An evolution is in progress in the cloud as all the leading public platforms embrace open source software, both as-a-service and as contributions to new Apache projects, writes Wikibon Lead Cloud Analyst Brian Gracely. At its recent Red Hat Summit 2016, Red Hat Inc., highlighted partnerships with several of the leaders in public cloud. This trend is helping it drive continuing growth that, on a percentage basis, exceeds that of most other traditional IT vendors.

Red Hat is unusual both in this rapid growth – which is more characteristic of a startup than a 23-year-old vendor – and in its unusual business model, which is based on Linux and other open source software. Red Hat expanded its product catalog with several announcements at the conference including:

• Additions to the IT industry’s broadest Linux container portfolio;
• New container security scanning capabilities built into the latest release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host;
• Container-native persistent storage;
• A complete vision for enterprise container adoption; and
• The launch of JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7, .NET Core on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift.

Red Hat used the conference to showcase many customers in various market segments including financial services, travel, retail, gaming and service providers. The message is that the company is well-positioned to continue its 20 percent year-over-year growth and is benefiting from industry shifts. It shows no sign of slowing down, Gracely concludes.

Image courtesy Red Hat