SUSE and Rancher unite to take on Red Hat

SUSE has finally completed the acquisition of Rancher Labs in a union that brings together the best in Kubernetes management, Linux and edge computing. The deal was sealed with a lavish Times Square takeover and both parties hope that the combination of their capabilities will help out-innovate their competition, specifically IBM and Red Hat.

Together, the two open source leaders create the world’s largest independent organisation dedicated exclusively to powering digital transformation with open source and cloud native solutions.

Rancher is the most widely adopted Kubernetes management platform, with 37,000 active deployments. Sharing SUSE’s commitment to the true ethos of open source and the greater community, it delivers open source software that enables organisations to deploy and manage Kubernetes at scale, on any infrastructure across the data centre, cloud, branch offices and the network edge.  

When ERP Today spoke with Melissa Di Donato, SUSE CEO, about how the tie-up with Rancher will help SUSE compete against IBM and Red Hat, she said: “With the close of this acquisition, SUSE is ushering in a new era of innovation by giving our customers unmatched freedom and power to innovate everywhere – from the data centre, to the cloud, to the Edge, and beyond.

“Not only do SUSE and Rancher offer the industry’s only adaptable Linux OS, but we are also the only company in the world that can manage any certified Kubernetes distribution. Together, our customers will be able to out-innovate their competition thanks to unparalleled choice –  the choice to evolve their IT strategy based on business requirements instead of contractual obligations, and the ability to innovate quickly and transform according to their own plans and priorities. Our purpose as a newly combined company is simple: it is to turn our customers into ‘innovation heroes’.”

Rancher’s commitment to the open source community is backed by its support for multiple Kubernetes distributions and operating systems. With no vendor lock-in or limits on where computing takes place, enterprises can innovate across their business from the edge to the core to the cloud. SUSE and Rancher will develop solutions that address today’s complexity for enterprises with a focus on new innovations in edge computing.  

“I knew SUSE was the right company for us because of our shared ethos, viewpoint and philosophy of open source driving value to business leaders,” said Sheng Liang, former Rancher CEO and the new President of Engineering and Innovation at SUSE. “Together, we are committed to making a significant impact on enterprise business across the globe, supporting each and every customer as they navigate cloud solutions and modernise infrastructure in a way that makes sense for their workflows.”