“That strength and that mantra about really changing the world hasn’t changed at Red Hat,” he says,
noting that concerns Red Hat team members have had have been openly addressed by IBM’s
management team. And as Red Hat moves forward under IBM, he says Red Hat will defend its culture
“aggressively.”
“I haven’t seen any changes, I don’t expect to see any changes,” he says, noting Red Hat isn’t trying to
change IBM (NYSE: IBM) either. “It’s about finding out what this means, the ways we can work
together… Our intent is to keep things as separate as possible when it makes sense.”
. . .he says Red Hat will defend its culture “aggressively.” An exercise in futility. Resistance only extends the pain and increases the casualties.
Our intent is to keep things as separate as possible when it makes sense.” So all will be Bleu-washed at some point eventually.
https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/08/13/is-red-hat-still-red-hat-longtime-insider-talks.html
With the dust starting to settle from IBM’s $34 billion buyout, a Red Hat exec says Big Blue has stayed true to its promises – so far.
“The dust is no different than it was before,” jokes Michael Ferris, vice president of strategy, products and technology at Red Hat. “It’s a lot of stuff always happening.”
Analysts had said their two biggest concerns over the deal was culture clash and neutrality. But Ferris, echoing comments Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty have been repeating on investor presentations, says Red Hat is still Red Hat.
He says that, with the deal taking so long to close, the companies had adequate time to fully brief their customers – which went a long way toward alleviating neutrality concerns, he says.
“Overall, the reception, both in the analyst sectors as well as customer interactions, has been quite good,” he says.
Ferris also credits the similarities of the two firms’ customer bases with easing the union. Both firms are in the enterprise space, both deal in infrastructure, both have cloud positions and both have “invested heavily” in open source, he says.
“On a personal level, there’s certainly a lot of connections around the ethos about what both companies are,” he explains. “It has been very smooth.”
Rometty said earlier this month that the IBM sales team has been fully briefed, and is incorporating Red Hat into its pitches. For Red Hat, it’s slightly different due to that neutrality pledge. Ferris says it’s vital for customers to know that whether they’re using IBM or one of its competitors, Red Hat can accommodate.
“The intent is not to change Red Hat’s message,” he says. “We have our own roadmaps. We have our own focus on where we want to take our products.”
Ferris, a 19-year Red Hat veteran, says the culture has not changed in Red Hat Tower under the IBM umbrella.
“That strength and that mantra about really changing the world hasn’t changed at Red Hat,” he says, noting that concerns Red Hat team members have had have been openly addressed by IBM’s management team. And as Red Hat moves forward under IBM, he says Red Hat will defend its culture “aggressively.”
“I haven’t seen any changes, I don’t expect to see any changes,” he says, noting Red Hat isn’t trying to change IBM (NYSE: IBM) either. “It’s about finding out what this means, the ways we can work together… Our intent is to keep things as separate as possible when it makes sense.”
While he can’t comment on whether the marriage is already resulting in additional customer successes, he says “certainly dialogues are happening and things are moving forward.”