IBM expands hybrid cloud activities by partnering with India-based IT services peers

Partnering with IT services peers and integrating Global Business Services and Global Technology Services capabilities will help IBM improve client engagement and increase cloud signings

Hybrid cloud remains an area of investment for IBM as the company pursues transformational opportunities with clients. IBM’s recent investments in improving its hybrid cloud capabilities, most notably with IBM Cloud Paks and bringing Red Hat solutions and professional services on board, help strengthen its position in cloud. IBM’s ambition is to deepen its understanding of clients’ journeys to hybrid cloud and AI; in 1Q20 the company announced that it is making hybrid cloud its fourth platform — the others being services, mainframe and middleware.

Partnering with India-centric IT service providers such as HCL Technologies (HCLT), Infosys and Tech Mahindra expands IBM Services’ client reach for hybrid cloud solutions. IBM partnered with HCLT in November to migrate and modernize VMware workloads on the IBM public cloud. IBM is combining its secured, enterprise-grade public cloud with HCLT’s delivery and managed services capabilities to move, manage and modernize complex VMware workloads in the cloud.

In March IBM partnered with Infosys to enable clients’ digital transformations through the IBM public cloud offering. IBM Services’ reach in the financial services, insurance and healthcare sectors will expand as the partners integrate their professional services capabilities to enable clients to transition, modernize and transform enterprise workloads and applications, leveraging security, open innovation and enterprise solutions on the IBM public cloud. The partnership will also increase adoption of IBM’s Red Hat OpenShift platform and generate opportunities for IBM Services around consulting and technology services offerings for Red Hat and multicloud management. In April IBM partnered with Tech Mahindra to migrate core business applications to the IBM public cloud utilizing IBM Cloud Paks. The partners will open innovation centers, with the first one in Bangalore, India, to address business problems using transformational solutions developed with IBM Cloud Paks.

According to TBR’s 4Q19 Cloud Professional Services Benchmark, COVID‐19 has jolted the cloud adoption timeline from a comfortable curve to a forced spike, which opens up myriad cloud professional services opportunities. IBM Services’ well-established security and hybrid cloud capabilities will provide growth opportunities for the rest of 2020 as business disruptions caused by COVID-19 highlight the benefits of cybersecurity and cloud-based solutions. The pandemic will accelerate IBM’s partnership activities as the company pursues opportunities to ramp up adoption of hybrid cloud and AI solutions to enable clients to restore and relaunch post-pandemic and establish new business models in a new normal.