IBM closes world’s second biggest IT deal to take on Microsoft, Amazon

IBM closed its $34 billion purchase of Red Hat, sealing the world’s second-largest technology deal ever and setting up the iconic U.S. company on a path to try to compete with top software purveyors in the cloud.

The 108-year-old International Business Machines Corp., once synonymous with mainframe computing, has been struggling to adopt cloud-related technologies. It’s playing catch-up to market leaders Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in offering computing and other software and services over the internet.

For Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty, who has staked her legacy on the deal designed to save the company from irrelevancy, it is a defining moment.