AT&T, IBM expand partnership with multi-year deal
AT&T and IBM on Tuesday announced they're expanding their partnership with a new, multi-year deal that will bring AT&T Business's applications to the IBM Cloud. IBM will also help manage AT&T's hybrid cloud infrastructure. Meanwhile, IBM is making AT&T Business its primary provider of software-defined networking.
To help facilitate the cloud migration, IBM will help modernize AT&T Business Solutions' internal software applications. AT&T Business will continue using Red Hat's open source platform to manage workloads associated with its internal applications.
The deal comes a week after IBM closed its $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat. The acquisition is part of IBM's strategy to focus its cloud business on hybrid deployments and multi-cloud management.
As IBM's primary provider of software-defined networking, AT&T says it will help IBM enhance its networking solutions with 5G, edge computing, and IOT. AT&T Business is already IBM's strategic global networking provider.
The two companies also specifically said they will collaborate on edge computing platforms.
IBM has pulled in significant business from telcos modernizing their networks. Eight of the 10 largest mobile operators are using IBM Services. Earlier this year, Vodafone Idea Limited, India's largest telecom operator, signed a five-year, multi-million deal with IBM to modernize and consolidate its IT infrastructure.