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This is the biggest acquisition ever made by IBM. The centennial group has just paid $ 34 billion (29.8 billion euros) to buy Red Hat, the world leader in "open source" (free software). The two groups are already familiar with each other and have been working on joint projects for more than seventeen years. Last May, they announced that they were collaborating in the field of hybrid cloud (a mix of storage with third-party operators and on its own servers), a segment of the market that is very popular.
It is precisely on this side that IBM focuses to explain this mega-acquisition. "The Red Hat buyout is a turning point. That changes everything about the cloud market […] IBM will become the world's leading provider of hybrid cloud. […] This is the next chapter of the cloud »Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM, said in a press release.
For several years, "Big Blue" has been trying to diversify – beyond the fields of computer hardware, software and IT services – in order to find new revenue streams and growth drivers. Between mid-2012 and the end of 2017, the group recorded a decline in its turnover over 22 consecutive quarters.
An alternative to Microsoft offers
In full growth, Red Hat has, on the contrary, stopped increasing its revenues in recent years, reaching close to $ 3 billion in its last annual exercise. Launched in 1993, the company has developed a version of Linux (an operating system with free and free software code) that is stable, tested, and approved by itself for sale to businesses.
Named GNU / Linux, this is an alternative to the proprietary offers of Microsoft, one of the CEOs, Steve Ballmer, early 2000, qualified open source software "Cancer". But times are changing and IT giants are adapting.
Last June, the Redmond company paid $ 7.5 billion to buy GitHub, the favorite tool of some 30 million developers around the world who collaborate and share ideas and excerpts of computer code. Last April, the group headed by Satya Nadella also announced that he would rely on Linux to secure its connected objects.
"Distinct unit"
" I'm incredibly proud of the role Red Hat played in [du logiciel libre] a reality in companies Says Jim Whitehurst, head of Red Hat, in the press release. The latter will continue to lead the Red Hat entity within IBM, which ensures that it will function as a "Distinct unit".
"Until a few years ago, free software was the alternative, the cheap option. Now it's the norm ", congratulated the same Jim Whitehurst, two years ago, with the "Echos". This $ 34 billion buyout is today the most glowing proof.
Nicolas Richaud
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