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BOSTON—Every CEO, needs to make a buy-versus-build decision when it comes to gaining new technology assets. Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, has never been afraid of making a strategic acquisition to bolster his company, and he hasn’t hesitated to build either. So when it comes to Docker container technology, the big question many have been asking is—will Red Hat acquire Docker Inc.?
In a video interview with eWEEKat the Red Hat Summit here, Whitehurst explains how he considers any acquisition and what criteria he goes through in his decision-making process. Red Hat also announced this week that it has hired Frank Calderoni as chief financial officer (CFO), which could further Red Hat’s acquisition ambitions. Calderoni previously had been the CFO at Cisco.
Whitehurst knows Ben Golub, CEO of Docker, quite well. In fact, Whitehurst has already bought one company from him. Golub previously had been the CEO of storage vendor Gluster Inc., which Red Hat acquiredfor $136 million in 2011.
Docker Inc. is “a great partner, and we are totally aligned around Docker as the image format, and we feel that we have a good position as we are now and who knows what happens in the future,” Whitehurst said.
Watch the full video interview with Jim Whitehurst below:
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.