Taking education upstream with Red Hat Academy

Education is the foundation of development and at Red Hat, with our open source principles, we believe in taking education upstream – Red Hat Academy (RHA) does just that. In 2022, Red Hat worked with over 500 academic partners across EMEA, strengthening its presence in over 60 countries. In one year, we helped train over 7,500 students on Red Hat technologies and delivered more than 30 academic events.

We’re not alone in providing corporate-led learning, so what sets us apart? Why should educators choose to work with Red Hat? Well, we have set our eyes on becoming the world’s number one hybrid cloud partner, as Gartner predicts that over half of all enterprises globally will be using cloud platforms by 2027, and that percentage is set to rise. 

For students about to enter the open source workforce, having a headstart in their understanding of Red Hat technologies will prove invaluable. While academic institutions able to offer that opportunity will place them at the front of the queue in terms of attracting new students.

According to the Linux Foundation's 2022 Open Source Jobs Report, 93% of hiring managers reported difficulty finding sufficient talent with open source skills, up from 87% in 2018. In addition, 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Red Hat products and solutions. Students are graduating into a world that runs on Red Hat.

Red Hat Academy helps equip customers and partners with future Red Hat certified talent, with over 800 RHA students currently looking for jobs in IT. When you think back to your formal education and first job, you'll remember that there was a sizable gap between theory and reality. RHA bridges that gap.

Here are some testimonials from Red Hatters who have been involved in RHA for years:

Leigh Griffin, Senior Engineering Manager, Red Hat

For several years, I have helped to support engagements at a local level with our colleges and universities as a means to generate a talent pipeline. Working with the South East Technological University (SETU) has been hugely positive. It has helped us to build upon the already strong partnership and pipeline of talent and we now have the academic staff bought in. RHA is going to be used to teach System Administration I skills to approximately 170 students this coming semester, meaning that we get a chance to educate students in their first year in college about Linux  and, more importantly, about the open source philosophy. The students themselves are seeing the benefits—with engagement in the courses and connections to local Red Hatters, they are now creating and shaping a means to develop their own career path, the open source way.

Raminta Lukaseviciute, Account Executive, Red Hat Baltics 

My advice for anyone looking to get involved in RHA, whether it’s a Red Hatter looking to train people, students looking for the right course, or academic/partner organizations wanting to get involved would be – DO IT! Institutions can broaden their offering for the students, while students can develop new skills. The market is always evolving with technologies emerging at the speed of light and RHA teaches students the cutting edge skills that recruiters are looking for today.  

Kevin Dubois, Principal Developer Advocate, Red Hat

I first became interested in Red Hat Academy after I saw an internal email asking for volunteers.  I have now delivered a few sessions for RHA in Belgium. The students are almost always very enthusiastic about open source (and Red Hat) after the sessions and are eager to learn more. They also love the quintessential Red Hat Fedora when we are able to hand them out.

I’ve had many students come talk to me after the sessions to ask more about the technologies we work on, the courses and certification exams that are offered through the Red Hat Academy program, and what it’s like to work at Red Hat. Higher education learning shouldn’t be solely focused on pure academic skills, but also skills that are relevant and important in the “real world”. 

Osama Oransa, Senior Solutions Architect, Red Hat MENA

When I joined Red Hat, I started engaging with local universities about ways to adopt our technology into their curricula and then later moved to engage in the training itself. RHA bridges the gap between the industry and academia, which is a vital role. From an academic perspective, RHA provides practical hands-on work for students, not just theoretical studies. Technology is evolving everyday, and market demand is very high, especially post-COVID pandemic. Many organizations are undergoing massive digital transformation initiatives, so having the required skills with reputable certifications is a key factor in mastering the technology and opening doors for young talent.

Sandra Moldoveanu RHA Program Manager Europe and CIS, & Noha Kadry, RHA Program Manager META

We are very happy to see the progress of the Red Hat Academy program—collaborating with students and helping to shape their future is particularly rewarding. It is a real team effort and we are thankful for the lecturers and Red Hatters who deliver the training courses and help provide the hands-on lab experiences, events and other workshops both virtually and in-person. We are continuously developing the RHA program to make an impact in the community and  increase the students’ areas of expertise and prepare them to be enterprise-ready. Looking ahead, we’re excited about delivering new initiatives with our existing RHA family and to helping new educational institutions start their open source training journey.

Visit Red Hat Academy website to find out more.