Technology giants IBM and Tech Mahindra on Tuesday said they would ‘deepen’ their collaboration, including working on five strategic focus areas of 5G, automation, hybrid cloud, cyber security, data and artificial intelligence (AI). The collaboration, they said, would likely help each of them rake in revenue of $1 billion over the next three years.
During a virtual conference, IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna and Tech Mahindra MD and CEO C.P. Gurnani said that in 2021, the two companies would further deepen their collaboration and build a billion-dollar ecosystem for each other in the next three years. While 40% of the revenue will be driven by telco and 5G, powered by hybrid cloud, 60% of the revenues will be driven by other industries, they added.
The two companies together will also invest in innovation centres to enable development of joint solutions to help clients accelerate their journey to the Cloud and AI. While a technology and innovation centre is being set up in Bangalore, more such centres will eventually come up across the globe. “Our partnership is not confined to only the United States or only India. It straddles both and you know there’s some forward looking technologies that we’re also investing in…,” Mr. Krishna said.
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Mr. Gurnani added that the power of partnerships was the new normal and that Tech Mahindra had redoubled its commitment to IBM and together, the two will build a billion-dollar ecosystem for each other.
As part of the partnership, Tech Mahindra also unveiled ‘Blue Marble’ on IBM Cloud for telecom to drive the 5G momentum. The offering will be a part of Tech Mahindra’s digital business portfolio that accounts for almost 50% of the company’s revenue. Likewise, the two firms will also collaborate to expand the cybersecurity business with IBM Cloud Pak for Security and strengthen and expand their portfolio through cloud-based offerings.
Replying to a question on the India market, Mr. Krishna said, “We have an incredible focus in India. First, India is a source of great talent...The second...is our focus on India itself, we service the top private sector banks, the top public sector banks. We service telecom in India, we service industry in India. We are really really on track to expand…”
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“I think the Indian market is really vibrant. I really believe that remote delivery is going to offer Indian companies a great ability to expand their market share globally,” he added.