IBM, Red Hat to galvanize Linux in emerging markets

IDG News Service - IBM and Red Hat Inc. Friday unwrapped a joint worldwide initiative to try to speed up the development and adoption of Linux-based applications. The companies are placing particular emphasis on emerging markets, like China, India, Russia and South Korea, according to an IBM executive. The deal is very similar to one IBM struck with Red Hat's main Linux competitor, Novell Inc., back in March.

IBM and Red Hat will provide developers with technical support and implementation expertise to help them more quickly port and certify their new applications on IBM's hardware and software and Red Hat's Enterprise Linux operating system, according to Todd Chase, program director of IBM Innovation Centers worldwide. "The snowball [demand] for Linux is continuing to grow," he said in a phone interview Thursday. "We keep hearing people asking for more help."

"One of the key issues with any environment is that the customer needs to have the feeling that if they adopt [the technology], there's a big player behind it that they can go to for support," Judith Hurwitz, president of analyst firm Hurwitz & Associates, said in a phone interview Thursday. "Or if there's a problem, a bump in the night, developers want to be able to hold someone responsible."

Developers will be able to access the IBM and Red Hat support either in person or remotely from 15 of IBM's 25 Innovation Centers around the globe, Chase said. While he couldn't put a financial figure on IBM's support for the initiative with Red Hat, Chase said he expects 20 to 25 IBM staffers to be located in the 15 centers. Red Hat will be providing training on its Linux distribution at each of the sites, Chase added.

Six of the 15 centers are in emerging markets, with three in China -- in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai -- and one in Bangalore, India, one in Seoul, South Korea, and one in Moscow. The others are in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris, Hursley in the U.K., Stuttgart in Germany, Amsterdam, and three in the U.S. -- in Waltham, Mass., Chicago and San Mateo, Calif.

IBM and Red Hat decided upon which regional Innovation Centers should host their joint initiative after looking at where they already both had a market presence or where they saw growth potential, according to Chase. When asked about expanding the program to the other 10 Innovation Centers, he said, "These are the first ones. We'll see how we do there first." IBM's joint initiative with Novell only covered nine Innovation Centers.

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