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Rancher Labs Looks to Channel for Kubernetes Help

Rancher Labs announced today it has added a platinum tier to an existing channel program designed to advance the adoption of Kubernetes clusters in the enterprise.

The Platinum tier of the Rancher Labs program is primarily aimed at consultants that want to become deeply engaged with the Rancher Labs portfolio, which in addition to providing access to a curated instance of Kubernetes and associated management tools.

The existing Rancher Labs channel program had three tiers aimed at consulting, reseller, and managed service providers (MSPs). The Platinum level adds to those programs by making available sales leads and opportunity sharing programs, joint marketing funds, and co-branded content to the company’s best partners.

In return, platinum partners over the last 12 months must have a minimum of two certified technical champions who have completed a Rancher certification program and co-hosted five Rancher Rodeo training classes.


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The five charter solution provider members of the Platinum program are BoxBoat Technologies, CloudOps, Redapt, Root Level Technology, and RoundTower.

Rancher Labs is looking to the channel to further accelerate growth at a time when Kubernetes adoption in the enterprise is going mainstream, says Peter Smails, vice president of marketing for Rancher Labs.

“It all ties back to market maturity,” says Smails.

The privately held Rancher Labs last month claimed it recorded a 161% gain on year-on-year revenue growth and increased its number of customers by 52% since the start of 2019. Overall, Rancher Labs claims there are 30,000 active users of its software, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times, says Smails.

While there is no shortage of distributions of Kubernetes, Rancher Labs alongside Red Hat and VMware have emerged as the three leading providers of Kubernetes in the enterprise. The challenge Rancher Labs faces is that both Red Hat, which was acquired by IBM, and VMware, a unit of Dell Technologies, both have a large base of existing channel partners. That large base of partners, of course, is no guarantee of future success whenever a new technology platform emerges but it does tend to present startups such as Rancher Labs with a significant challenge to overcome.

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