Red Hat has announced the appointment of Obsidian Systems as the first Red Hat Advanced Partner in the African market, a status that truly sets Obsidian apart from its competitors in the local market.
Red Hat defines the Advanced Partner Programme as best suited to market leaders who have met specific requirements set forth by Red Hat, demonstrating a strong commitment to helping build Red Hat`s business. In return, Obsidian Systems will look forward to a much more strategic relationship with Red Hat in the future.
Prerequisites for appointment as an Advanced Partner include a minimum of two Red Hat Certified Engineers, a strong relationship with Red Hat and its solutions set, as well as the commitment to a sales target fixed by Red Hat internationally.
"Despite the fact that we more than meet the basic requirements for the Advanced Partner Programme, we are extremely proud to be Red Hat`s first Advanced Partner in the South African region," says Muggie van Staden, managing director of Obsidian.
"Our commitment to Red Hat has shown through us building a technical team consisting of 12 RHCEs and the fact that we actively work at increasing the number of Red Hat qualified skills in the South African market with our in-house training facility. We have been official Red Hat partners for six years and Red Hat has obviously seen our contribution as valuable and reciprocated by building a stronger relationship with us," he says.
Francois Lucatelli, channel manager for Red Hat, Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, comments: "Red Hat and Obsidian have been working very well together for a number of years and I`m very happy to give them this recognition. South African companies will find in Obsidian a high level of expertise and a wealth of experience on Linux and open source technologies which greatly complements the Red Hat strategy and philosophy."
Van Staden believes that Obsidian`s selection as an Advanced Partner results from the company`s specialist expertise in providing customers with peace of mind from a risk avoidance, technical support and training perspective.
"Our customers also find it comforting to deal with us, since we are able to plug the gaps in their own support systems and facilitate first, second and third level support through Red Hat internationally or our technical team. This speaks volumes of our experience and market perception," he says.
"With certifications like Novell Platinum Partner, Oracle Software Partner and IBM Software Partner under the belt already, our Red Hat Advanced Partner certification is definitely in good company," Van Staden says.
"We truly believe there is little more a customer could want from a Linux partner other than what Obsidian offers today," he concludes.
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