Airtel and IBM renew IT infrastructure services deal

BANGALORE, INDIA: Bharti Airtel and IBM signed a new agreement to manage Airtel's infrastructure and application services in India over the next five years. This agreement builds on the 10 year relationship between the two organizations which has driven the co-creation of industry leading telco solutions and customer-centric services.

The agreement is based on Airtel's new IT vision that defines the next generation of services for its ever-growing customer base and to offer best in class services to its customers through solutions leveraging cutting edge technology. As part of the new vision, Airtel is also building in-house capabilities and a strong partner eco-system, and has selected IBM to manage the IT infrastructure and applications for its operations in India.

Harmeen Mehta, CIO, Airtel said, "Our "Next Generation Sourcing model" is all about creating a smarter IT - from the data center to the end-user's experience with a view to ultimately offer new and innovative solutions to our customers. IBM's global expertise to manage large infrastructure operations and application management, coupled with the new IT capabilities we are developing in-house is the latest milestone in our strategy to build a world-class IT services platform as we enter into a new phase in our growth journey in both data and voice."

Airtel and IBM also have partnerships for IT infrastructure and services across Airtel's international operations spanning 19 countries including Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.