IBM and Red Hat unveiled a joint worldwide initiative aimed at speeding the development and adoption of Linux-based applications. The companies are placing particular emphasis on emerging markets, such as China, India, Russia and South Korea, according to an IBM executive. The deal is similar to one IBM struck in March with Red Hat’s main Linux competitor, Novell.
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 hardware and software and Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux operating system, according to Todd Chase, program director of IBM Innovations Centers worldwide. “The snowball [demand] for Linux is continuing to grow,” he says. “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,” says Judith Hurwitz, president of consultancy Hurwitz & Associates. “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 reach IBM and Red Hat support in person or remotely at 15 of IBM’s 25 Innovation Centers around the globe, Chase says. While he couldn’t put a financial figure on IBM’s support for the initiative with Red Hat, he expects 20 to 25 IBM staff members to be in the 15 centers. Red Hat will provide training on its Linux distribution at each of the sites, Chase adds.
Six of the 15 centers are in emerging markets. Three are in China – in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai – and one each in Bangalore, India, Seoul and 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.
In 2004, IBM provided support at its Innovation Centers to 400 independent software vendors, enabling them to run their applications on Linux, Chase says. By the end of last month, IBM had assisted the same number of independent software vendors, he adds. In U.S. Innovation Centers, 70% to 75% of the contact with developers is done remotely, while that figure is in the 50% range in Europe and in the 20% range in Asia-Pacific, Chase says.
IBM also offers 29 new Linux tutorials on its DeveloperWorks Web site, Chase says. The tutorials are aimed at both developers and students looking to take Linux Professional Institute’s junior and intermediate administration exams. Of 600 IBM tutorials, 79 focus on the open source operating system.
IBM estimates that more than 100,000 Linux developers have joined DeveloperWorks and have created more than 6,500 Linux-based applications since 2003, according to information provided by the company.
