The big problem Red Hat Exchange Does Not Solve

I call it the "One Guy Problem."

Every small to medium sized business has one guy who acts as the system gatekeeper. Often it's a re-seller. Sometimes it's an insider, the one-man IT department. Sometimes, worst case scenario, it's the boss himself. (Yes, sometimes it's a woman, but not usually.)

This one guy has their own trips and dramas, their own preferences and prejudices. They are ingrained over time, hard to change.

I faced this problem myself for a time. My one guy had a prejudice for old stuff. Change was bad, upgrades were too. He was using Telnet for his e-mail until the ISP forced him to change.

Having a virtual store where people buy subscriptions to several applications does not solve this problem. You either find the time and effort needed to turn the One Guy around, or you go around him, maybe get him fired.

And the only way you do that is with Another Guy. This other guy has a completely new solution set, something that does a lot more for a lot less. This other guy also needs a personality that can turn the boss around, in other words, sales ability. If he (or she) has some cool hardware, that can get them in the door.

What Red Hat Exchange needs is meat space reality. That means training, re-seller recruitment, and feet on the street. If all the companies working with Red Hat on Red Hat Exchange can pool their resources, and put real bodies behind this effort, it will make serious headway. If Red Hat's profits have fallen because it's gearing up to meet this challenge, I can be an optimist.

Otherwise, I'm afraid, not so much.