IBM has revealed plans to expand its cloud computing network with 12 new locations to serve enterprises looking for more hybrid cloud computing.
It will add data centres in Frankfurt, Mexico City and Tokyo while also adding nine more centres through a strategic partnership with Equinix in Australia, France, Japan, Singapore, Netherlands and the US.
The new centers will further expand IBM’s global cloud footprint which includes facilities in Mumbai, London, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Toronto, Dallas and Raleigh opened this year.
The addition of new data centres will expand its network to 40 locations.
Under the agreement with Equinix, it will give direct access to SoftLayer cloud services via the Equinix Cloud Exchange in nine markets.
The nine markets which will be given access include the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, including Amsterdam, Dallas, Chicago, Paris, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington.
The new partnership will allow customers to easily move production workloads in and out of the cloud, helping them to formulate their hybrid cloud strategies, the company said.
IBM Cloud Services General Manager Jim Comfort, "IBM recognises that businesses and governments need the cloud to help them innovate, grow and operate more efficiently in concert with their existing IT investments."
"Everything IBM does is designed to help companies transition to the cloud in a responsible way at a pace that best fits their business model and industry. Just as we helped major organisations transform in each preceding era of IT, IBM now serves as the cloud platform for the enterprise."
Equinix Chief Technology Officer Ihab Tarazi, "Equinix Cloud Exchange continues to build momentum with secure, low-latency connections to multiple cloud providers, and adding IBM SoftLayer to our growing portfolio will continue to help our enterprise customer realise the benefits of the cloud."
"SoftLayer, with its broad reach into the enterprise market and proven success in networking will be a great asset to Cloud Exchange, enabling customers to seamlessly replicate data between markets.
"Our direct access capabilities to cloud services such as SoftLayer, provide enterprise customer with a choice of multiple clouds to better enable their hybrid cloud strategies."
