Canonical announces the Ubuntu Advantage Partner Programme for resellers

Global network of Canonical partner organisations to bring local delivery of services to businesses deploying Ubuntu

London 25th July 2011: Canonical today announces the launch of its new Ubuntu Advantage (UA) partner programme, designed to help resellers bring a new set of support services for Ubuntu server, desktop and cloud installations direct to businesses. The programme is launching with global partners, including CSS in the US, Asia and EMEA, Ashisuto in Japan, RedPill Linpro in Scandinavia and Alterway in France.

Ubuntu Advantage provides enterprise customers with access to the tools and support they need to get maximum return from their Ubuntu infrastructure including round the clock support, Ubuntu Landscape management and monitoring tool, knowledge base and legal cover. Ubuntu Advantage helps to minimise any impact on mission-critical services and reduce the cost of system downtime. The Ubuntu Advantage partner programme extends the availability of these services beyond Canonical and, for customers, adds local resources and responsiveness to the expertise that Canonical continues to provide.

Resellers joining the Ubuntu Advantage partner programme can tap into additional revenue streams by expanding their services portfolio. In addition to the commission of UA, resellers can also add additional services such as hardware, software, implementation and training services, which help their customers save costs and reduce risk. Partners also receive marketing, technical, commercial and pre-sales support and an assigned account manager as part of the UA programme.

Steve Lack, Director of Global Alliances, CSS says: “Partnering with Canonical for our Ubuntu offerings on the desktop, server and cloud is already giving CSS significant advantages of being able to provide top-tier solutions and support to our customers.”

Paul Holt, VP of Corporate Services at Canonical comments; “Canonical is seeing rapid growth in global demand for Ubuntu Advantage in enterprise environments for desktop, server and cloud deployments. Bringing local partners on board will both help satisfy that demand and bring services to regions where it was previously unavailable. By offering Ubuntu Advantage as part of their product or service set, there’s a real opportunity for partners to reach new users, grow their business and reach the audiences they deserve.”

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To apply to become a Canonical Ubuntu Advantage partner and for more information, please visit: http://www.ubuntu.com/partners or http://www.canonical.com/partners

About Canonical

Canonical provides engineering, online and professional services to Ubuntu partners and customers worldwide. As the company behind the Ubuntu project, Canonical is committed to the production and support of Ubuntu – an ever-popular and fast-growing open-source operating system. It aims to ensure that Ubuntu is available to every organisation and individual on servers, desktops, laptops and netbooks.

Canonical partners with computer hardware manufacturers to certify Ubuntu, provides migration, deployment, support and training services to businesses, and offers online services direct to end users. Canonical also builds and maintains collaborative, open source development tools to ensure that organisations and individuals can participate fully in innovations within the open-source community. For more information, please visit the Canonical website.