IBM and Red Hat CEOs: Game-Changing Deal

IBM and Red Hat CEOs: Game-Changing Deal | Mad Money | CNBC
Published on Oct 30, 2018
Big Blue just announced it will buy Red Hat to get in on the new hybrid cloud industry. The CEOs of both companies join Jim Cramer after the roughly $34 billion deal.

Watch the full interview with IBM and Red Hat CEOs on $33 billion deal
CNBC Television
Published on Oct 29, 2018
Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO, and Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat CEO, join "Squawk Box" to discuss IBM's $33 billion all-cash deal for Red Hat. "This now changes the cloud battle," says Rometty.

Red Hat CEO: Re-Accelerating Growth | Mad Money | CNBC
CNBC Television
Published on Sep 24, 2018
Red Hat was in the red after reporting earnings. Is it an opportunity to buy or should the software supplier no longer get your 'tip of the hat?’ Jim Cramer gets the exclusive with CEO Jim Whitehurst.

How easy will it be for IBM to digest Red Hat?
Scott Bicheno, 2 hours ago
http://telecoms.com/493275/how-easy-will-it-be-for-ibm-to-digest-red-hat/

Five pivotal statements from IBM and Red Hat execs on $34bn union
Here we break down five of the most interesting quotes made by execs following the world's largest ever software acquisition and what they mean for partners
https://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk...s-from-ibm-and-red-hat-execs-on-usd34bn-union

Articles about Red Hat
https://www.theregister.co.uk/Tag/red hat

 

Red Hat, IBM, & the Corporate Consolidation of Linux
Bryan Lunduke
Published on Oct 29, 2018
IBM is buying Red Hat. Two of the biggest contributors to the Linux kernel are becoming one, gigantic entity. What does this mean? What are the concerns and possible benefits?

 

IBM + Red Hat: Is This Cloud Acquisition a Winner?
The Motley Fool
Published on Nov 1, 2018
Assuming it passes muster -- and there’s no reason to expect it won’t -- IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) announced purchase of Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) for $33 billion will make it the third-largest M&A deal in the U.S. tech space ever. So even for a legacy giant, this is serious business. And at $190 a share, it’s paying a 63% premium from where the target closed Friday. So for investors, the obvious question is: What is it about this particular deal that makes it so vital for IBM?

To explain what’s up, MarketFoolery host Mac Greer has analysts Emily Flippen and Jason Moser join him for this podcast to review the competitive situation in the cloud, and talk about the ways the Red Hat acquisition will enhance IBM’s offerings, and consider how this linkup could play out.

 

As I posted a few days ago in our local Linux user group:

At the present state, I do not believe Redhat's opensource offerings (such as their commitments to the Fedora Project, etc) will change.
However, expect IBM to integrate the likes of OpenShift and Redhat's Virtualization Stack with their offerings, with or without a rebrand for a variety of product lines.
IBM is primarily focused as a service provider for clients that handle workloads such as network virtualization (NFV), data analytics, etc. And Redhat fulfills the software infrastructure part of the equation.

It may be too early to speculate changes on Redhat's offerings at the present time, and it'd be wise to watch out for media pundits pushing theories on outcomes.

For these seeking Redhat alternatives, you have a replacement in OpenSUSE. Both companies have a similar verticality in offerings, with a focus on cloud infrastructure offerings and premium, subscription based support for these who need it.
Ubuntu may be a distant second, but its' a contender in its' own way.

And related to the above: With such a move, expect hardware-related projects, such as LVFS's fwupd, et al (managed by Redhat Employee Richard Hughes) to fold under the Linux foundation: https://blogs.gnome.org/hughsie/2018/10/30/1734/

Remember that the Linux Foundation, as an entity, is heavily backed by corporate tech and money, often shaped by sustainability interests: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/f...nd-using-data-influence-procurement-decisions

At the end of the day, incentivization of the hybrid cloud by the big players (IBM and Redhat) is the primary driver for the acquisition. The rest is very likely to remain the same for the day to day user.

 

It looks like Red Hat heard us wondering if Linux will get support outside "The Cloud" in it's new role at IBM.

It Starts with Linux
Red Hat Videos
Published on Nov 8, 2018
Red Hat's Paul Cormier comments on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, its history and impact on IT over the years - plus what it is enabling for the future. Learn more at https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux

 

I don't think this is as big a deal as some have made it out to be. RH will stay largely independent (according to IBM overlord propaganda), and I don't see it as much except IBM realizing they needed a big Linux play mostly for brand image reasons.

Also if you take anything you see on CNBC seriously, especially Jim Cramer, you have mental health issues.

 

IBM and Red Hat Explained
IBM Cloud
Published on May 8, 2018
IBM Distinguished Engineer Michael Elder provides an illustrated, easy-to-understand overview of IBM and Red Hat's expanded partnership. Learn more: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/partners/ib...
The partnership between Red Hat OpenShift and IBM Cloud Private will allow developers to access a fully supported stack, running IBM middleware on Red Hat OpenStack, deployed and managed from IBM Cloud Private, supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This new capability enables developers to move workloads to the most effective platform, transform applications into could-native microservices and leverage governance capabilities to manage data more effectively.


IBM and Red Hat: Can this $34 billion deal deliver?
ZDNet
Published on Oct 29, 2018
ZDNet's Larry Dignan and Steven Vaughan-Nichols talk about the rationale behind IBM's purchase of Red Hat, how the open source community reacts, and whether the deal will live up to its advance billing.

Spoiler: Click to See Video

Box CEO: IBM-Red Hat deal shows underlying value of big tech players
CNBC Television
Published on Nov 2, 2018
Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, discusses headwinds for the tech sector, which was hit hard in October.

Spoiler: Click to See Video

Red Hat CFO: A Hybrid Cloud World | Mad Money | CNBC
CNBC
Published on Sep 27, 2017
Red Hat’s stock skyrocketed after earnings - is there still time to buy? Jim Cramer sat down for an exclusive interview with the company's CFO to find out.

Spoiler: Click to See Video

 

List of mergers and acquisitions by IBM
Acquisitions since 2000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_IBM#Acquisitions_since_2000

 

So the friends that I have that work at RedHat (I live near their HQ) figuratively and sometimes literally had panic attacks when the news was announced. Given IBM’s HR tactics, I will be absolutely not surprised if a lot of the RedHat employees are laid off and replaced with cheap, overseas labor as per the usual for IBM.

 

It's variable based on the company, the product, the IP and history, some of the transitions take a long time before it's "integrated" fully, and some never do. I hope Red Hat, at least the OS and basic add-on's remain that way.

It will be years in the doing if IBM is consistent treating Red Hat as other important software IP.

I don't blame them for panicking, it's a dicey situation that can go any number of ways, but I think the IBM / Red Hat value proposition is strong, a big commitment, and they'll do it right.

Oracle is still supporting Solaris as #2 OS with Oracle (Redhat) Linux as #1 OS, many years after the acquisition. And, many were worried about Solaris being killed off when that acquisition happened.

With Redhat - Linux is already the base going in, nothing better to replace it with.... unless.. AIX?!??

 

Funny enough, I've interacted with AIX in previous projects at my work.

That said, I'm hoping for the best as well, but since IBM's very likely only using RedHat for their cloud offerings (given IBM's recent trends), I don't want to be too optimistic about the rest of Redhat.

 

Interesting, IBM Cloud lists AIX first and Linux second...

IBM Power Systems Enterprise Cloud Editions
Easily deploy and manage a highly available and secure private cloud on Power Systems
https://www.ibm.com/us-en/marketplace/power-enterprise-cloud-edition

" What it can do for your business
Power Systems Enterprise Cloud Editions provide cost-effective bundles of compelling software offerings that enable clients to seamlessly deploy and manage private clouds, simplify management of security and compliance, as well as high availability, and accelerate large file transfers across cloud environments. The cloud editions are available in two flavors: Enterprise Cloud edition which can be deployed in either AIX or Linux, and the Enterprise Cloud Edition with AIX, which includes AIX Std Ed. 7.2 enabling smooth upgrades from AIX EE."

IBM Power Systems Enterprise Cloud Edition and IBM Power Systems Enterprise Cloud Edition with AIX 7.2 offer a simplified purchasing model
IBM United States Software Announcement 218-006
October 9, 2018
https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/c...AN&mhq=aix cloud&mhsrc=ibmsearch_a&subtype=CA

"IBM® Power Systems™ Enterprise Cloud Editions offer simplified purchasing models for IBM Power Systems software offerings that primarily provide value for clients using both IBM AIX® and Linux® on Power®. The offerings enable more flexible licensing models in terms of the operating system in the era of cloud. Bundled offerings help you facilitate hybrid cloud scenarios and provide an intuitive, web-based user interface that helps you simplify and accelerate management of your highly available and secure private clouds."