Red Hat Inc.’s approach to software goes against the traditional licensing model and vendor lock-in. Its unique business brand is to take an open-source model, develop software products and sell them as a subscription service. Since there’s no license, there’s no lock-in. The customer has the ultimate in freedom and choice to use the software as they want. However, if it doesn’t provide them with the value they are looking for, then they are free to unsubscribe and move on, according to Marco Bill-Peter (pictured), vice president of customer engagement and experience at Red Hat.

“The customer is in the center [of Red Hat’s business model], and if they are successful, they will come back and buy more, renew,” Bill-Peter said.

To discuss more about Red Hat’s customer experience, including a story of a surprised bank client, Bill-Peter recently joined Rebecca Knight (@knightrm) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during the Red Hat Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. (* Disclosure below.)

Providing demonstrative customer value

Bill-Peter related the story of a bank Chief Technical Officer, who said, “You guys are good, but I don’t really need your support; my guys, they know how to do things.”

Bill-Peter said he looked up the company’s dashboard, and showed it to the CTO the next day. There was quite a bit of support from Red Hat, as well as documentation. The CTO could see quite clearly the value that Red Hat was providing to his bank.

Out of that experience, an entirely new discussion arose, one that embraced the information on the dashboard. Bill-Peter said he and the CTO now review the dashboard together once a year, spotting trends over the different departments and geographies the bank covers.

“[The CTO realized] from the data we have, there is a lot of value that he [can use] to change his operation,” Bill-Peter said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Red Hat Summit 2017. (* Disclosure: Red Hat Inc. sponsors some Red Hat Summit segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither Red Hat nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE