Over the past few years, India’s partner ecosystem has undergone a fundamental transformation, moving beyond technology enablement to becoming strategic solution builders for enterprises. For Red Hat, this shift is not just visible, but central to how the company drives growth in India and South Asia.
“Customer first, partner always, that’s our adage,” says Ausim Khan, Director – Partner Ecosystem, India & South Asia, Red Hat. “We are a partner-focused organisation, and everything we do is aimed at making our partners successful in their businesses,” he adds.
From enablement to specialisation
Red Hat works with a wide spectrum of partners, starting from hyperscalers, MSPs, solution providers, ISVs to OEMs. With its highly technical product portfolio, the company places strong emphasis on partner enablement. One of its flagship initiatives, the Red Hat Specialized Partner Program (earlier the Partner Accelerator Program), recognises partners with deep technical expertise.
“Partners who complete certifications and professional services gain validated recognition in the market,” Khan explains. “This allows them to stand out and confidently take Red Hat-powered solutions to customers,” he further adds.
Real-world impact across industries
Red Hat’s partner ecosystem is driving tangible outcomes across sectors. The company recently collaborated with NxtGen to build a public cloud on OpenShift and OpenStack, integrating AI capabilities. With Tech Mahindra, it signed an agreement to strengthen open-source innovation.
ISVs like Mindgate and Intellect Design are leveraging Red Hat platforms to power India’s digital payments ecosystem, while Red Hat’s first-party offerings are available across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Khan says, “These are not isolated cases. We work across the entire spectrum from global GSIs, local MSPs, hyperscalers to niche players to help them strengthen their offerings and co-create value for customers.”
The demand-generation shift
To help partners in a digital-first market, Red Hat has launched the Partner Demand Center, a full-stack marketing platform. It allows partners to run end-to-end campaigns, customise joint branding, and monitor performance through real-time dashboards.
The platform also supports multiple languages, enabling partners to localise campaigns in their regions. “It gives partners agility and control, cutting down execution time while helping them build stronger pipelines,” Khan notes.
Co-creation over pure reselling
Khan emphasises that the biggest opportunity lies in moving beyond reselling to true co-creation. “Today, the partners who are successful are the ones creating real value for customers,” he says. In India and South Asia, this shift is evident not just in traditional industries like BFSI, telecom, and government, but also in manufacturing, retail, and SMBs.
By co-creating with Red Hat, partners can scale solutions, develop industry-specific use cases, and position themselves as trusted advisors.
Addressing challenges with enablement
With multiple technology providers in the market, customers often struggle to choose the right solutions. Khan sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity. “The best way to address this is to enable partners. If partners are well-trained on our technology, they can have mature conversations with customers, who then rely on them as trusted advisors,” he explains.
Through year-round training, certification, and marketing programs, Red Hat ensures partners are prepared to address evolving customer needs.
The next growth frontier: AI and hybrid cloud
Looking ahead, Khan identifies AI, hybrid cloud, virtualisation, and automation as the four major growth areas for the partner ecosystem. With AI adoption in India growing at a CAGR of 25–35 percent, the opportunities are immense.
“Customers are no longer tied to a single infrastructure. They want flexibility and a consistent experience across platforms,” says Khan. Red Hat’s offerings such as OpenShift, OpenShift AI, and Ansible are infrastructure-agnostic, allowing partners to deliver solutions that work seamlessly across environments.
India’s strong talent pool adds to the momentum. “If we leverage the immense AI talent available with partners, Red Hat, and across the industry, we will unlock massive opportunities,” Khan observes.
A year of opportunity
For Red Hat, the focus for the year ahead is clear. “Hybrid cloud, AI, virtualisation, and automation will be the key drivers. We will continue to invest in our partners to build capabilities in these areas,” Khan concludes.
As enterprises accelerate digital transformation, Red Hat’s commitment to co-creation, partner empowerment, and ecosystem-driven growth is positioning its partner network not just as enablers, but as true innovators for the future.
thank you