Cloud Giants Unite: IBM Completes HashiCorp Acquisition

IBM just finalized its acquisition of HashiCorp, bringing together two powerhouses in the cloud infrastructure space. HashiCorp is known for its tools that automate and secure the infrastructure behind hybrid cloud applications and generative AI systems. The companies aim to help their clients innovate faster, tighten security, and get more value from cloud investments.

Nearly 75% of enterprises now operate in hybrid cloud environments, which include public clouds and on-premises data centers. Companies are seeking a unified approach to managing infrastructure at scale. IBM and HashiCorp’s combined capabilities are set to address the growing challenge enterprises face in efficiently managing and modernizing their cloud infrastructure and security operations. This includes planning and ongoing maintenance.

AI and cloud

The acquisition comes at a rather important time for the industry. By 2028, generative AI is expected to drive the creation of one billion new cloud-native applications, requiring automation capabilities that far exceed what human workforces alone can support.

“Organizations globally are looking to deploy modern, hybrid cloud-ready apps, which require automated cloud infrastructure at significant scale,” said Rob Thomas, senior vice president, IBM software and chief commercial officer. “With this acquisition, IBM is committed to continuing to invest in and grow the HashiCorp capabilities, and together, with HashiCorp’s leading technology and extensive developer community, IBM’s global reach and R&D resources, our aim is to infuse HashiCorp technology in every data center.”

Dave McJannet, the CEO of HashiCorp, added that the company has been helping the world’s largest enterprises succeed in hybrid and multi-cloud environments for over a decade.

“We’ve seen the cloud grow from its origins, and have participated first-hand in the change it has brought to the industry,” said McJannet. “With IBM’s history, global scale, and customer relationships, HashiCorp can now expand our reach to help our community of customers, practitioners, and partners automate, secure, and optimize their cloud infrastructure, providing an end-to-end platform for hybrid environments.”

Product details and capabilities

HashiCorp brings to IBM a powerful suite of tools that act as a command center for managing infrastructure and security across different cloud environments. Their “standout” product, Terraform, is now part of IBM’s portfolio along with all their other offerings, fitting perfectly with IBM’s partner-friendly approach to the market.

This deal creates new possibilities, including Terraform working with Red Hat Ansible to automate everything from initial setup to final deployment and HashiCorp Vault teaming up with OpenShift to lock down security while simplifying IBM Z deployments in the cloud.

Expanding IBM’s AI-driven automation suite

This acquisition is meant to beef up IBM’s automation toolkit at a time when companies are laser-focused on getting more value from their IT spending. IBM can now offer everything from AI that spots and fixes problems before they become headaches to tools that give complete visibility across systems and manage resources more intelligently. The deal wrapped up at $35 per share, putting HashiCorp’s value at $6.4 billion.

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