BigFix is sold to HCL

[MarkPhinick]

By now, you’ve seen the news that IBM and HCL announced a definitive agreement, through which HCL will acquire IBM BigFix, along with other select IBM enterprise software products. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2019, subject to completion of applicable regulatory reviews.

Customer, partner, and employee reactions to the announcement have been very positive. We view this as a natural extension of our ongoing commitment to provide the BigFix product and community with first class innovation and technical support. In the last year, HCL’s engineering team has demonstrated continued commitment to our core value propositions with over 500 content deliveries and multiple key product enhancements.

Many of us have been associated with BigFix since the 2000’s and successfully shepherded the solution and culture ever since. As a matter of course, we remain committed to making BigFix the solution of choice for endpoint management.

Until the transaction closes, please consider everything business as usual, with IBM, HCL and partners providing our respective solutions.

Your loyal advocates and fellow BigFix Enthusiasts,

Kristin Hazlewood and Mark Phinick
Vice Presidents of BigFix Development and Sales

[mtrain]

@JasonWalker, that is a great point about ILMT. I wonder how licensing of IBM software will change altogether as a result of this purchase.

–Mark

[AHardiso]

The link from the OP above indicates HCL Technologies.

HCL Technologies to Acquire Select IBM Software Products for $1.8B
ARMONK, N.Y. and NOIDA, India, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ – IBM (NYSE: IBM) and HCL Technologies (HCL) today announced a definitive agreement under which HCL will acquire select IBM software products for $1.8 billion.

[AHardiso]

Mark,

Thanks for chiming in. It’s good to see that you still have your ear to the ground and are participating here. I know you have been with HCL for a while now and have a long history with BigFix.

I’m sure many of us have questions about where support will be located, what experienced personnel will be providing that support and when our account managers will be in touch.

It has already brought concerns to me as a long time customer when I hear of this transaction through news groups and not from my Account Manager who was just meeting with me last week.

Please keep us informed as this develops.

Thanks,

Aaron

[MarkPhinick]

Hi Aaron, HCL has had support and development responsibility for these products since Dec 2017 as part of the IP partnership, with the majority of the team remaining the same, under the same senior leadership. We greatly appreciate your continued support.

[MDMike]

Press releases tend to be written fairly high-level with the largest entities involved. HCL Technologies (the parent company in the generic sense) was the entity listed, but HCL Technologies is a non-descript name. HCL Technologies, LTD is the formal offical name of the company. From a regulatory standpoint, HCL America, Inc (incorporated 11/07/1988 in California) is under US jurisdiction therefore if they were the entity the product was moving to, they would be legally held responsible for the product, and since the funds used to aquire/maintain the product (for US Federal / DoD users) are ultimatly appropriated by congress (with all the requirements/restrictions you know are being placed on the various “colors” of monies they approve), it would greatly assist us in continuing to leverage the product in our space.

This is not to say it wouldn’t happen otherwise. Heck, this may even be a total non-issue for all I know. I’m all for anything that will help BigFix become a better product, and have no issue with HCL taking over leadership in that regards. I just know that the folks that ultimately control the products selected/used (e.g. the money folks) don’t always care what the end-users want.

[brolly33]

As a long time and passionate practitioner of BigFix, I was worried when IBM purchased BigFix back in 2010. The reality is that since the IBM acquisition, we have seen great investment in the BigFix product and many solid improvements, such as WebUI, x64 back-end, option to use RHEL+DB2 for the server, multi-threaded fillDB, 5k endpoints per relay, Query and many more.

The people developing and servicing BigFix are the same, dedicated and cheerful faces you have worked with for years, along with the newly converted that will certainly join our community of practice. I trust these people to continue to promote the progress of our favorite platform in the coming decades, regardless of the parent company. I hope you continue to trust us as well.

[davel]

it wil be BigFix as it always has been I think time will tell…

[Snojack]

HCL is India based. And you say a much better support model? My side is hurting. Stop it, won’t you? Just kidding…

[AlexaVonTess]

HCL has been providing support for the last 12 months. That’s already in place.

[MarkPhinick]

Fed FAQ is available here.

federal_big_fix_questions_dec_18_2018.pdf

Please continue to request 1:1 meetings with Dev and OM to align users with engineering. This has proved to be extremely valuable for clients since HCL assumed responsibility for BigFix Development and Support last December.

[MarkPhinick]

Hi, in the spirit of sharing what we can, I hope the following is helpful. https://www.zobristinc.com/an-earnest-reply-from-hcl/

[jimmym]

Does anyone know how all this is affecting BigFix Inventory?

When HCL assumed responsibility for BigFix Dev and Support, BigFix Inventory (and ILMT) was left back at IBM. Is BigFix Inventory still going to be owned by IBM and the rest of BigFix owned by HCL? Or is BigFix Inventory included in the entire BigFix move to HCL?

[ravik]

With Bigfix soon coming under HCL, what happens to the RHEL & DB2 combination?

As a Bigfix customer, one has the option of chosing Windows & MS SQL or RHEL & DB2 as a OS and database platform. Note that DB2 is an entitlement provided to the customer via IBM Passport Advantage.

Since DB2 is not sold to HCL, how will the RHEL & DB2 now be supported? Will a customer have to now buy DB2 from IBM and seek IBM support for DB2 and take HCL support for Bigfix ??

[bkdroid13]

Hello,
Thanks For sharing this topic nice info.

[MarkPhinick]

Dear BigFix Enthusiast,

We’re proud to announce the acquisition is complete and BigFix is now an integral part of HCL Software. Thank you for your patience during this process.

For almost 20 years, BigFix has “operated small but thought big”, focusing on client success above all else. Now, with HCL’s strategic investment, we can innovate more while providing even greater client advocacy. This investment began in 2017, when HCL assumed responsibility for BigFix development and support, resulting in:
• 104% Increase in Engineering staff
• Over 50 Requests for Enhancement (RFEs) delivered
• 79-point improvement in Net Promoter customer satisfaction score
• 44% Increase in the number of Customer Advocates
• Over 32 User Groups, Relevance Classes, and Master Classes

Now it’s time to dial it up even more. As part of HCL Software, we want to renew our commitment to you, our highly valued customers.

We will maintain your trust by:
• Making it easier to work with BigFix
• Minimizing disruption to your operations
• Delighting you with our offerings
• Operating with integrity in a transparent, straightforward, and fair manner

To start your engagement, here are a few important sites (going live this week – thanks for your patience):
• Our new home at HCL Software can be found at www.bigfix.com
• You’ll want your organization to register as an HCL customer
• You can review HCL’s Master Licensing Agreement here
• If you’re a BigFix veteran, our new user hub, where you’ll find links to everything you need, is at support.bigfix.com
• Join our post-acquisition webinar by registering here

You’re already familiar with most of our team. However, several new teams have been created, bringing easier access to customer advocacy, which will increase your success. We look forward to sharing our vision, aligning with you more closely, fostering more meaningful interaction, and creating more product innovation.

Very soon your organization will receive a call from your BigFix Product Specialist or Technical Advisor to discuss how you’d like to work with BigFix to increase your success. If you need anything beforehand, please call us directly.

Viva BigFix!
Kristin Hazlewood Mark Phinick
General Manager and Vice President of BigFix Vice President of BigFix Sales
kristin.hazlewood@hcl.com mark.phinick@hcl.com
+1.512.501.9329 +1.630.207.3486

[mtrain]

Now that the divestiture has occurred, where would one go to download BigFix Inventory?
BigFix Inventory was available from IBM Passport Advantage; what is the equivalent in the HCL world and how does one get setup on it?

Is BigFix Inventory still acceptable to use to meet the requirements for IBM subcapacity pricing, given that it’s a fully owned HCL product now (but IBM is keeping ILMT, which is a subset of BigFix Inventory)?

Thanks all.

–Mark

[ITSAM]

Created a user account on HCl and received confirmation e-mail. Tried to login later and it didn’t recognize me.

[ITSAM]

Yes, BigFix and Flexnet are both owned by other companies.

[matthewbigfixuser]

I had to whitelist office 365 singapore to get HCL’s Emails…