IBM Takes A Hands Off Approach With Red Hat

July 15, 2019 Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM has been around long enough in the IT racket that it doesn’t have any trouble maintaining distinct portfolios of products that have overlapping and often incompatible functions. The System/3, which debuted in 1969, is only five years younger than the System/360, which laid the foundation and set the pace for corporate computing when it launched in 1964. Both styles of machines continue to exist today as the IBM i on Power Systems platform and the System z.

With the $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, which closed last week, neither of those two legacy products are under threat and …