Airtel and IBM Join Forces to Enhance Cloud Capabilities for AI and Regulated Industries

Airtel and IBM Forge Strategic Alliance for Cloud Enhancement

Bharti Airtel, a leading Indian telecommunications service provider, has announced a strategic partnership with IBM to bolster its recently launched Airtel Cloud platform 1

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. This collaboration aims to merge Airtel's secure and compliant cloud infrastructure with IBM's advanced hybrid cloud and AI technologies, enabling enterprises across regulated sectors to modernize and manage AI workloads more efficiently 2

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Expanding Cloud Capabilities and Infrastructure

The partnership will significantly expand Airtel's cloud capabilities:

1. Airtel Cloud users will have access to IBM Power systems as-a-Service, including the latest IBM Power11 AI-ready servers 1

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2. The collaboration will increase Airtel's availability zones in India from four to ten, hosted on next-gen sustainable data centers 2

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3. Two new Multizone Regions (MZRs) will be established in Mumbai and Chennai, enhancing data security and operational continuity 1

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Focus on Regulated Industries and AI Workloads

The partnership specifically targets regulated sectors such as banking, healthcare, and government:

1. The Power11 hybrid platform will support critical enterprise workloads, including IBM AIX, IBM i, Linux, and SAP Cloud ERP 3

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2. SAP customers using IBM Power will be able to advance their enterprise resource planning transformations to SAP Cloud ERP on IBM Power Virtual Server 2

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3. The collaboration aims to enable enterprises to scale AI workloads more efficiently, ensuring interoperability across various infrastructures 1

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Advanced AI and Cloud Technologies

IBM's contribution to the partnership includes:

1. AI inference software based on IBM watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI, allowing clients to run AI inference across hybrid cloud environments 2

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2. Access to Red Hat's suite of hybrid cloud solutions, supporting interoperability across on-premise, cloud, and edge infrastructures 2

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3. IBM's enterprise-grade cloud platform with innovative IaaS and PaaS offerings, coupled with automation tools designed for accelerating the impact of generative AI in core enterprise workflows 2

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This strategic alliance between Airtel and IBM represents a significant step forward in cloud technology and AI infrastructure in India, promising to deliver enhanced capabilities, security, and efficiency for enterprises across various sectors.