux distribution is slightly different from the next, it is necessary for ISVs to certify for each distribution separately.
Red Hat already has sales and support deals with the major server makers - IBM, Dell, HP and Sun - but so far certification has been left largely to individual ISVs. Under the joint Linux ISV Certification Support Programme, IBM and Red Hat will play a more active role, with Red Hat providing technology and support services and IBM giving partners access to its Innovation Centres for Business Partners, which provide services such as on-site or remote support during application porting.
IBM has Innovation Centres in Hursley, England; Moscow, Russia; Paris, France; and Stuttgart, Germany as part of a broader $1 billion initiative to provide partners with training, migration and testing services. The company says it has 4,700 business partners supporting Linux-enabled IBM software.
