IBM's announcement of its acquisition of RedHat may seem far away from the daily lives of most mid-market and SMB focused MSPs. But, there is a lot to learn from this deal, especially if you are a growth-minded and forward thinking MSP.
Not Just About Enterprise
Most people would look at both RedHat and IBM and think of both companies are predominantly focused on the enterprise market (end-user organizations with greater than 1,000 employees). This would not be an incorrect belief.
True, IBM has been focused on the enterprise sector for quite some time, perhaps sending numerous signals that it wanted out of the broader SMB and mid-market (i.e., IBM's sale of its PC and lower-end server divisions to Lenovo). IBM also acquired hosting company (cloud provider for those younger readers out there) SoftLayer in order to ramp up its “cloud” strategy as an offset to the hardware business it sold to Lenovo. But, IBM has long been interested in the channel and has a pretty robust community of MSPs around the world.
However, the combination of IBM and RedHat signals more than just the continued move by IBM into cloud services. Statements made by IBM’s CEO, give MSPs some clues as to how the IT channel could be impacted by this deal.
"The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer. It changes everything about the cloud market," said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "IBM will become the world's #1 hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.
"Most companies today are only 20 percent along their cloud journey, renting compute power to cut costs," she said. "The next 80 percent is about unlocking real business value and driving growth. This is the next chapter of the cloud. It requires shifting business applications to the hybrid cloud, extracting more data and optimizing every part of the business, from supply chains to sales."
It's All About Hybrid Cloud
Direct from IBM's CEO, hybrid cloud is a crucial objective for IBM and a key reason for the $34 billion purchase of RedHat. What this means for MSPs is a lot of potential business for their customers who are looking for multi-cloud strategies. It directly challenges the homogenous "born in the cloud" business models of reselling cloud applications and provides real MSPs with a chance to get back into the cloud business as true business advisors and technology partners, capable of unlocking a hybrid cloud experience for clients.
