Red Hat seeing strong outcomes among ASEAN partners

As Red Hat is in the middle of a significant transformation of its partner engagement model, Nicu Sasaran, Senior Director for Partner Ecosystem for South East Asia and Korea at Red Hat shared that the vendor will be investing in four main areas for better partner enablement.

For Red Hat, partners are at the center of cloud, AI and automation adoption in Southeast Asia. The open source vendor continues to have a strong presence in the region and relies heavily on its partner ecosystem to reach out to its customers in the region.

In an interview with CRN Asia, Nicu Sasaran, Senior Director for Partner Ecosystem for South East Asia and Korea at Red Hat stated that almost every major digital initiative now has a partner-led or partner-co-created component. Nicu and his team are focused on helping the ecosystem across the region build profitable, sustainable businesses on top of Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud and automation platforms.

“In this region, that means working very closely with cloud providers, global and regional systems integrators, ISVs and local specialists in markets like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand – to help our shared customers modernize applications, adopt AI and automation, and run consistently across data center, public cloud and the edge,” said Nicu.

For Nicu, the pattern is clear across the region which customers look to partners to translate cloud, AI and automation into business value, and Red Hat sees that playing out very strongly in ASEAN. Specifically, Nicu highlighted several trends in the region that are critical for the partner ecosystem. First, there is the need for cloud as the foundation for AI and automation.

“Public cloud and hybrid cloud are now the default starting point for innovation. In Asia Pacific, IT spending on public cloud and software is growing at double-digit rates, driven by demand for data, cybersecurity and AI solutions. Partners are helping customers move from experimentation to production-grade AI and automation by building on platforms like Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift AI and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform,” explained Nicu.

Besides the cloud, Nicu also pointed out a lot of excitement around generative AI, but they’re seeing the majority of spending still going into predictive and interpretive AI such as fraud detection, demand forecasting, and intelligent operations. For this, Nicu said that partners are packaging these capabilities on top of Red Hat OpenShift AI and RHEL AI to deliver tangible business outcomes.

At the same time, Nicu said that customers are looking to automate everything from infrastructure and security to business workflows given the shortage of skills and increased complexity.

“Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, combined with partners’ domain expertise, helps customers standardise and scale automation across hybrid environments – particularly in FSI, telco and government, which are very strong sectors for us in APAC,” added Nicu.

Meanwhile, in industries like manufacturing, telco and oil & gas, Nicu said partners are using Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud stack to bring AI/ML and real-time decision-making to the edge while remaining connected to core systems and multiple clouds.

“This is where our ecosystem of hardware, ISV and cloud partners really comes together,” he said.

Enabling the partner ecosystem through open collaboration

When it comes to working with partners, Nicu mentioned that open collaboration is in Red Hat’s DNA as they are with a mission to be a catalyst in communities of customers, contributors and partners and that philosophy shapes how Red Hat builds its ecosystem.

There are three reasons it matters so much for partners. First, as Red Hat is fundamentally a platform company, Nicu said with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat OpenShift, OpenShift AI, RHEL AI and Ansible, they provide a consistent, open hybrid cloud foundation across on-prem, public cloud and edge.

“Partners can build once and deploy anywhere, without being locked into a single vendor, hardware or cloud. That’s a huge competitive advantage when customers want flexibility,” he said.

Secondly, the Red Hat Partner Connect program and broader ecosystem connect partners to thousands of cloud providers, hardware vendors and over 5,000 certified ISV applications. Nicu said this means a partner doesn’t have to solve everything alone. Instead, they can combine their industry expertise with certified solutions from the Red Hat ecosystem to deliver more complete outcomes, faster.

Thirdly, Nicu stated that Red Hat don’t just ship products and walk away.

“We co-create reference architectures, we certify solutions, we build joint offerings with hyperscalers like AWS, Azure and leading hardware providers like Dell, HPE, Lenovo, and we back that with training, partner subscriptions and services opportunities. Our model is deliberately designed so that our success is directly tied to partner success,” he added.

In short, Nicu explained that open collaboration lets partners focus on what differentiates them – their services, their IP, their industry knowledge – while relying on Red Hat and the ecosystem for a secure, scalable and open foundation.

ASEAN partner success

Nicu also shared that Red Hat is seeing very strong outcomes across ASEAN where local and regional partners are building on Red Hat technology. In the financial services sector for example, leading stock exchanges and banks, including in Singapore, India, Australia and Malaysia, run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift.

“In ASEAN, partners are using these platforms to help institutions launch new digital services faster, improve resilience and meet regulatory requirements. In Malaysia, partners are working with banks and government-linked organizations to modernize core systems, automate operations with Ansible, and adopt container platforms as the basis for new digital channels,” said Nicu.

Another area is on telco modernization. Nicu shared that telco operators across the region, from Singapore and Indonesia and beyond, are collaborating with Red Hat and partners to move to cloud-native, container-based architectures. This enables faster rollout of 5G services, network automation and new digital offerings. He added that partners play a crucial role in designing, integrating and operating these platforms on Red Hat OpenShift.

In the government and public sector, Nicu pointed out that governments in the region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, work with Red Hat partners to build secure, scalable digital services for citizens. Partners leverage Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud and automation stack to help agencies modernize legacy applications, improve security posture and accelerate service delivery while staying compliant.

Nicu also explained that Red Hat’s partnership with ABB in industrial manufacturing that integrates Red Hat OpenShift with ABB’s Edgenius and Genix platforms, is a good illustration of how partners can take Red Hat platforms and surround them with specialized capabilities to deliver Industry 4.0 outcomes such as real-time analytics and AI at the shop floor.

“In ASEAN, we are seeing similar patterns where partners in oil & gas, utilities and manufacturing use Red Hat to bridge IT and OT environments. What’s common across these wins is that partners aren’t just reselling technology – they are co- creating solutions, delivering services, and owning customer outcomes with Red Hat as the platform backbone,” Nicu said.

Challenges for partners

Despite the success, Nicu also shared that Red Hat is seeing a number of recurring challenges across ASEAN.

First, there are skills and capacity constraints. With demand for cloud, AI and automation expertise outpacing supply, many partners struggle to hire, upskill and retain enough talent to capture the opportunity. For Nicu, this is why Red Hat is putting so much emphasis on training, certifications, and partner subscriptions.

Partners are also challenged to manage complexity in hybrid, multi-cloud environments. Customers rarely live in a single cloud or a single data center anymore. Partners must help them manage multiple clouds, on-prem systems and edge environments, all with consistent security and operations. Without a common platform, this quickly becomes complex and costly.

The next challenge is turning AI hype into real, repeatable solutions. Nicu said that there is intense interest in AI, but many customers are still unsure where to start and how to manage risk, governance and cost. Partners need to move from one-off experiments to repeatable, scalable AI solution patterns. Red Hat’s approach – with OpenShift AI, RHEL AI and an AI-certified partner ecosystem – is designed to help them do exactly that.

Balancing innovation with existing investments is also a challenge as customers want AI and cloud-native innovation, but they can’t simply abandon existing systems. Partners are under pressure to bridge traditional and cloud-native worlds. For Nicu, this is where open hybrid cloud becomes essential – bringing AI and modern applications into what already works today, rather than forcing a rip-and-replace.

The final challenge is to differentiate in a crowded market. As there are many partners offering similar services, Nicu said the ones who succeed are those that build deep industry specialization, IP and managed services on top of platforms like Red Hat, rather than just providing generic implementation.

“We see our role as helping partners turn these challenges into opportunities – with the right platforms, programs and support,” he said.

Investing in partners

The success stories with partners in the region also signifies the strong investment Red Hat continues to make in their partner ecosystem. As Red Hat is in the middle of a significant transformation of its partner engagement model, Nicu said that the vendor will be investing in four main areas for better partner enablement.

First, there will be focus on deepening the skills and service capabilities of partners. This includes expanding access to Red Hat Training at no cost for partners, so they can build critical skills around open hybrid cloud, AI and automation. Red Hat has also introduced no-cost Partner Subscriptions, enabling partners to develop solutions, build proofs of concept and deepen hands-on expertise with Red Hat products.

“We’re also investing in certification programs, including Red Hat OpenShift Certification for ISVs and edge system certifications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for hardware partners like Dell, HPE, Lenovo and OnLogic,” said Nicu.

Next will be the Red Hat Partner Practice Accelerator Program. According to Nicu, this program focuses on mid-enterprise and mid-market, empowering selected partners who have achieved advanced technical credentials in automation and app development to lead the full commercial customer lifecycle.

“These partners get enhanced access to resources, professional services opportunities and incentives to build profitable practices on Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat OpenShift. They act as trusted experts who can architect, implement and configure tailored solutions for commercial customers,” he said.

Red Hat will also be focused on co-creation and solution plays with hyperscalers and hardware partners.

“We’re expanding our work with major cloud providers – for example Red Hat OpenShift on AWS, Azure Red Hat OpenShift and Ansible on Microsoft Azure – and making Red Hat offerings available in cloud marketplaces. We’re also collaborating with hardware and GPU partners like AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and major infrastructure OEMs to deliver AI-optimised infrastructure integrated with Red Hat OpenShift AI and RHEL AI. This gives partners more options to design AI-ready solutions for customers,” explained Nicue.

At the same time, Red Hat will also be providing flexible routes to market and consumption models. Nicu said that many customers now prefer consumption-based models. As such, Red Hat is introducing more flexible purchasing options so customers can maximize new and existing Red Hat subscriptions across on-prem and public cloud.

“For partners, this means they can meet customers where they are – whether it’s traditional licensing, cloud marketplace procurement or managed services – while still delivering a consistent Red Hat-based experience. All of these investments are about helping partners build differentiated practices in AI, automation and hybrid cloud, and giving them the tools, training and commercial models to scale,” he said.

The partner ecosystem in 2026

With Red Hat focused on enabling partners in 2026, Nicu is also hoping to see a few more things from their partners. Specifically, Nicu said Red Hat would like to see partners treat AI as a core design principle, not an add-on. That means building repeatable solution plays on Red Hat OpenShift AI and RHEL AI, integrating open source foundation models, and combining them with their own domain expertise for use cases in FSI, telco, public sector, manufacturing and more.

There should also be a deeper commitment to automation and platform thinking. Red Hat would like partners to fully embrace platform-centric thinking: helping customers standardize on Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ansible Automation Platform as their foundational layers, and then building services, automation and applications on top. This drives better long-term outcomes for both customers and partners.

At the same time, partners should also focus on offering more managed and lifecycle services. Many customers don’t just want software; they want ongoing managed services and outcome-based engagements.

“We’d like to see partners expand their Managed Service Provider (MSP), Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and managed platform capabilities, using Red Hat as the engine behind those services across hybrid and multi-cloud environments,” said Nicu.

There should also be more co-creation and IP built on Red Hat. Red Hat encourages partners to create industry-specific blueprints, accelerators and IP on top of Red Hat platforms, and bring those to market jointly with us – through cloud marketplaces, co-selling with hyperscalers and joint go-to-market.

Finally, Nicu said Red Hat would like partners to be even more active contributors. This includes sharing best practices, feedback, and even code where relevant.

“That’s the power of open source: the more we collaborate, the stronger the ecosystem becomes. If we can combine Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud and AI platforms with partners’ innovation and industry expertise, I’m very confident that in 2026 we’ll look back on this period as the time when ASEAN moved decisively into an AI-enabled, automated, hybrid cloud future – led by our partner ecosystem,” he concluded.