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IBM Reportedly Eyeing RIM's Enterprise Services Unit

Posted by Soulskill on from the best-enjoyed-before-the-expiration-date dept.

PolygamousRanchKid sends this excerpt from ZDNet: "Research In Motion's enterprise services unit have attracted the interest of IBM, which has made an 'informal approach' on potentially acquiring the division. The division operates a network of secure servers used to support its BlackBerry devices, a source who declined to be named told Bloomberg in a Friday report. However, no party has yet shown interest in buying all of RIM or the division which manufactures its BlackBerry phones, but the Canadian company will wait for the rollout of BlackBerry 10 phones next year before making any decisions on a sale, the person said. During its fourth quarter earnings call in March this year, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said it plans to refocus on the enterprise business and capitalize on its position in the segment."

15 comments

  1. Good move for IBM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It would be a bold/good move for IBM to purchase RIM's enterprise unit. Since IBM is almost 100% service oriented anyway, they could either use this as a new service for their large clients, or for internal use.

  2. SuperSizeRIM... by ElitistWhiner · · Score: 1

    Call me underwhelmed by both RIM exec's and IBM entrenchment mentality. Why not just put a moat around their customers, right.

    Anybody? Someone have a clue what they hell RIM can do with their assets? Really, BBM and BBpush email are superior platforms that could float their own 3-letter corp in the clouds.

    Isn't that really the way forward for all players? Cloud to RIM...Hello? Anyone listening...

    1. Re:SuperSizeRIM... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Care to repeat that in English?

  3. Pity the first-world RIM workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Posting as AC because I'm still in the business and it wasn't so long ago that IBM was up the chain from my paycheck.

    If IBM acquires this division, expect all first-world workers to be downsized systematically while forced to train their third-world replacements under threat of not receiving their severance packages.

    1. Re:Pity the first-world RIM workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And IBM salesmen will be talking clueless vice-presidents all over the country into buying something they would have laughed at a few weeks before. Like when they bought Rational.

    2. Re:Pity the first-world RIM workers by HanzoSpam · · Score: 2

      Posting as AC because I'm still in the business and it wasn't so long ago that IBM was up the chain from my paycheck.

      If IBM acquires this division, expect all first-world workers to be downsized systematically while forced to train their third-world replacements under threat of not receiving their severance packages.

      Indeed. Here it is, right from the horses mouth.

      --

      Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
  4. uh, wait... IBM doesn't have server farms already? by swschrad · · Score: 0

    this sounds like a competition-reduction policy. strange, but so does Chapter 7 for RIM.

    if IBM wants to give away money, I will set up a PO box they can fill as many times as they want... .

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  5. Re:uh, wait... IBM doesn't have server farms alrea by bws111 · · Score: 1

    Buying a business doesn't mean just getting assets (like a server farm). It means getting customers of that business, probably worth way more than any server farm.

  6. Re:uh, wait... IBM doesn't have server farms alrea by Sir_Sri · · Score: 1

    and patents, and staff.

    For all we know IBM may have supplied the servers RIM uses, so I agree, the physical infrastructure isn't worth much.

  7. Please avoid by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 3, Funny

    Giving me a RIM job after IBM.