[belfalas]

You're leaving out bending the customer over the barrel come renewal time once services are migrated and there's lock-in.

And sorry bud, but the whole "operating independently" thing...I don't buy it. I've worked for too many companies that were owned by someone else and purported to operate independently. It's just a flat-out lie.

[gamblor956]

I've worked for too many companies that were owned by someone else and purported to operate independently. It's just a flat-out lie.

I don't doubt it, given that this has been Broadcom's MO from the beginning. But IBM is not Broadcom, and while they've definitely messed things up, they've recognized the value in letting Red Hat remain independent.

You're leaving out bending the customer over the barrel come renewal time once services are migrated and there's lock-in.

This is easily resolved by negotiating a longer contract, and planning for alternative vendors prior to the expiration of said contract. The amount of the potential increase at renewal is capped at the cost of switching (see, for example...all the VMWare customers switching off VMWare because its significantly cheaper to take the one-time switching costs than to pay 1000x every year).

This is all part of basic Negotiating 101. It sounds like your company isn't any good at it, and they could save a lot of money by getting better negotiators. (Now you know why Legal gets paid $$$ to play solitaire most of the day.)

[belfalas]

I guess we just don't see eye to eye on these things, which is okay. I freely admit that my employer isn't too sharp on its use of technology. But I also won't be convinced that folks like Red Hat and IBM aren't total bloodsuckers. :)