Mainframe News – Acquisitions and Federal Appeals

Rocket Software Closes Acquisition of OpenText’s Application Modernization and Connectivity Business

Rocket Software has successfully finalized the acquisition of OpenText’s Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business, formerly part of Micro Focus. The approximately $2.3 billion acquisition significantly boosts Rocket Software’s modernization software offerings, covering mainframe to cloud solutions. 

Rocket Software says it expects the deal to boost the company’s revenue by over 60%, expanding its customer base to more than 12,500 companies, and its network to more than 750 global partners. The Rocket Software workforce will also absorb 770 new team members, including software engineers and go-to-market professionals, to accommodate its growing operations.

Milan Shetti, president and CEO of Rocket Software, emphasized the significance of this acquisition, positioning it as a landmark achievement that sets new standards for modernization, innovation, and excellence within the company.

According to Shetti, “Rocket Software now has the solutions, resources and expertise to tackle modernization challenges at scale, and the continued flexibility, winning culture, proven partnerships and growth mindset necessary to help our customers win today and well into the future.”

Source: Rocket Software

BMC to Acquire Netreo

BMC has announced that it is in the process of acquiring Netreo, an award-winning provider of smart and secure IT network and application observability solutions

According to BMC, the acquisition of Netreo signifies a strategic advancement that will enhance BMC’s observability capabilities, particularly with OpenTelemetry-based technologies. The integration will enrich BMC Helix Observability and AIOps solutions with Network Performance Monitoring, Diagnostics, and application performance management features. 

Margaret Lee, senior vice president and general manager of Digital Service and Operations Management at BMC noted that too many silos across tools, systems, and noisy environments have created long problem-resolution times for IT teams. She sees Netreo’s OpenTelemetry-based observability, APM, and NPMD as a perfect complement to BMC’s Helix observability:

 “Now we can deliver full-stack, open observability from a unified platform with our generative AI innovation and provide customers with the real-time intelligence and issue resolution capabilities to set them apart from their competition,” says Lee. “This also further accelerates BMC’s commitment to standards-based OpenTelemetry.”

The combined BMC Helix platform and Netreo solutions offer comprehensive insights across applications, infrastructure, and networks, benefiting IT Operations, DevOps practitioners, developers, and network teams by enhancing reliability and performance.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Source: PR Newswire

Federal Appeals Court Overturns $1.6 bn Ruling in IBM, BMC Case

A federal appeals court has overturned a $1.6 billion judgment against IBM, ruling that the company did not improperly replace BMC Software’s mainframe software at AT&T. 

BMC had accused IBM of breaching their contract when AT&T switched to IBM’s software. The previous ruling noted an agreement allowing IBM to maintain mainframes with BMC software, with a provision limiting IBM from switching clients’ software to its own. 

IBM appealed the decision, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans determined that AT&T had independently switched to IBM software, and BMC had lost out “fair and square.” The court found that a lower court judge had erred in holding IBM liable. 

The lower court’s 2022 decision, which awarded BMC $1.6 billion in damages, was overturned. Judge Gray Miller had previously ruled that IBM had agreed to replace BMC’s software at AT&T while negotiating the contract, but the appeals court disagreed with this finding.

An IBM spokesperson said in a statement that the company “acted in good faith in every aspect of this engagement” and is “grateful the court agrees.” BMC has so far declined to comment.

Source: Reuters

IBM Doubles Down on Hybrid Cloud with HashiCorp Acquisition

IBM has announced its acquisition of HashiCorp, a leading multi-cloud infrastructure automation company known for its Terraform platform. The acquisition aligns with IBM’s focus on hybrid cloud and AI, adding a suite of leading hybrid and multi-cloud lifecycle management products for IBM clients.

Speaking about the $6.4 billion acquisition, Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer, stressed the increasingly complicated infrastructure landscape for enterprise clients: 

“Enterprise clients are wrestling with an unprecedented expansion in infrastructure and applications across public and private clouds, as well as on-prem environments. The global excitement surrounding generative AI has exacerbated these challenges and CIOs and developers are up against dramatic complexity in their tech strategies. Combining IBM’s portfolio and expertise with HashiCorp’s capabilities and talent will create a comprehensive hybrid cloud platform designed for the AI era.”

On HashiCorp’s company blog, HashiCorp co-founder and chief technology officer Armon Dadgar looked back on the twelve-year company history, noting the challenges that have pushed the company to build new products and services.

That trend, Dadgar says, will continue: “By joining IBM, HashiCorp products can be made available to a much larger audience, enabling us to serve many more users and customers. For our customers and partners, this combination will enable us to go further than as a standalone company.”

HashiCorp boasts a roster of more than 4,400 clients, including Bloomberg, Comcast, Deutsche Bank, GitHub, J.P Morgan Chase, Starbucks and Vodafone, and its offerings are used by 85% of the Fortune 500. The transaction is expected to close at the end of 2024.

Sources: IBM, HashiCorp,