Federal agencies can now move their Red Hat subscriptions between physical or on-premises systems to both Microsoft Azure and Azure Government cloud platforms.
Both companies announced July 27 that Red Hat Cloud Access is now available for Microsoft Azure Government, and includes: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7+; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2+; Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform; Red Hat JBoss Middleware; and Red Hat Gluster Storage. And, Red Hat CloudForms customers can now add Azure Government to the growing list of public and private cloud and virtualized infrastructure resources they can manage at no additional cost.
“Red Hat customers can move eligible Red Hat subscriptions from their data center to both Azure and Azure Government, offering the extended flexibility afforded by the hybrid cloud,” said . “And, with the ability to use Red Hat subscriptions consistently across their deployments, including Azure Government, customers can benefit from the same level of security, control, and management Red Hat offers across the data center’s four footprints.”
Karina Homme, principal program manager and product market lead for Microsoft Azure Government, said when agencies migrate a subscription, “you will continue to maintain your direct relationship with Red Hat even when your subscription benefits move to Azure Government.”
The announcement comes on the heels of several compliance additions for Microsoft Azure Government, including Information Impact Level 4 DoD Provisional Authorization by the Defense Information Systems Agency, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and a FedRAMP High Provisional Authorization.
Laurie Criste, a Federal market analyst with Bloomberg Government, said the new partnership could mean more government business for both companies.
“The government is likely to expand its use of both Red Hat software and Microsoft’s Azure Government now that the two companies have formed a relationship that allows Federal agencies to merge their subscriptions,” Criste wrote in an Aug. 1 analysis of the deal.
“This allows Azure’s public cloud to integrate with Microsoft data centers and a selection of Red Hat products. It also means the government doesn’t have to choose between Microsoft Azure Government and Red Hat products,” she wrote. “Now that government agencies have more flexibility, both companies’ government contract dollars may grow.”