IBM MSP Spin-Out Named Kyndryl, On-Track for 2021 -

When IBM spins out its managed infrastructure services business, the new company will be called Kyndryl and headquartered in New York, IBM confirmed today. The spin-out plan was announced in 2020, and it's expected to be completed before the end of 2021.

"Kyn" is derived from the word kinship and "Dryl" comes from tendril. The resulting name communicates that the MSP (managed IT services provider) is always working toward advancing human progress, IBM says.

Kyndryl's concise focus involves this new tagline: "Kyndryl designs, runs and manages the most modern, efficient and reliable technology infrastructure for the world's most important businesses and organizations, with the industry's most experienced services experts."

Kyndryl CEO Martin Schroeter's Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the brand, Kyndryl CEO Martin Schroeter said:

"Kyndryl evokes the spirit of true partnership and growth. Customers around the world will come to know Kyndryl as a brand that runs the vital systems at the heart of progress, and an independent company with the best global talent in the industry."

Kyndryl has relationships with 4,600 customers and a backlog of more than $60 billion. Key services will include hosting and network services, services management, infrastructure modernization, and migrating and managing multi-cloud environments.

Amid the spin-off plan, IBM itself will double down on its hybrid cloud strategy — which leans heavily on Red Hat OpenShift.

IBM vs Kyndryl MSP: Partnering and Competing?

Once IBM spins out the MSP business, the two companies will surely cooperate — but they could also wind up competing on some fronts.

For instance, IBM since June 2020 has acquired the following companies:

January 2021: Taos, a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP as ranked by ChannelE2E.
January 2021: 7Summits for Salesforce cloud consulting expertise
December 2020: Nordcloud for cloud consulting, migration and transformation capabilities.
November 2020: SAP software developer & IT services partner TruQua Enterprise.
November 2020: Application performance monitoring (APM) software company Instana.
June 2020: WDG for robotic process automation (RPA) software expertise.
June 2020: Spanugo for cloud cybersecurity posture management solutions.

It’s a safe bet IBM will retain those acquisitions amid the Kyndryl spin-out. But Kyndryl may also need some of its own hybrid cloud consulting expertise in order to manage customers’ modernized hybrid cloud infrastructures, ChannelE2E believes.

Also, both IBM and NewCo will need to offer cybersecurity services. IBM has a Top 250 MSSP business unit, as tracked by MSSP Alert. And Kyndryl will need to offer security baked into its MSP services for customer infrastructure, ChannelE2E notes.