Docker Expands Partner Program to Meet Cloud Container Demand

**Editor’s Note: Click here for a list of August’s important channel-program changes you should know.**

Docker has expanded its partner program to address growing enterprise demand for container-as-a-service (CaaS) offerings through its Docker Datacenter commercial platform.

The program establishes a two-tier partner structure (Premier and Professional) to meet the demands of North America and EMEA, and creates a path for building a “Docker Practice.” Docker Datacenter delivers an integrated platform for developers and IT operations to collaborate in the enterprise software supply chain.

Alan Geary, Docker’s senior director of channels and alliances, tells Channel Partners the goal was to design a program that “worked well for our existing partners who have already built a Docker Practice with us, while at the same time give us the ability to add new partners to fill the demand gaps that we have for Docker Datacenter consulting, training and reselling of our subscriptions.”

“With all of the innovation in the market, partners are always looking for a way to stay on top of the latest features and functionality that will be made available to their enterprise clients,” he said. “Our partner portal, training, webinars and accreditations scale globally and can be updated quickly to give partners a competitive edge and the latest information on the innovation coming from Docker and the community. Security, management, orchestration (and) HA (high availability) architectures are all part of the ongoing education and deliverables we are providing that remove this barrier to being successful with Docker and Docker Datacenter customers.”

Docker currently has more than 80 authorized partners that consult on, train around and resell Docker Datacenter, Geary said.{ad}

“We are aligning the number of partners to the demand we are seeing with Docker Datacenter globally so we will be expanding that number over the next 12 to 18 months to between 200 to 300 new partners,” he said. “In addition, we see an increase in demand from traditional VARs that aren’t necessarily focused on DevOps but are focused on SDN, hybrid cloud, cloud, converged infrastructure or VPC (virtual private cloud) implementations.”

Docker is rewarding partners with program benefits that are tied to the level of expertise and investments they make in their Docker Practice, Geary said. Docker partners work with enterprise customers to automate the entire application life cycle using Docker Datacenter to realize the benefits of Docker CaaS.

Program enhancements include: sales, pre-sales, technical and consulting accreditations for those who …

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… complete the training and pass the required exams; and an augmented partner portal with up-to-the-minute information available only to program members.

“Consistent, reliable, up-to-date consulting expertise globally from authorized consulting Professional and Premier partners of Docker is what customers will get from this program enhancement,” Geary said. “The masses of consulting companies with varying levels of expertise stitching together, maintaining and trying to support their architectures that aren’t backed by an enterprise company or an enterprise subscription like Docker is a risk that enterprises … take when a skill set is not validated by accreditations for individuals and authorized partners in Docker’s partner program.”

Docker is opening up distribution in North America and EMEA to streamline the transaction process and help partners access value added distributors such as Synnex, Docker’s only commercial distributor in North America. Docker already has distribution for partners focused on U.S. federal government customers through Synnex, Immix and Vizuri.

“Over two years ago we made the strategic decision to partner with Docker, recognizing the critical role containers play in a DevOps toolchain and cloud adoption,” said Chris Ciborowski, Nebulaworks’ CEO. “Working together, we’ve successfully accelerated Docker adoption in the enterprise and transitioned container technology from development into production.”

Docker’s rapid adoption has resulted in more than 4 million “Dockerized” applications, and more than 100 Docker-related startups and integration partnerships with AWS, Cloud Foundry, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenStack, Rackspace, Red Hat and VMware.