IBM's acquisition of Red Hat made a lot of waves in the tech industry and many insiders, and outsiders, have been watching to see how the chips fall on this partnership. This isn't the tech giant's first foray into cloud computing. Each of the major players have been transforming the way that users can flexibly maneuver between their legacy applications and newer cloud technology for some time.

The IBM and Red Hat merger made waves because there were a number of considerations in joining these two giants and the respective positions they hold in the marketplace. Plus there are obvious questions to where services will improve and overlap. Then, of course, there are always questions as to which entity stands to the gain the most from the merger.

You can find loads of information on the business side of the equation. Here we're going to discuss how this partnership can benefit business organizations who use these services.
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Acquisition Overview and New Details on OpenShift

IBM and Red Hat just finalized the acquisition a few weeks ago, but they didn't waste much time in rolling out the new offerings that will make this a great benefit for customers. The main reason IBM acquired Red Hat in the first place was to be able to bring their offerings to the cloud.

A lot of people expected a slow roll out of new changes but there's already been a hubbub of updated offerings. IBM's added over 100 products to Red Hat's OpenShift. They also offer five bundles, called Cloud Paks. Between single offerings and packaged offerings, companies have more choices in moving their applications to a flexible cloud solution. Plus, they're trusting a major player that they've worked with through the years for all of their data and computing needs.

In the past, the movement toward cloud computing has been a struggle between integrating legacy applications that are necessary for some standard business processes. IBM and Red Hat are moving to build open stack applications that work internally and across the cloud, for better flexibility and more productivity.
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Benefits to Three Types of Customers

It's fairly easy to see why IBM wanted to acquire Red Hat and there are certainly advantages for both companies. They've increased their offerings and allowed for a more robust roll out of critical cloud computing processes that will revolutionize the way businesses work.

But what are the benefits for you? Here are the three types of customers, and how this merger can improve the workflow and daily.
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Red Hat Customers

Red Hat customers are reaping all of the benefits of IBM's vast wealth of experience. The new offerings will allow a deeper level of services that bridge the gap between cloud based computing and traditional on premise applications. This lets Red Hat customers continue to access the flexible processes they've come to love while adding more robust options in Cloud Paks and individual offerings.
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IBM Customers

IBM's customers will love the flexibility in being able to access the applications they need to propel business from anywhere, at any time, on premise or through the cloud. This is a game changer for IBM customers who have come to depend on trending at the cutting edge of technology to begin with because they'll have a wealth of options to choose from without compromising any aspect of their data needs.
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Organizations Considering Modernization

Any organization that's finding a pain point between their outdated, legacy applications and their use of cloud computing can benefit from the new offerings through OpenShift. This has become a more common pain point as more organizations move to the cloud because there are simply some applications that are necessary but not compatible with the change. IBM and Red Hat are finding solutions to mitigate the issues companies face when bridging old and new technologies.

Time will tell how successful this merger is for the companies involved. For the organizations that need better cloud computing options that help them adapt traditional applications, it's a definite win. The applications and packages available will only improve the process overall, for their customers and likely the industry as a whole.
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