Repositioning: Why IBM is buying Sun

Executing on positioning, establishing your unique identity is never easy however a well timed acquisition can hit the spot. Here are seven reasons why IBM might buy Sun:

Timing; Market value of Sun at the peak was $205 billion, purchase price today, around $8 billion.
Customer dollars; IBM gains higher market share in key sectors, government, telecoms, financial services.
New trends; IBM covers Cisco’s move into the server market and builds it’s own capacity to remain a dominant player in the fast emerging Cloud Computing Market (renting of software over the web in a SaaS model)
Services boost; IBM have the potential to do a Red Hat/Linux business model by applying IBM’s global service team to add value to Sun’s free software platforms.
Middleware Sales; Boosted by cross-selling to the new hardware customers it acquires.
Hardware business; Overnight it improves the economies of scale of its own struggling hardware business.
Competitive edge; Deal helps in the battle against Microsoft and Oracle in their relevant competitive segments.