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Red Hat Subscription Center Monthly Communications

May 2006 - Important Changes to Red Hat ordering process

 

Thank your for providing your services as a valued Red Hat reseller. We have some important information regarding placing Red Hat orders. Please forward this to those in your organization that are involved in ordering Red Hat subscriptions.

Red Hat has recently made some exciting changes to improve our ordering processes, which will streamline subscription fulfillment and provide an easier renewals process for the end-customer and you, a Red Hat channel partner. To do this, we have refined our ordering guidelines to require all Red Hat distribution partners to include critical information for all Red Hat orders.

In order to ensure timely and accurate fulfillment, please note the following requirements as you place your orders with your preferred Red Hat distributor.

Subscription Service Start Dates
Red Hat provides a subscription service to the end-customer (not a license), which includes maintenance, updates and support. Effective immediately, end-customers' subscriptions will begin when Red Hat has completed order processing. Your orders for new Red Hat subscriptions should align with the subscription start and end dates desired by your end-customer.

New Orders - End-customer Information
In order to properly set-up the subscription services purchased by the end-customer, Red Hat automatically "entitles" (or subscribes) the end-customer's subscriptions for the length purchased. This provides streamlined fulfillment and immediate access to the software and services provided in their subscription.

To ensure that the subscriptions are placed on the correct account and are available to the correct user, please provide the following information upon order:

  1. End-customer name and mailing address
  2. End-customer contact name and email address
  3. Optional - The Red Hat Login or end-customer Account Number

    In the case where an existing customer has many "Red Hat logins" or accounts to access their subscription, it is difficult for us to determine which account to use in order to fulfill the order. Just as you provide a specific shipping address for the subscriptions, we need a specific electronic address or login that belongs to the end-customer. This information is extremely helpful in properly processing the order. Please provide the following information to your distributor if you are able to obtain it from or if it is provided to you by your end-customer:

    • Red Hat Login - Existing customers manage their Red Hat subscriptions with their Red Hat Network Login. Generally, the person responsible for the technical management (or system administration) of the subscriptions knows the desired Login for fulfillment.
    • Red Hat Account Number - The Account Number is an equivalent unique identifier which will provide the correct electronic location for fulfillment. The account number may be maintained by the end-customer's purchasing agent.

    If multiple active Logins or Accounts exist for the end-customer, Red Hat will try to determine the appropriate account by emailing the end-customer and copying you, as the reseller of record. If no response is received after 48 hours and Red Hat is still unable to determine on which account the subscriptions should be placed, the order will be fulfilled to a new account. A notification will be sent to the end-customer asking them to set up a new user login and password for the account. The end-customer will immediately be able to access the new account and the new subscriptions purchased. They will not, however, be able to manage any pre-existing subscriptions on that new account.

    If the end-customer is new to Red Hat or desires a new account/login, please indicate that on your order to streamline fulfillment.

Renewal Orders
In addition to the end-customer data described above, the following information must be provided for subscription renewal purchases:

  1. Renewal part numbers
    Renewal part numbers must be used to indicate a renewal subscription purchase. You can find a list of renewal part numbers at the following link: http://www.redhat.com/solutions/partners/distributors/
  2. Start date of the subscription renewal
    Because a renewal requires an extension of the end-customer's current subscription term, please provide the renewal date on your order. (For example, if the existing subscription is set to expire May 15, 2006, the renewal start date specified should be May 16, 2006.)

This information ensures the order is appropriately processed as a renewal and that new subscriptions are not set-up instead.

Thank you in advance for following these order requirements. Your continued support is appreciated.

Red Hat Ready and Advanced Partners:

Learn more about the benefits of these changes for your business by visiting https://www.redhat.com/apps/reseller_catalog/howto_order.html

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of our new order requirements but are not a current member of Red Hat's Business Partner Programs, please visit http://www.redhat.com/solutions/partners/business/qualifications/ and consider enrolling in our free program (to qualified applicants) that includes access to marketing programs, products, training and more.

For further questions regarding Red Hat's Channel Partner programs or the order requirements described above, please contact the Red Hat Channel Sales representative in your area, or email channel-info@redhat.com.