IBM Acquires Information Consultancy Bluetab Options Group
IBM is taking over the Bluetab Solutions Group, an IT consulting and service company with expertise in data strategy, management and hybrid cloud services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal number 419 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021.
The Bluetab deal is the latest step in Krishna’s efforts to move the enterprise technology provider to multi-cloud software that drives business automation.
How Bluetab aligns with the IBM Hybrid Cloud strategy
Bluetab, based in Madrid, Spain, employs more than 700 data professionals. Founded in 2005, the company serves vertical corporate markets such as banking, telecommunications, energy and utilities in Spain, Mexico, Peru and Colombia.
Bluetab will join IBM’s consulting practice for data services for hybrid cloud and IT services.
The deal has several advantages and potential risks. On the other hand, Bluetab has multi-cloud expertise along with Red Hat OpenShift expertise. On the potential downside, Bluetab could in some ways compete with Red Hat’s ecosystem of OpenShift and data-centric IT consulting partners.
IBM uses Red Hat OpenShift as a multi-cloud software platform to compete against VMware and at the same time turn away from direct competition from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
IBM acquires Bluetab: Executive Perspectives
Mark Foster, SVP, IBM
In a prepared statement on the deal, Mark Foster, Senior VP, IBM Services and Global Business Services said:
“The digital outside-in transformation of the past is giving way to the inside-out potential of using corporate data with AI and automation to generate business value and create intelligent workflows. Our acquisition of Bluetab will drive the migration to the cloud and help our customers get even more value from their business-critical data. “
Bluetab co-founder Luis López added:
“The key to solving the data challenges for our customers was the exceptionally talented and experienced team we were able to build, as well as the value accelerators we developed. We’re excited about the opportunity IBM is giving us to grow our team, build on our accelerators, and help more customers reach leadership positions by leveraging their data. “
Conclusion from Bluetab co-founder Tom Uhart:
“We have been fortunate to work with large companies and build long-term relationships that value innovation and share our data-driven vision for the future. Over the years we have worked with our customers to enable the transformation to hybrid and multi-cloud models so that they can leverage the value of their data assets. “
IBM expects to close the deal in the third quarter of 2021.
IBM Spin-Off from Kyndryl: MSP Business Details
Meanwhile, IBM is well on its way to spinning Kyndryl out as an independent Managed Infrastructure Services Provider (MSP) business before 2022. IBM and Kyndryl will certainly partner up, but the companies can also compete on some fronts, ChannelE2E believes.
Arvind Krishna, CEO, IBM
In fact, some of the recent acquisitions made by IBM under CEO Arvind Krishna include cloud migration services and some form of managed services. These recently acquired services will remain in the IBM business portfolio, while Kyndryl will also focus on six global managed services practices. These Kyndryl practices include:
- cloud
- Applications, data & AI
- Security & resilience
- Core Enterprise & zCloud
- Network & Edge
- Digital workplace
The IBM Bluetab deal could in some ways overlap with several services on this Kyndryl list, ChannelE2E believes.
