In reality, this is not all that shocking as Red Hat frankly needs a little of the IBM magic. Red Hat is a good company, but this latest recruitment will only prove to serve it well.

Red Hat has hired Mark Enzweiler, a Lenovo executive who spent 25 years at IBM, to be its vice president of North American channel sales, the Linux seller said Wednesday. Channel sales are directed toward business partners that typically build products into broader or customized products of their own or sell them to a particular market such as small businesses.

He was vice president of global channel strategy and sales at Lenovo and held several posts at IBM, including vice president of North American channel sales and director of global sales. Enzweiler will report to Ed Boyajian, Red Hat’s vice president of strategic alliances. [Source: CNET]