IBM to invest $1 bn in its partner ecosystem as it pushes for hybrid cloud

Enters into strategic partnership with Tech Mahindra that will create $1 bn revenue opportunity over next 3 yrs

Arvind Krishnan, Chairman and CEO IBM, reiterated that India continues to be a key region as he announced a $1 billion investment into its partner eco-system to push adoption of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).

“IBM India is a microcosm of the IBM Corporation. With a robust ecosystem of Global System integrators (GSI’s), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), start-ups and largest developer base –India has a significant advantage and IBM India will continue to be at the forefront, driving innovation that is made in India, for India and the world,” said Krishnan in a media interaction.

IBM also announced a strategic partnership with Tech Mahindra that will further deepen their collaboration and build a $1 billion ecosystem for each other over a period of next three years. This partnership will focus on technology areas like hybrid cloud, automation, 5G, cyber security, data and AI.

“Tech Mahindra and IBM have been working together for years. This time around we have built a partnership roadmap with dedicated teams from both the companies working together,” said C P Gurnani, CEO and MD, Tech Mahindra.

 

Krishnan stated that IBM has a laser sharp focus on the two dominant forces reshaping the industry landscape - Hybrid Cloud and AI. It has made strategic investments in building an open hybrid cloud platform, based on Red Hat OpenShift, to give clients choice, flexibility and agility to manage and modernize workloads in any environment.

“Fuelling this growth engine is IBM’s partner ecosystem to leverage collective ability to meet the needs of the businesses - a $1 trillion hybrid cloud market opportunity. In 2021, IBM is doubling down to elevate its ecosystem through its new go-to-market model making it easier for partners to work with IBM and make the transition to a multi, hybrid cloud platform seamless for clients. Through this approach, IBM is looking at driving a multi-billion dollar portfolio with its ecosystem partners over the next three years,” added Krishnan.

Krishnan also stated that hybrid cloud is the destination for enterprises and government. With the current pandemic changing the nature of work environment the pace of digital transformation towards cloud is already happened.

“IBM has more than 300,000 workforce waszorking across the globe and as the pandemic struck all of us were working from home. But with just 20 per cent of workloads currently on Cloud, businesses are looking for ways to unlock the power of cloud -securely deploy, run and manage data and applications across their on-premises, private and public cloud environments,” said Krishnan.

A recent Hybrid Cloud IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) survey corroborated this need by revealing that organisations in India expect to be using at least 10 clouds from multiple vendors by 2023 and will spend nearly half of their cloud budget on hybrid over the next three years.

Key takeaways:

• With over 175 zetabytes of data available in the next few years, AI will unlock 14-16 trillion dollars of opportunity/productivity

• Tech can be a great equalizer by providing access to people, while increasing GDP & standard of living.

• Partnerships bring in true innovation, capabilities and expertise for our clients and the industry. It is about driving a smaller share from a bigger pie

• To work with Tech Mahindra on 5 strategic areas: 5G, automation, Data & AI, Hybrid cloud, cyber security