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On December 6th, 2018, India-based HCL Technologies announced its plans to purchase a large part of IBM’s software portfolio. Included in this $1.8 billion acquisition is an array of products, including core components of IBM BigFix. Changes as a result of this deal won’t be finalized until mid-2019, but this acquisition leaves IBM customers wondering, “how will this affect me?” Although only time can tell, here is our high-level assessment of the acquisition and what to expect.

What is the strategy behind this acquisition?
Why would IBM give up a portion of its portfolio? Although we don’t have a ton of details on this deal yet, we do know why IBM has decided to sell a bundle of 7 assets. IBM is seeking to trim its older and outdated assets to provide room to focus on hybrid cloud computing. “For IBM, the divestiture of this part of its software business is a way for the company to better prioritize its investments in more emerging, high-value segments of the IT industry,” said John Kelly, IBM senior vice president of cognitive solutions and research, in a statement.

For HCL, this deal is about growth and expansion. “About three years ago, we started looking at our growth strategy and how to move away from the labor-intensive software business to provide more value to our clients,” said Darren Oberst, corporate vice president and head of the products and platforms business of HCL. “This represents a fundamentally new direction for us. We’re moving into working with software with some of the largest companies in the world. We want to create a set of solutions that very few companies in the world can deliver.”

So, what will BigFix support be like?
If you have received support for BigFix in the last year, chances are that you have already experienced what support from HCL will be like. “HCL has had support and development responsibility for these products since Dec 2017 as part of the IP partnership, with the majority of the team remaining the same, under the same senior leadership.”

After the deal closes, “HCL will take end-to-end responsibility for all aspects of the business associated with these products, including existing customer contracts, new product sales, marketing, strategy, product development, and support.”

At this time, there isn’t much information on how this acquisition may further affect customers who use IBM’s BigFix and other products in their software portfolio. However, we are sure that more details will be released as the deal comes to a close (mid-2019) and the transition is finalized in full. We will be updating this blog as the changes unfold, so stay tuned for more information. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates when they are available.

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