IBM Wraps Red Hat Acquisition, ‘Not Talking About Layoffs’

… a positive outlook for the acquisition and for the two companies working together in the future.

“The deal is likely to work very well,” said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT. “IBM and Red Hat have worked closely together for over two decades and mutually support thousands of business customers. They know how to collaborate successfully and their closer pairing will ensure stability and continuity for their global client base.”

For channel partners of both companies, they should see improvements in support and sales assistance through the acquisition, said King.

“More importantly, with IBM’s commitment to ensure Red Hat’s independence, partners and customers can be assured that their existing relationships and service agreements won’t change much, if at all. The fact that Red Hat’s CEO and current management team will continue in their roles with IBM is another sign of this continuity,” said King.

For both companies, their focus on open, hybrid cloud isn’t mere window dressing.

“Both companies see it as representing the future of global business computing,” King added. “If channel partners are already heading in that direction, it’s all to the good; If not, they should contact IBM and Red Hat to consider how they can get their services and offerings up to speed.”

Hurwitz Group’s Jean Bozman

Another analyst, Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, said he sees the deal as an opportunity for IBM to gain ground in the cloud space due to Red Hat being at the forefront of hybrid cloud.

“If played right, this could be successful for both. IBM gains hybrid cloud capabilities and access to a customer base and Red Hat gets a massive sales force and channel,” said Moorhead.

Jean Bozman, vice president and principal analyst with Hurwitz & Associates, said both companies are doing a good job of assuring their customers and partners that they will continue to work with them as they always have even as the acquisition takes effect.

“I think in the end the way they say it is it’s all about the customers,” said Bozman. “Red Hat will get more exposure and in deeper with customers than it could before, and for IBM, this gets them deeper into open-source accounts more than it is already with its open-source software history. I always thought the whole point of the acquisition is IBM viewing Red Hat as a catalyst and as a change agent that’s going to allow IBM to do things it couldn’t do before.”

For channel partners, the messages from both companies that they can continue their independent relationships with IBM and Red Hat is good news, said Bozman.

“The channel partners won’t have to throw out what they are doing,” she said.