Red Hat and Hortonworks Deepen Strategic Alliance

With the goal of enabling the next generation of data-driven applications, enterprise Apache Hadoop provider Hortonworks and Red Hat (RHT) announced an expanded  relationship through the formation of a strategic alliance. The two firms will integrate product lines, create joint go-to-market initiatives and provide collaborative customer support. The companies also announced the availability of the beta program for the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) plug-in for Red Hat Storage.

A comprehensive open source approach to the Hadoop platform can address the growing requirements of key enterprise stakeholders and their big data initiatives. With an enterprise Apache Hadoop platform that is tightly integrated with open hybrid cloud technologies, the two companies plan to deliver infrastructure solutions that will enable enterprise stakeholders to more quickly analyze big data to realize business insights and value.

“At the rapid rate that enterprises expand their Hadoop requirements – due to the business consistently identifying new use cases and more internal stakeholders – the Red Hat and Hortonworks strategic alliance provides a seamless approach to enabling the next generation of data-driven applications," said Shaun Connolly, vice president, corporate strategy, Hortonworks. "Our mutual customers complement both their Hadoop strategy and commitment to community-driven open source innovation.”

A new beta version of the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) joins with Red Hat Storage to provide a secure and resilient general-purpose storage pool with multiple interfaces, including Hadoop, POSIX and OpenStack Object Storage (Swift). HDP combined with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenJDK will give enterprise operators and application developers the ability to scale Hadoop infrastructure and enable faster development of enterprise-strength analytic applications. For developers, HDP with Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization will integrate Hadoop with existing information sources including data warehouses, SQL and NoSQL databases, enterprise and cloud applications, and flat and XML files.

“Hortonworks and Red Hat are natural partners given the strong commitment to open source on both sides," said Matthew Aslett, research director, data management and analytics, 451 Research. "The strategic alliance will benefit Hortonworks and Red Hat customers looking to develop and deploy Hadoop applications, as well as the wider Hadoop community as the results of joint-development work are contributed back into Apache Hadoop.”

“Data – specifically data running processed with Hadoop – is the killer application for the open hybrid cloud," said Ranga Rangachari, vice president and general manager, Storage and Big Data, Red Hat. "Enterprises are looking to IT solution providers to help with a dramatic reduction in time-to-results for their big data projects. Red Hat’s strategic alliance with Hortonworks is focused on helping customers with efficiency and agility as they embark on big data projects.”