IBM to Acquire SoftLayer

pavs

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/41191.wss

serverian

Another star fallen.

concerto49

Wasn't that raised quite a while ago?

Patrick

@concerto49 said:
Wasn't that raised quite a while ago?

Yes but it never finalised, just was a possibility.

Will be interesting to see what changes IBM make...

concerto49

@Patrick said:
Yes but it never finalised, just was a possibility.

Just sounds like more press / marketing.

jbiloh

I'm interested to see what sort of changes this will bring for Softlayer. I expect higher prices, more marketing/visibility and additional expansion to other regions.

gbshouse

Got this by mail today

Hello.

I have some exciting news to share—we are proud to announce this morning that IBM and SoftLayer have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire SoftLayer.

Eight years ago we founded SoftLayer to be the de facto platform for the Internet. It was the right platform at the right time, and continues to be for the future. As the demand for cloud-centric services grows with no end in sight, our platform provides the performance, flexibility, and control businesses need to capitalize on all the cloud has to offer.

For more than a century IBM has been the de facto standard for business and technology innovation and services. And when the company that created the industry standard for every business machine in the last hundred years turned its attention to the next most important business machine – the cloud – they found SoftLayer had built the platform that aligned with their vision.

IBM is a trusted supplier of enterprise cloud solutions – with over 9,000 successful cloud engagements with proven experience and expertise in building and delivering enterprise class cloud environments to support complex, mission critical workloads. SoftLayer’s innovative platform will complement and extend the IBM portfolio, delivering new value and flexibility for customers.

Together, we can take our shared vision and values farther, faster. We can bring you more scale and power than ever, with access to more data centers in more countries. And our capacity to innovate grows with the guidance, resources, and support of the company that is the gold standard in business around the world.

Nothing will change for you in the foreseeable future. Until the transaction is closed, which is expected in the third quarter, IBM and SoftLayer will continue to operate independently. Your SoftLayer account relationships and support infrastructure will remain unchanged, and your existing sales and technical representatives will continue to provide the support you need. At any time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your SoftLayer team members.

After closing, SoftLayer will operate as a business unit within IBM, with the same team, services, and commitment to delivering a superior cloud service and innovation that we have today, and the additional resources and talent that IBM brings to bear.

As a founder, SoftLayer is more than a business to me. It’s exceptionally personal. I have long maintained that the only reason we would join another company was if doing so protected and propelled our founding vision and continuing mission. Joining IBM does exactly that, and I can’t wait for you to see all that we will be able to do for you.

If you have any questions or concerns, I invite you to talk to your individual SoftLayer contact or myself and any member of my executive team.

Thanks for your business and your support,

Lance Crosby
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
SoftLayer

DomainBop

IBM's press release has more info on its plans to integrate Softlayer
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/41191.wss

@jbiloh said:
I'm interested to see what sort of changes this will bring for Softlayer. I expect higher prices, more marketing/visibility and additional expansion to other regions.

I'm interested in seeing the reaction of Amazon, RackSpace, and other cloud providers that target the enterprise market. The biggest losers from this deal will probably be some of the smaller enterprise cloud providers like GoGrid, etc.

NickPerk

@Liam said:
The days of club uptime seem a few light years away. I had a server with softlayer/ the planet when they were a lot cheaper. Server performed well and had no complaints. Hopefully this will inspire some hosts on here to go after the big time.

Honestly it's still doable; as long as you know somebody inside the company really well. They can work out some pretty decent deals, but by no means will you be offering 1GB+ for less than $7. The max I can see doable from SoftLayer is like 512 for $7. Which in todays market doesn't move nor sell unless in a really different place.

concerto49

@NickPerk said:
The max I can see doable from SoftLayer is like 512 for $7. Which in todays market doesn't move nor sell unless in a really different place.

You mean the LEB market?

twain

Now IBM can make the claim as the #1 spamming host in the US!

http://www.spamrankings.net/rankv2/2013/04/01/monthly/us/volume/cbl/all/regular/

NickPerk

@concerto49 said:
You mean the LEB market?

Yes, you can acquire a pretty decent spec server without the massive overhead with the right contacts with the company (or you once could), but you could in no means offer anything above 512<. You'd be lucky to see any SoftLayer VPS provider offering a 512 for less than $10. Just depends on who you know and how you network.

EarthVPN

Who will acquire rackspace then